Rachel Evans
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, with approximately 4.5 million members, most of whom reside in Ukraine. The church has spread to many continents due to several waves of migration since the 1880s. The Greek in Greek Catholic refers to the church's Byzantine liturgical and spiritual legacy, not to Greeks in an ethnic sense. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has been diligent about fostering Ukrainian culture and national identity both domestically and abroad. The church predominates in three western oblasts of Ukraine, including Lviv, but constitutes a small minority elsewhere in the country. The Russian Greek Catholic Church was largely influenced by Metropolitan bishop Andrey Sheptytsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Russian Greek Catholic Church also has a significant following, with members worldwide. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its members have experienced significant damage and threats due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the namesake of the city of Khmelnytskyi, played a role in the tensions between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Ukraine. Khmelnytsky, despite attending a Jesuit college, remained Orthodox and did not embrace Roman Catholicism. He demanded that the Commonwealth stop the advance of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and yield the right to appoint Orthodox leaders.
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What You'll Learn
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Following the Union of Brest, the new Greek Catholic church gained widespread support from both the Ukrainian clergy and local Christians. This event was a turning point for the development of Ukrainian national awareness, as the separation from Russian-dominated Orthodoxy brought about a sharper awareness of linguistic and cultural differences from Russia, fostering a distinct Ukrainian identity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 19th century, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has actively promoted Ukrainian culture and national identity, both domestically and internationally.
Historically, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has faced suppression and persecution. During the Soviet era, the church and its members experienced significant challenges, as documented in historical records. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has also led to threats and damage to the church. The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has had to take precautions and move between safe houses due to these threats.
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The Russian Greek Catholic Church
Blessed Leonid Feodorov, the 20th-century Exarch of Russia within the Russian Greek Catholic Church, had a deep devotion to Metropolitan St. Philip of Moscow, who was canonized in 1636 and is commemorated within the Orthodox Church.
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The Union of Brest
The bishops who supported the union with Rome met several times in the lead-up to the Union of Brest. In 1590, Bishops Terlecki, Balaban, Zbirujski, and Kopystenski met at Sokal and reaffirmed their commitment to the union. In 1592, Sigismund III expressed his support for the decision of the Ruthenian episcopate and promised to protect them from possible Orthodox persecutions. In 1593, another synod of Ruthenian bishops met at Brest but avoided discussing the union, focusing instead on administrative matters.
The hierarchs of the Kievan church gathered in synod in Brest and composed the union's 33 articles, which were accepted by the Roman Catholic Pope. The articles included a "Decree on receiving back and entering into the communion of the Holy Roman Church," in which the bishops deplored the evils of schism and submitted to the jurisdiction of the Pope, on the condition that the sacred rites and liturgical customs of the Eastern Church were preserved. The union also stipulated that Ruthenian monasteries and churches should not be converted into Roman Catholic churches and that spiritual church brotherhoods should be maintained.
Following the Union of Brest, the new Greek Catholic Church gained widespread support from both the Ukrainian clergy and local Christians. This marked a turning point in the development of Ukrainian national awareness, as separation from Russian-dominated Orthodoxy highlighted linguistic and cultural differences, fostering a distinct Ukrainian identity. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church continues to have a strong presence in western Ukraine, particularly in Lviv, and has spread alongside the Ukrainian diaspora to other countries.
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Khmelnytsky's role in worsening Orthodox-Catholic relations
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest of the "Eastern" Catholic Churches, with around 4.5 million members, 3.85 million of whom reside in Ukraine. The church predominates in three western oblasts of Ukraine, including Lviv, but constitutes a small minority elsewhere in the country. The "Greek" in "Greek Catholic" refers to the Church's Byzantine liturgical and spiritual legacy, rather than to Greeks in an ethnic sense.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is rooted in a complex cultural patrimony. It is influenced by the Byzantine liturgical, theological, and spiritual tradition that originated in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, in the first six centuries AD. It is also influenced by Ukrainian culture, both from pre-Christian legacies and as reshaped over a millennium of Christian belief, and its relation to the Roman Church over the past 400 years.
The creation of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine was a turning point for the development of Ukrainian national awareness. The separation from Russian-dominated Orthodoxy made the Ukrainian population more aware of the linguistic and cultural differences from Russia, and Ukrainian identity started to develop sharply in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Bohdan Khmelnytsky was a Ukrainian military leader and hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 17th century. He attended a Jesuit college, possibly in Jarosław, but more likely in Lviv, where he acquired a broad knowledge of world history and learned several languages, including Polish, Latin, Turkish, Tatar, and French. Unlike many of his fellow students, Khmelnytsky did not convert to Roman Catholicism and remained Orthodox.
Khmelnytsky played a significant role in worsening Orthodox-Catholic relations in Ukraine. He led an uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was seen as a threat to the Orthodox faith by many Orthodox Ukrainians. The Cossacks, under Khmelnytsky's leadership, demanded that the Commonwealth restore their ancient rights, stop the advance of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, yield the right to appoint Orthodox leaders, and remove their troops from Ukraine. The conflict between the Cossacks and the Commonwealth contributed to the worsening of relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
The Russian Empire later took control of most of present-day Ukraine and restored Orthodoxy in those lands. However, in the western regions of Galicia and Transcarpathia, which became part of the Austrian Catholic Habsburg empire, the Greek Catholic Church flourished. Over the centuries, as growing numbers of members of the Eastern Catholic Churches fell under the rule of the House of Romanov due to the Khmelnytsky Uprising, they experienced escalating and brutal religious persecution.
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The suppression of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is an autonomous Eastern Catholic church based in Ukraine. It is the second-largest particular church in the Catholic Church, after the Latin Church. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates in three western oblasts of Ukraine, including Lviv, but constitutes a minority elsewhere in the country.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has faced suppression and persecution throughout its history. During the Soviet era, the church was targeted by the atheist policies of the regime, which left a spiritual void in Eastern Europe. Many church buildings were ruined, burned down, or profaned, and priests and faithful from various denominations, including Orthodox, Catholic, and other religions, were shot, arrested, or deported to Siberian gulags. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was liquidated in Halychyna in 1946 and in Transcarpathia in 1949.
In the years preceding and following the partitions of Poland, Catherine the Great played a significant role in forcefully dismantling the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine. She expressed disdain for both Greek and Latin Catholicism and actively incited violence against these groups, resulting in atrocities such as the Massacre of Uman. Greek Catholic parishes were pressured to convert to Russian Orthodoxy, and priests who resisted were expelled.
More recently, during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has faced significant damage and threats. Russian occupation authorities have banned the church in occupied regions, and churches have been destroyed. Priests have had to evacuate sacred items to protect them from attacks, and church leaders have been targeted for assassination.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has a long history of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. Despite the challenges and persecution it has faced, it continues to play an important role in the religious life of many Ukrainians. The church regards itself as a successor to the metropolis established in 988 following the Christianization of Kievan Rus'.
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Frequently asked questions
Bohdan Khmelnytsky was a Ukrainian military leader and Hetman (a military officer of high rank) who attended a Jesuit college and acquired knowledge of world history and languages. He is known for his role in the Khmelnitsky Uprising, which led to the persecution of Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, along with the Great Northern War and the Partitions of Poland, resulted in escalating religious persecution for members of the Eastern Catholic Churches. This included the suppression of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The Greek Catholic Church, also known as the Eastern Catholic Church, shares many core Christian beliefs with the Orthodox Church. However, they differ in their emphasis on doctrinal teachings and the role of the Church in interpreting Scripture. The Greek Orthodox Church does not recognize the authority of the Pope, unlike Roman Catholicism.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, with approximately 4.5 million members worldwide. About 3.85 million members reside in Ukraine, while significant populations are also found in Brazil, Argentina, Poland, the USA, and Canada.
The Austrian Catholic Habsburg Empire, which controlled the western regions of Galicia and Transcarpathia, fostered the growth of the Greek Catholic Church. They granted equal freedom of worship and removed Polish influence, allowing the Church to flourish.
