How a centuries-old religious struggle culminated in the formal independence of the Ukrainian Church

Cultures · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine received official autocephaly, marking a historic shift in ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This move, granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, ended centuries of complex ties to Moscow and solidified the church as an independent entity, fundamentally altering the religious landscape of the region.

The roots of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine trace back to the 988 Christianization of Kievan Rus', which established the Metropolitanate of Kyiv under Constantinople. However, this connection faced centuries of disruption. In 1686, the Moscow Patriarchate began asserting control over the region, a move the Ecumenical Patriarchate later nullified in 2018, citing simony and the violation of the metropolitanate's independence. Throughout history, various leaders—from Hetman Ivan Mazepa to the Directorate of Ukraine—sought to restore this original autonomy, though these efforts were frequently suppressed by imperial or Soviet authorities.

The modern path to independence accelerated in December 2018, when a unification council in Kyiv brought together two major independent church bodies and two bishops from the Moscow-affiliated branch. This council elected Epiphanius Dumenko as the primate of the newly formed Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The process reached a milestone on 6 January 2019, when Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I formally presented a tomos of autocephaly. This document, calligraphed by a monk from Mount Athos, serves as the legal and spiritual charter for the church's self-governance.

The establishment of the church remains a point of intense geopolitical friction, with the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church actively opposing its recognition. Domestically, the church operates alongside other religious organizations, and its history is now integrated into national education. By 2019, the church reported approximately 7,000 parishes. Today, the original tomos is displayed in Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, symbolizing the culmination of a long-standing quest for ecclesiastical sovereignty that has been central to Ukrainian identity for over a millennium.

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