Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate is a part of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine under the Metropolitan Volodymyr. It is considered the only Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine as canonical.

Ever since the conquest of Ukraine by the Russian Empire belonged to the Orthodox believers in Ukraine of the Russian Orthodox Church. Previously had the Ukrainian dioceses times the Patriarchate of Constantinople Opel, sometimes the under standing of Moscow.

For autonomy in the 1920s led to elimination of the existing Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church to this day, the so-called autonomists. Under the Soviet rule, all churches were placed under the Greek Orthodox rite on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, including the Catholic Uniate Ukrainian Church of the Russian Orthodox Church or its Ukrainian Exarchate.

After the independence of Ukraine in 1991, part of the Ukrainian clergy split from the Moscow leadership from and moved his center to Kiev and called since Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate The remaining of the Moscow Patriarch Church was now autonomous and could be especially claim in the Russian dominated east of the country.

In fact, there are today in Ukraine three major Orthodox Churches ( Patriarchate of Moscow, Kiev Patriarchate, autonomists ) that compete for the status of the national church. It is also about the canonical legitimacy and the question of legal ownership of real estate. In addition, the dispute comes to the Ukrainian Uniate Catholic Church, which follows the Orthodox ritual, but is subordinate to the Pope in Rome. This dispute was also a main reason why the Patriarch of Moscow always refused to meet Pope John Paul II.

The church is divided into 46 dioceses, each headed by a bishop ( eparch ). The bishop has his seat in a cathedral as the main church of the Eparchy.