Home›Rituals›Tradition›Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchDenominationUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchAlso Known As Ukrainian Catholic Church · UGCC · Ruthenian Uniate ChurchChristianityPractitioner SystemVerifiedOrigin 1596The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic church: Byzantine in rite, Ukrainian in language and custom, and in full communion with Rome. It dates from the Union of Brest in 1596, when most of the Orthodox bishops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth accepted papal jurisdiction while keeping their liturgy, their calendar and their married clergy. It is the largest Eastern Catholic church in the world and its centre of gravity is in Galicia, in western Ukraine.History & OriginFactsIn Other Languages (18 names)Learn MoreUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)History & OriginFormed by the Union of Brest in 1596, when bishops of the Kyiv metropolitanate entered communion with Rome while retaining Byzantine liturgy and married clergy.FactsBeliefDefining Doctrinal PositionWell-attestedTrinitarian: one God in three persons 2Its own record names it in full communion with Rome, matching Roman Catholicism, already carried as trinitarian.Defining Doctrinal PositionWell-attestedChalcedonian: two natures in the one person of Christ (Chalcedon, 451) 2Its own record names it in full communion with Rome, matching Roman Catholicism, already carried as chalcedonian.Position on MarriageWell-attestedMarriage is held to be a lifelong, monogamous, indissoluble union; remarriage after divorce is not sanctioned while a spouse lives 3Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk stated on 22 December 2023 that any blessing given within the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church cannot in any way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman, restating the church's general teaching on marriage rather than addressing only same-sex unions.Marriage Position DetailWell-attestedIn the same 22 December 2023 statement ruling the Vatican's Fiducia Supplicans declaration inapplicable to his church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk restated the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's general teaching on marriage: that a blessing cannot in any way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman. The statement addresses the church's teaching on marriage generally rather than same-sex unions alone. 4Position on SexualityWell-attestedSame-sex sexual relationships are held contrary to teaching; LGBT individuals are welcomed as members but not ordained, and same-sex unions are not blessed 3Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, ruled on 22 December 2023 that the Vatican's Fiducia Supplicans declaration permitting non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples applies solely to the Latin Church and carries no legal force for his own church's faithful, citing canon 1492 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. He stated that any blessing cannot in any way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman. Neither source read addresses ordinary membership for a gay member of the church.Sexuality Position DetailWell-attestedThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is sui iuris and in full communion with Rome, but its own head has ruled the Vatican's own teaching on this question inapplicable to his church. On 22 December 2023, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk stated that the Vatican's Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which permits non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples in the Latin Church, applies solely to that church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, citing canon 1492 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. He explained that in Byzantine practice a priest's blessing carries liturgical weight the Latin tradition does not give it, and that any blessing cannot in any way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman, concluding that pastoral prudence requires avoiding ambiguous gestures, statements and concepts that would distort church teaching. Neither source found addresses ordinary church membership for a gay member of the church. 4AttributionsChurch FamilyWell-attestedEastern Catholic 1Eastern Catholic, Byzantine ritePracticeLiturgical LanguageWell-attestedChurch Slavonic 2TrajectoryMembership Over TimeWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own accountBy 2022, after the church's legalization in 1989 and decades of rebuilding, estimated worldwide membership had recovered to approximately 4.2 million, making it the second largest Eastern Catholic Church. 5Membership Over TimeWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own accountIn 1939 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church counted about 3.6 million faithful across 2,387 parishes, shortly before the Soviet authorities forcibly dissolved the church at the 1946 Lviv council and absorbed its parishes into the Russian Orthodox Church. 5Membership Figure As OfWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own account1939-01-01 5Membership Figure As OfWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own account2022-01-01 5Basis of the Membership FigureWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own accountScholarly or Demographic Estimate 5OriginsOrigin PeriodWell-attested1596 2Place of OriginWell-attestedGalicia, western Ukraine. 1FounderWell-attestedNo single founder. Formed by the Union of Brest in 1596, when the Orthodox bishops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth accepted papal jurisdiction while keeping their liturgy and married clergy. 1A collective episcopal act rather than one founder, dated in its own already-cited origin-account fact.HistorySeparation or DivergenceWell-attestedDissolved by Soviet decree at the Lviv council of 1946; underground until 1989 1OrganisationGovernanceWell-attestedEpiscopal: governed by bishops 2OrdinationWell-attestedMarried clergy permitted 1Ordination Practice DetailWell-attestedMarried men may be ordained to the priesthood, as in the Byzantine tradition generally 1StatusStatus TodayWell-attestedLiving tradition, practised today 1In Other Languages (18 names)الكنيسة الأوكرانية الكاثوليكيةUkrainische griechisch-katholische KircheΟυκρανική Ελληνοκαθολική ΕκκλησίαIglesia greco-católica ucranianaÉglise grecque-catholique ukrainienneGereja Katolik Yunani UkrainaChiesa greco-cattolica ucrainaウクライナ東方カトリック教会우크라이나 그리스 가톨릭교회Oekraïense Grieks-Katholieke KerkKościół katolicki obrządku bizantyjsko-ukraińskiegoIgreja Greco-Católica UcranianaУкраинская грекокатолическая церковьUkrainska grekisk-katolska kyrkanUkrayna Rum Katolik KilisesiУкраїнська греко-католицька церкваGiáo hội Công giáo Hy Lạp Ukraina乌克兰希腊礼天主教会Learn MoreBrest 1596, and What the Union Preserved The terms agreed at Brest are the whole of the matter. The Orthodox bishops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who entered the union accepted the jurisdiction of the pope and the Catholic doctrinal position, and kept everything else: the Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic, the Julian calendar, communion under both kinds, their own hierarchy, and a married parish clergy. What they were offered in return was equality with the Latin bishops in the Commonwealth, including seats in the senate, which they did not in the event receive. The union did not carry the whole church. Two bishops refused, a substantial part of the nobility and the lay brotherhoods opposed it, and an Orthodox hierarchy was restored in the Commonwealth within a few decades. The result was two churches using the same rite and the same language in the same towns, which made the difference between them a matter of allegiance rather than of appearance, and made the seventeenth century in those lands bitter. The church survived because of where the border fell. When the Commonwealth was partitioned, the Greek Catholic communities that came under Russian rule were absorbed into the Orthodox Church, in stages ending in 1839 and 1875. Those in Galicia came under Austrian rule instead, where the state raised the standing of the clergy and funded their education, and the church there became the principal institution of Ukrainian national and cultural life in the nineteenth century.Liquidation, the Catacomb Years, and the Return After the Soviet annexation of western Ukraine the church was suppressed as an institution. Its bishops were arrested in 1945. In March 1946 an assembly convened in Lviv, without any of those bishops present, declared the Union of Brest annulled and the church reunited with the Moscow Patriarchate, and the parishes and buildings were transferred accordingly. The church itself calls that assembly a pseudo-sobor and does not recognise it; accounts of its standing differ sharply between the churches involved, and the atlas records the dispute rather than resolving it. What followed was four decades underground. Priests were ordained in secret, liturgies were celebrated in flats and forests, and the church became one of the largest banned religious bodies in the Soviet Union. Josyf Slipyj, the metropolitan arrested in 1945, spent eighteen years in labour camps before being released to Rome, where he continued to lead the church in exile and was made a cardinal. Legalisation came in 1989 and 1990, and the return of parishes to a church that had been erased from the register produced serious and sometimes violent disputes over buildings in Galicia, which the Moscow Patriarchate has cited in ecumenical discussions ever since. The seat of the major archbishop was moved from Lviv to Kyiv in 2005. The church today has eparchies across Ukraine and a large diaspora structure in Poland, North and South America and Australia.Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchFilter Results11 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll30 (2)150 (1)200 (1)330 (1)370 (1)FrequencyAllDaily (2)Once, or at a turning point in a life (5)Seasonal, at set points in the year (2)Weekly (1)Life Stage MarkedAllEntry into the community or the order (3)Marriage (1)Naming of a child (1)Ordination, profession or vows (1)ObligationAllObligatory (4)Obligatory on those who meet its conditions (1)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (1)Scholarly StandingAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (11)Social FormAllPerformed by an officiant for a recipient (4)Practice StatusAllLiving tradition, practised today (6)PractitionerAllAll adherents of the tradition (1)Clergy or ordained officiants (10)Native To RegionAllAncient Rome (2)Galilee (2)Judea (2)Originated InAllAncient Rome (2)Galilee (2)Judea (2)Originates In LanguageAllKoine Greek (5)Old Church Slavonic (1)Kind of ritualAllBirth and Naming Rites (1)Byzantine Liturgies (3)Christian Initiation and Ordination Rites (3)Parts of the Eucharistic Liturgy (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 11BaptismUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchByzantine RiteUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchConfirmationUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchDivine Liturgy of St BasilUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchDivine Liturgy of St John ChrysostomUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchHoly OrdersUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchInfant Baptism and ChristeningUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchLiturgy of the Presanctified GiftsUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchOrthodox Crowning (Stefana)Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchThe AnaphoraUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchThe EpiclesisUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchConnectionsAssociated WithUkrainian Greek Catholic Church (Wikipedia), Sources Well-attested This source names Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church directly: "The English Wikipedia article on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, community edited, carrying the 1939 pre-liquidation figure of 3.6 million faithful across 2,387 parishes and the current..."Source Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 3Belongs To Church FamilyCatholic Churches, Groups Well-attested Belongs to TraditionChristianity, Religions Well-attested Branch OfChristianity, Religions Well-attested Contained InRoman Catholicism, Denominations Well-attested An Eastern Catholic church in full communion with Rome, Byzantine in rite.Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)tier 1Governed By PolityEpiscopal Polity, Doctrines Well-attested Holds ElementAkathist to the Theotokos, Hymns & Liturgical Texts Well-attested Sung on the Saturday of the Akathist as in the Byzantine churches, and widely used as a parish devotion besides.Byzantine Chant, Sacred Sound Well-attested Byzantine in rite while in communion with Rome, and singing the same Slavonic and Ukrainian repertory as its Orthodox neighbours.Cardinal, Religious Roles & Titles Well-attested ConnectedMajor archbishops of this church have been created cardinals, so its head sits in the college without the office belonging to the Byzantine tradition itself.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1Cherubic Hymn, Hymns & Liturgical Texts Well-attested Sung at the Great Entrance in Slavonic or Ukrainian, the rite being unaltered by the union.Papacy, Religious Organization & Structure Well-attested An Eastern church in full communion with Rome, keeping the Byzantine Rite and its own major archbishop while recognising the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome.Pastor Aeternus, Religious Legal Instruments Well-attested The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church keeps the Byzantine rite in full communion with Rome, so it receives the council's definitions along with the rest of the Roman magisterium.Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)tier 1Pope, Religious Roles & Titles Well-attested The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is in full communion with the bishop of Rome and holds the office as Rome defines it, while keeping the Byzantine rite.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The Council of Chalcedon, Councils and Synods Well-attested The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church receives Chalcedon with the whole Byzantine inheritance, and with the later Roman councils besides.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The Council of Florence, Councils and Synods Well-attested The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church stands on the Florentine model of union, a church keeping the Byzantine rite and its own law while in communion with Rome.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The First Vatican Council, Councils and Synods Well-attested Received by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome and holds the Roman councils as well as the seven.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The Second Vatican Council, Councils and Synods Well-attested Received by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, whose own recovery of its Byzantine liturgical practice was pressed by the council decree on the Eastern churches.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The Third Council of Constantinople, Councils and Synods Well-attested Received with the rest of the seven councils, which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church holds alongside the Roman councils.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1Held DifferentlyPriest, Religious Roles & Titles Well-attested Held DifferentlyA Byzantine Catholic priest may be a married man, ordained under Eastern canon law while in full communion with a Latin church that ordinarily requires celibacy. It is the same order held on different terms.Source Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumesNorman P. Tanner (ed.)tier 1The Filioque, Doctrines Well-attested Held DifferentlyFrom the Father through the Son. The Eastern Catholic churches recite the creed without the clause while in communion with Rome, which is the standing demonstration that the formula and the communion are separable.Objects and Practices of This TraditionA male-only ordained ministry, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested A Married Parish Priesthood With Celibate Bishops, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Additions to Daniel, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountAdditions to Esther, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountAn Eastern Liturgical Rite in Full Communion With Rome, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Apostolic succession, Doctrines Well-attested The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, formed at the Union of Brest in 1596, retains Byzantine Rite apostolic succession and its own Major Archbishop while in full communion with Rome.Source The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief SurveyRonald G. Robersontier 1Ascension Day, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Baptism, Rituals Well-attested Baptism is by threefold immersion, followed at once by chrismation and communion.Bohohlasnyk (1790), Musical Works Well-attested Source Bohohlasnyk (Encyclopedia of Ukraine)Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Torontotier 2Book of Baruch, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountBook of Judith, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountBook of Tobit, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountBooks of the Maccabees, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountBright Week, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Byzantine Rite, Rituals Well-attested This church uses the Byzantine rite, and does so while in full communion with Rome. It is not a Latin church with Eastern decoration and it is not an Orthodox church, and the reader who assumes either will misread it.Candlemas, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Celibacy / Monasticism, Practices Well-attested Monasticism follows the Studite and Basilian rules of the Christian East.Chalcedonian Christology (Two Natures in One Person), Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Christmas, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Kept in the Byzantine rite by a church in communion with Rome, moved to December 25 from the 2023 to 2024 liturgical year.Clean Monday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Closed communion, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Confession, Practices Well-attested Confession follows the Byzantine form, the penitent standing beside the priest before an icon rather than kneeling in an enclosed box.Confirmation, Rituals Well-attested Chrismation is given with baptism by the presbyter, using myron, as in the Orthodox churches and unlike Latin practice.Divine Liturgy of St Basil, Rituals Well-attested The Liturgy of St Basil is served on the days the Byzantine calendar appoints for it.Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Rituals Well-attested The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is the ordinary Sunday liturgy.Dormition of the Theotokos, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Ecumenical Councils Continue and Are Confirmed by the Pope, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Episcopal church governance, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Fasting in Lent, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Forgiveness Sunday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Good Friday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Great Lent, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Holy Orders, Rituals Well-attested A married man may be ordained to the presbyterate, a right this church retained against long Latin pressure and exercises today.Holy Week, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Infant baptism (paedobaptism), Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Infant Baptism and Christening, Rituals Well-attested Infants receive the full rite of initiation in one service, not the Latin sequence of baptism now and confirmation years later.Jesus Prayer, Prayers Well-attested The Jesus Prayer belongs to this church through its Byzantine inheritance.Lazarus Saturday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Letter of Jeremiah, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountLiturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Rituals Well-attested The Presanctified Liturgy is served on the weekdays of the Great Fast.Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested New Testament, Scriptures & Texts Well-attested Source Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentCouncil of Trenttier 1the holders' own accountOrthodox Christian Fasting, Practices Well-attested The Byzantine fasting calendar is kept, including the Great Fast and the Nativity Fast, rather than the shorter Latin discipline.Orthodox Crowning (Stefana), Rituals Well-attested Marriage is the Byzantine crowning.Palm Sunday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Papal primacy and infallibility, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Pascha, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Pentecost, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Prayer, Practices Well-attested The daily cycle follows the Byzantine books in Ukrainian and Church Slavonic.Showing 1 to 50 of 65 in Objects and Practices of This Tradition, page 1 of 2.12Next →Uses Liturgical LanguageChurch Slavonic, Languages Well-attested Sources1. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editiontier 1F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2005View the Source2. The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Surveytier 1Ronald G. Roberson, Pontifical Oriental Institute, 1999View the Source3. Ukrainian Archbishop Says Same-Sex Blessings Document Doesn't Apply to Eastern Churches (Catholic World Report)tier 2Catholic World Report, 2023the stated positions on sexuality and marriage and their detailsView the Source4. Top Ukraine Prelate Says Vatican Document on Same-Sex Blessings Applies Only to Latin Church (Crux)tier 2Crux, 2023the stated positions on sexuality and marriage and their details, corroborating Catholic World ReportView the Source5. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Wikipedia)tier 3Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, 2026View the SourceDecrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 volumestier 1Norman P. Tanner (ed.), Sheed and Ward / Georgetown University Press, 1990View the SourceThe Orthodox Churchtier 2Timothy Ware (Kallistos Ware), Penguin Books, 1993the Union of Brest, the Eastern Catholic churches and the Orthodox responseView the SourceEncyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005entry on Uniate and Eastern Catholic churchesView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearChoose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.YearPresent20231596Show This Year