Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Eastern Orthodox church in Kyiv, Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox institution headquartered in Kyiv, operating a network of over 6,000 parishes and dozens of bishops across the country. Its central administration is based at St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, where ecclesiastical matters are coordinated.
A unification council held in December 2018 brought together several Orthodox churches operating in Ukraine under a single national structure, which then gained recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. On January 6, 2019, the institution received its Tomos of Autocephaly, formally ending centuries of ecclesiastical subordination to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Worship follows the Byzantine Rite tradition, with liturgies celebrated in Ukrainian and Church Slavonic depending on regional preference and parish customs. In areas near the Romanian and Greek borders, services sometimes incorporate these languages, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the faithful community.
Most parish churches open for regular worship times, typically early morning and evening on weekdays and more extensively on Sundays. Visitors wanting to see a church outside these hours should check with the local parish office beforehand to confirm access.
The 2019 Tomos is a handwritten document in Greek delivered during a formal ceremony in Istanbul, marking the ecclesiastical independence of Ukraine. This historic parchment is now preserved as a national church relic and symbolizes the beginning of a new era for the country's Orthodox faithful.
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