Metropolitans of Kyiv, Galicia and of all Little Rus (1685–1770) According to the Russian Orthodox Church, the
ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox metropolis was transferred from the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Moscow Patriarchate in 1686 thereby establishing the
Metropolis of Kiev (Patriarchate of Moscow). This interpretation is disputed by the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine (see
2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism). •
Gedeon Chetvertinsky, 1685–1690 (Former bishop of
Lutsk, Gedeon Chetvertinsky was elected by the
sobor initiated by the Hetman
Ivan Samoilovych and later went for
consecration to Moscow instead of Constantinople) •
Metropolitan Varlaam, 1690–1707 •
Ioasaph, 1708–1718 :In 1718
Peter the Great abolished metropolitan. • , 1722–1730, archbishop •
Raphael, 1731–1747, metropolitan since 1743 :In 1743 metropolitan was reinstated. •
Timothy, 1748–1757 •
Arsenius, 1757–1770 :In 1767
Catherine the Great stripped the Metropolitan Arsenius of title "of all Little Rus"
Metropolitans of Kyiv and Galicia (1770–1921) In 1770, the
Most Holy Synod stripped the metropolis of its
suffragan sees. The title became an honorific with no practical sense of governing an ecclesiastical territory beyond its own geographic remit. This is a list of bishops who retained this empty title: •
Gabriel, 1770–1783 •
Samuel, 1783–1796 •
Hierotheus, 1796–1799 •
Gabriel II, 1799–1803 •
Serapion, 1803–1822 •
Eugene, 1822–1837 •
Philaret, 1837–1857 •
Isidore, 1858–1860 •
Arsenius II, 1860–1876 •
Philotheus, 1876–1882 •
Platon, 1882–1891 •
Joanicius, 1891–1900 • , 1900–1903 •
Flavian, 1903–1915 •
Vladimir, 1915–1918 •
Nicodemus, 1918 (as bishop of Chyhyryn) •
Anthony, 1918–1919 When Gen.
Pyotr Wrangel′s
White Army was defeated in
South Russia in November 1920, Anthony emigrated. In 1921 he settled down in
Sremski Karlovci, Serbia. Along with several other Russian bishops in exile, he established an independent Russian church administration that sought to embrace all Russian Orthodox diaspora, known as the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). • Nazarius Blinov, 1919–1921
Metropolitans and Archbishops of Kyiv and Galicia (1921–present) Bishops in communion with the Patriarchate of Moscow (1921–present) The Russian Orthodox Church erects
exarchates which have a limited autonomy within a defined geographical territory (e.g.
Belarusian Exarchate). Such an exarchate was erected for Kyiv in 1921. This is a list of exarchs of the Patriarchate of Moscow to date: •
Michael Yermakov, 1921–1925, bishop in 1921–27 exarch of Ukraine 1921–1929 • Georges Deliev, 1923–1928, bishop
acting • Macarius Karamzin, 1924, bishop
acting • Sergius Kuminsky, 1925–1930, bishop
acting • Demetrius Verbitsky, 1930–1932, archbishop • Sergius Grishin, 1932–1934, archbishop •
Constantine Dyakov, 1934–1937, exarch of Ukraine 1929–1937 • Alexander, 1937–1938 •
Nicholas Yarushevich, 1941–1944, exarch of Ukraine 1941 • During
World War II, the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was occupied by
Nazi Germany. Exarch Nicholas moved to Moscow. The rest of bishops loyal to the
Moscow Patriarchate created the
Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church (UAOC) which was recognized by Metropolitan Nicholas. When the German armies retreated from the SSR, the UAOC was dissolved; the exarchate was reinstated. • Oleksii Hromadskyi, 1941–1943 (
Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church) • Panteleimon Rudyk, 1943–1944 (
Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church) •
John Sokolov, 1944–1964, exarch of Ukraine •
Ioasaph II, 1964–1966, exarch of Ukraine •
Filaret II, 1966–1990, exarch of Ukraine In 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church accorded a limited form of self rule to the Ukrainian Exarchate. The additional freedoms were not enumerated. The church is currently styled the "
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)" (UOC-MP). The metropolitan is styled "Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine". There have been three metropolitans of the UOC-MP to date: • Filaret II (1990–1992) Following differences with the Patriarchate, he left and joined the newly formed
Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate. In 1997, he was excommunicated by the Moscow Patriarchate. •
Volodymyr II Sabodan (1992–2014) 2014–incumbent
Bishops not in communion with the Patriarchate of Moscow (1923–present) In 1923, a split occurred in the Patriarchate of Moscow. A majority (initially) of bishops associated themselves with a wing of the Church that was supported by the OGPU (the Soviet secret police). A minority, called "The Living Church", was spread across the territory of the
USSR. Many episcopal sees in the 1920s and 1930s had 2 parallel bishops: one from the Living Church, another from the Moscow Patriarchate. The Living church had its headquarter in
Kharkiv and was active in the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. •
Tikhon (Vasilevsky), 1923 •
Nikolay (Fedotov), 1923–1924 • Aleksandr (Shcherbakov), 1924 •
Innokentiy (Pustynsky), 1924–1929 • Iuvenaliy (Moshkovsky), 1928–1929 •
Pimen (Pegov), 1929–1935 • Aleksandr (Chekanovsky), 1935–1937 • Vladimir (Zlobin), 1938–1941
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine (self-consecrated) •
Vasyl Lypkivsky, 1921–1927 • Mykola Boretsky, 1927–1930 • Ivan Pavlovsky, 1930–1936 Due to
Soviet pressure, the is liquidated in 1936, some of its members emigrated to the United States.
All-Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalous Synodical Church Created in 1923, the church was part of all-Soviet Renovation movement (Obnovlenichestvo). It was liquidated in 1935, but after the remaining communities were headed by acting primate. • Pimen (Pegov), 1923-1935 • Oleksandr (Chekanovskyi), 1935-1937
Fraternal Parish Association of the Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalous churches In 1925 there was created another organization which opposed both the Living Church and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. After 1937 it disappeared. • Feofil Buldovsky, 1925–1937
Polish Orthodox Church period (World War II) Following the partition of Poland between
Nazi Germany and
Soviet Union, the Soviet Union annexed most of territory of the
Polish Orthodox Church. Most of bishops were forced to switch to the
Russian Orthodox Church except for very few. In 1942, UAOC was re-established with help of those few bishops left within the
Polish Orthodox Church. Polikarp Sikorsky was appointed as temporary administrator of the Church by the primate of the Polish Orthodox Church,
Dionizy (Waledyński). •
Polikarp Sikorsky, (Administrator of the Church under the title of Metropolitan of
Lutsk and
Kovel), 1942–1944 This relative freedom lasted till the return of the
Red Army in 1944, after that the was again liquidated and remained structured only in the
diaspora. In 1944 the Orthodox Metropolitan of Warsaw,
Dionizy Waledynski, was appointed "Patriarch of All Ukraine", but the Soviet Union did not allow any operation in Ukraine. ==Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Orthodox Church of
Ukraine==