Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (also Ukrainian, Catholic Church according to the Byzantine rite or Kyivan Catholic Church ) is a Uniate Church with Rome since 1593 the Byzantine Rite and forms a part of the church of the Roman Catholic Church. Its membership includes about 5.2 million believers in Ukraine and Poland, the USA, South America, Australia and Western Europe. The current head of the Church since 2011 Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. The headquarters of the church is located in the Resurrection Cathedral in Kiev.

History

1593 decided nine Orthodox bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Opel subordinate Ukraine to enter into a union with the Catholic Church. The initiative was by the Polish king Sigismund III. understood, who sought a religious unification of Poland. The Orthodox bishops promised each of the Union's political equality with their Roman Catholic counterparts, and therefore inclusion in the Polish Senate. 1594 finally signed six bishops the Treaty of Brest Church Union. This retained the Byzantine Rite and gathered around the archbishop of Lviv, which thus became their leader.

When the predominantly Ukrainian populated areas fell to the Soviet Union in the Carpathian arc 1944/45, the Soviet government tried the church with the separated from Rome Orthodox to unite under duress, which meant that the Greek Catholic Church went underground and thousands followed by priests, monks and nuns, as well as hundreds of thousands of believers and many believers were imprisoned. All the bishops of the church were arrested and only the Archbishop of Lviv released in 1963. Since he had to live in exile from now on, he went to Rome, where he was awarded the title of Major Archbishop and was until 1990 to return to his bishopric.

Heads

From the Union until about 1800 in the Ukraine was the leader of the (then called ) " United Church " the title of " Metropolitan of Kiev", although the city of Kiev since 1667 did not belong to Poland and sat no unierter Metropolitan more in their. Rather, the chief was chosen from among the Uniate bishops who bore the title " Metropolitan of Kiev " in addition to his episcopal title and led from the church part of his still -led diocese. With the territorial reorganization of Central Europe after the three partitions of Poland and the Napoleonic wars of the previous title was abandoned and upgraded the Bishop of Lviv to the metropolitans. From now on, the head of the particular Church sat constantly in Lviv. The selected 1944, 1945 and 1963 arrested reported to Rome Metropolitan Jossyf Slipyj wore, though he resided in Rome, as head of his Church the title of Metropolitans and since 1975 a Major Archbishop of Lviv. His second Nachnachfolger, Cardinal Husar Ljubomyr, laid in 2005, the seat of the Major Archbishop in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and now bears the title of " Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych ". The Major Archbishop is commemorated in the liturgy with the target, but not the official title "Patriarch ". Lviv is also the seat of its own archbishop.

Dioceses

Religious communities

Within the UGCC, there are the men Basilian Order of St.. Jehoshaphat and the women religious of the Basilian Sisters of St. Basil the Great. In Brazil, the Secular Institute Catechists of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ( Secular Institute ) is located.