Early history The Christianization of the lands located in the region of the middle
Bug River was carried out in the Byzantine tradition even before the
Great Schism (1054). This process followed the adoption of Christianity by
Vladimir the Great in 988 and subsequently by his state,
Kievan Rus'. The formation of a parish network in this area continued throughout the 11th and 12th centuries and intensified after the establishment of an Orthodox diocese in
Volodymyr-Volynskyi. Further development of Eastern Christianity took place after the Bug region became part of the
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. In the late 1230s, Prince
Daniel of Galicia (Danylo Romanovych) transferred the Orthodox bishopric to
Chełm. This diocese belonged to the Metropolis of Kiev and was subordinate to the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. By 1370, three Orthodox metropolitan sees existed in
Kiev,
Novogrudok, and
Halych, while episcopal sees were located in
Turov,
Chełm,
Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
Lutsk, and
Przemyśl. The situation of the Orthodox Church changed after the Ruthenian lands came under the rule of
Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later the joint state of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite various legal restrictions, the Orthodox Church maintained a degree of institutional continuity. In the second half of the 16th century, the metropolis remained in
Kiev, while episcopal sees existed in
Polotsk,
Smolensk,
Turov,
Chernihiv,
Chełm,
Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
Lutsk,
Przemyśl, and
Lviv. On 25 February 1585, King
Stephen Báthory confirmed privileges concerning the rights and freedoms of the Orthodox Church within the
Metropolis of Kiev. In 1589,
Moscow became the seat of a patriarchate, which sought to extend its authority over Orthodox bishops in the
Orthodox Church within the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The proposed church union was intended, in part, to counter these ambitions. In 1596, at the synod in
Brest, the majority of Orthodox hierarchs proclaimed the
Union of Brest with the
Latin Church. Prince
Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski supported the
Nalyvaiko Uprising in an effort to prevent the implementation of the union. Although the majority of the faithful and clergy in
Ruthenia remained Orthodox, the union gained significant support in the lands of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and led to the effective delegalization of the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth. The early 17th century was marked by persecution and continued struggle for legal recognition. Although the Ruthenian nobility were formally granted equal rights within the Commonwealth by royal decrees, these provisions were often not enforced in practice. Both the nobility and urban populations experienced pressure to adopt Roman Catholicism and the Polish language, contributing to the gradual Polonization of elites. This process alienated them from the lower strata of Ruthenian society, particularly the Cossacks, who remained strongly attached to Orthodoxy and resistant to Catholic influence. Powerful magnate families of Ruthenian origin, including the Wiśniowiecki, Czartoryski, Ostrogski, Sanguszko, Zbaraski, Korecki, and Zasławski families, accumulated vast estates and played a significant role in the social and religious tensions of the period. These tensions were further exacerbated by economic practices such as estate leasing. Local Orthodox traditions were also influenced by the growing authority of Moscow, especially after 1448, when the Grand Duchy of Moscow asserted de facto independence in ecclesiastical matters. Following the fall of Constantinople, Moscow increasingly claimed leadership within the Orthodox world, promoting the authority of the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus′. Thanks to the military protection of the
Zaporozhian Cossacks under Hetman
Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny in 1620–1621, the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
Theophanes III of Jerusalem, restored the Orthodox hierarchy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Ruthenian lands of the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, consecrating a new Metropolitan of Kiev,
Job Boretsky. This act, however, was not recognized by the Commonwealth authorities. A turning point came on 14 November 1632, when in the
pacta conventa of
Władysław IV Vasa the Orthodox hierarchy was officially recognized as equal to the Uniate one. In 1648, the
Khmelnytsky Uprising broke out under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, becoming a major turning point in the history of the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth. The conflict significantly altered the balance of power in the Ruthenian lands, weakening the position of the Uniate Church in several regions and temporarily strengthening Orthodox institutions under Cossack protection. At the same time, prolonged warfare led to widespread devastation, population displacement, and disruption of parish networks. In the longer term, the uprising contributed to political realignment, culminating in closer ties between the Cossack Hetmanate and the Tsardom of Russia, with lasting consequences for ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In 1676, amid tensions during the
Polish–Ottoman wars, the Sejm adopted legislation, at the initiative of
John III Sobieski, prohibiting the Orthodox population of the Commonwealth from maintaining contact with the patriarchate in
Constantinople. After the death of Metropolitan
Joseph Tukalskyi-Nelyubovych, his successor travelled to
Moscow in 1685 to receive confirmation, marking the transfer of jurisdiction to the
Russian Orthodox Church. This arrangement was confirmed a year later by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The
Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1686) further placed Orthodox clergy under Moscow’s authority. These developments—particularly the subordination of the Kiev Metropolis to Moscow and the resulting association of Orthodoxy with a foreign political power—led the authorities of the Commonwealth to support the Uniate Church as a more loyal alternative. As a result, the Union was imposed on a number of Orthodox dioceses, including
Przemyśl (1692),
Lviv (1700), and
Lutsk (1707). By the late Commonwealth period, only one Orthodox diocese was officially recognized (
Mogilev). The issue of protecting non-Catholics appeared in
Russo-Prussian treaties from 1732. In 1771,
Catherine the Great ordered the
Imperial Russian Army to intervene in the Commonwealth. Following the
First Partition of Poland, a large portion of the Orthodox population came under Russian rule. At the end of the 18th century, attempts were made to establish an independent Orthodox Church. A congress in
Pinsk (1791) proposed a structure independent of foreign ecclesiastical authority. The proposal was approved by the
Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1792 as a constitutional act; however, the
Polish–Russian War of 1792 and the subsequent partitions prevented its implementation.
Early period of Russian Orthodoxy: 1793–1905 in
Supraśl, founded by
Aleksander Chodkiewicz Following the
partitions of Poland and the annexation of Polish territory by the
Russian Empire, the administration of Eastern Orthodox communities was carried out by the vicar bishop of Pereyaslav and Boryspil of the Kyiv Eparchy with residence in
Slutsk. Establishment of the post was partially due to the 1830–31 Polish uprising (so called
November Uprising). In 1839 there was established the eparchy of Wilno and Lithuania following the 1839
Synod of Polotsk which liquidated
Uniate Church on territory of the Imperial Russia. In 1840, the former Warsaw vicariate was transformed into a separate eparchy of Warsaw covering the whole
Congress of Poland. Following the 1875
conversion of Chełm Eparchy (
Eparchy of Chełm–Belz) of the
Ruthenian Uniate Church, the Eparchy of Warsaw was renamed as Eparchy of Warsaw and Chełm, while Marcel Popiel who played a key role in the process was ordained as a vicar bishop of the merged diocese.
Transitional period: 1905–1924 , the main Polish Orthodox Church Following the
1905 revolution in the Imperial Russia, Tsar issued the manifest "On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance" which gave start to revival of Catholicism. In 1922 a conflict ensued due intervention of the
Russian Orthodox Church that approved appointment of bishops in Poland without agreement from Metropolitan of Warsaw
George (Yaroshevsky). The conflict was led by the Bishop of Wilno and Lida Eleftherios. Earlier, in January 1922, the Polish government had issued an order recognizing the Orthodox church and placing it under the authority of the state. At that time a Ukrainian,
George (Yaroshevsky), was appointed Metropolitan and exarch by the patriarch of Moscow. When Yaroshevsky began to reject the authority of Moscow Patriarchate, he was assassinated by a Russian monk. Nonetheless, his successor,
Dionizy (Waledyński), continued to work for the autocephaly of the Polish Orthodox church, which was finally granted by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in his Tomos of 13 November 1924. The Russian Orthodox Church at the time did not recognise Constantinople's granting of Polish autocephaly. Most of the parishioners were Ukrainians and Belarusians living in the eastern areas of the newly independent
Polish Second Republic. During the
interwar period, however, the Polish authorities imposed severe restrictions on the church and its clergy. In the most famous example, the
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw was destroyed in the mid-1920s. In
Volhynia a total of 190 Eastern Orthodox churches were destroyed and a further 150 converted to
Catholicism. Several court hearings against the
Pochaiv Lavra also took place.
World War II: 1939–1944 Following the start of the
World War II on 1 September 1939 and the
Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, Poland was divided between the
Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union. For support of resistance against the Nazi Germany, the Metropolitan Dionisius was arrested, while the Church territories (dioceses) were mostly taken over by the
Moscow Patriarchate and the rest were transferred under temporary administration by the Metropolitan of Berlin
Seraphim (Lade) of the
ROCOR, who also was assisted by Vasily (Pavlovsky). Although most of the congregation is historically centered in the Eastern borderland regions with considerable Belarusian and Ukrainian minorities, there are now many parishes across the country, as a result of
Operation Vistula and other diaspora movements. There are also some adherents in
Brazil, resulting from the 1989 canonical union between the hierarchy headed by Metropolitan Gabriel of
Lisbon, formerly under the
Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece, and the Polish Orthodox Church. The European bishops, however, have left the jurisdiction in 2000, which eventually resulted in senior Bishop
Chrysostom being raised to archepiscopal dignity. There are now parishes in the states of
Rio de Janeiro,
Pernambuco and
Paraíba, plus a mission in
Ceará and a monastery in
João Pessoa. In 2003, following the decision of the Holy Sobor of Bishops of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the
New Martyrs of Chelm and Podlasie suffering persecution during the 1940s were canonized. In 2025, the Holy Sobor of Bishops of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church decided to canonise the Katyn Martyrs, including military chaplains Simon Fedorońko, Victor Romanowski, Vladimir Ochab, and all other Orthodox Christians martyred during the
Katyn massacre. ==Primates of the Church==