Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

A Ukrainian Orthodox church body established in 1992 under Patriarch Filaret, it joined the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018. Some clergy continued to claim its name afterward.

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Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church: An Orthodox church body formed in Ukraine that became one of the founding constituents of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It joined the Kyiv Patriarchate in the 2018 unification that formed the new church.
Unification council of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches: The December 2018 assembly that brought Ukrainian Orthodox church bodies together to establish the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Delegates from the Kyiv Patriarchate participated in the council that founded its successor body.
Epiphanius I of Ukraine: The metropolitan elected in 2018 to lead the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after its founding council. His election placed him at the head of the new church Filaret had helped establish.
Religious schism: A division within a religious community over authority, doctrine, or institutional allegiance. The Kyiv Patriarchate belonged to a wider Orthodox rupture over who could govern the church in Ukraine.
Ukrainian independence: Ukraine’s emergence as a sovereign state in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Independence created the political setting for a church seeking ecclesiastical independence from Moscow.
Orthodox Church of Ukraine: An autocephalous Orthodox church in Ukraine established in 2018 through the unification of Ukrainian church bodies. The Kyiv Patriarchate joined this church’s formation, though later disputes challenged whether it had ceased to exist.
Patriarch: A senior bishop who leads certain Christian churches or holds an honorific ecclesiastical rank. Filaret retained the title of patriarch after the Kyiv Patriarchate joined the new church.
Russian Orthodox Church–Ecumenical Patriarchate schism: The break in communion between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate after Constantinople’s actions in Ukraine. The recognition process surrounding the new Ukrainian church triggered this wider rupture.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate): The Ukrainian Orthodox church body that remained under the Moscow Patriarchate before declaring independence in 2022. The Kyiv Patriarchate arose in opposition to continued subordination to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Autocephaly: The status of an Orthodox church governing itself independently of another church’s hierarchy. The Kyiv Patriarchate sought independent governance, a goal realized through a distinct process in 2019.