The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC): a meeting after the tomos

Abstract

ABSTRACT The author explores the relations between the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) after the latter received the tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2019. This paper provides a brief analysis of the interactions between the UGCC and the Orthodox churches in Ukraine before 2018 with a focus on the ecumenical dimension of their relations. It also assesses the UGCC’s reactions to the process of the OCU being granted autocephaly, as well as events around a Greek-Catholic initiative to hold a solemn service in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, which caused tensions between the two churches. The research reveals a certain dependency between the UGCC and the OCU based upon the previous trajectory of the Greek-Catholic and Orthodox Ukrainian relationship, alongside the emergence of some new factors that have influenced their relations.