Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

: Some material from this article should be to History of Christianity in Ukraine.

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The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), also known as the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is one of the successor Churches to the acceptance of Christianity by Grand Prince Vladimir the Great (Ukrainian Volodymyr) of Kiev (Kyiv), in 988. UGCC is the largest Eastern Rite sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Roman Pope. The Primate of the Church, in union with the Pope, holds the office of Archbishop-Major of Kiev-Halych and All Rus', though the hierarchs of the church have acclaimed their primate "Patriarch" and have requested Papal recognition and elevation. The Church is now geographically quite widespread, having some 40 hierarchs in over a dozen countries on four continents, including three other metropolitans in Poland, the USA, and Canada.

Related Topics:
Church - Acceptance of Christianity - Grand Prince - Vladimir the Great - Ukrainian - Kiev - 988 - Eastern Rite - Sui juris - Particular church - Full communion - Holy See - Roman Pope - Primate - Archbishop-Major - Halych - Hierarch - Patriarch - Metropolitan

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Within Ukraine itself, the UGCC is a minority faith of the religious population, being a distant second to the majority Eastern Orthodox faith. However, since the Ukrainian Orthodox were split into at least three denominations around the onset of independence in the 1990s, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church denomination thereby accidentally became the second largest religious organization in Ukraine in terms of number of communities. In terms of number of faithful, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ranks third in allegiance among the population of Ukraine, after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchy. Currently, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the dominant faith in several western oblasts of Ukraine, and although spread throughout the country, is a small minority elsewhere.

Related Topics:
Ukraine - Eastern Orthodox - Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy - Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchy - Oblast

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