Annexation of the Metropolis of Kyiv by the Moscow Patriarchate
The Accession of Kyiv Metropolis to Moscow Patriarchate was the transferance of the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Eastern Orthodox from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Patriarchate of Moscow. The metropolis lay in the territory of the Cossack Hetmanate and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Date
Approx. 1685–1722
Transfer
1. Ordination of Metropolitan Gedeon of Kiev by Patriarch Joachim of Moscow in Moscow
2. Act of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople of 1686, which gave the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev to the Patriarch of Moscow
1. Ecumenical Patriarchate
2. Metropolis of Kyiv of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
3. Patriarchate of Moscow
Absorption of the Metropolis of Kiev in 1722 by Tsar Peter I
From 1649, the Tsardom of Russia began to take over territories of former Kyivan Rus conquered by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. As part of this process, the Ottoman Empire was enlisted to pressure the Patriarch of Constantinople to transfer the governance of the metropolis to Moscow's canonical jurisdiction in 1686.[1]
It is a matter of dispute whether this de facto transfer was also achieved de jure or canonically. The process began in 1685 with the ordination of Gedeon Chetvertinsky to the Metropolis of Kiev by Patriarch Joachim of Moscow and ended in 1722 when Tsar Peter the Great appointed Barlaam (Voniatovych) with the rank of archbishop, not metropolitan. Since that date, the metropolis has become an ordinary diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). According to the ROC, the 1686 Synodal Letter of the Ecumenical Patriarch gave Moscow the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev. According to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, this act was firstly conditional upon Moscow preserving the traditional rights of the metropolitan[2] and secondly did not affect the authority of Constantinople as the mother church of the metropolis. In this respect, both Constantinople and the current Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) regard Moscow's subsequent actions as uncanonical. On 11 October 2018, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate revoked the Synodal Letter (Act) of 1686.[3]
Interventions by Moscow in the metropolis[edit]
Election of the abbot of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra[edit]
The first serious ecclesiastical step towards the absorption of the metropolis by the Moscow Patriarchate was made in 1683. The archimandrite of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra — Innocent Giesel — died on 18 November. Hetman Ivan Samoilovych wrote a letter about this to Patriarch Joachim of Moscow, asking for a blessing on the election of a new abbot. In a corresponding letter, the patriarch thanked the hetman for addressing him and gave his blessing for the election.
The hetman's behaviour in this regard was not supported by the Kiev clergy. An archimandrite — Barlaam Yasynskyi — was elected by free vote without prior consultation with Samoilovich. Without asking for confirmation of his rights in Moscow, Barlaam turned for initiation to Lazar Baranovych, who refused to confirm his election. However, the threat of seizure of the lavra's possessions, which came from the Lviv bishop Joseph Shumlyanskyi, forced Barlaam to ask for confirmation of his authority from Patriarch Joachim. As a result, the patriarch sent Barlaam a letter of approval, which, however, spoke more about the duties of the Archimandrite of Pechersk than about his ancient privileges. From a canonical point of view, this action of Patriarch Joachim meant the removal of the Lavra from the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. It should be borne in mind that this was a Stauropegial monastery, directly subordinate to the Primate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[4]
The intensification of Bishop Joseph of Lviv Shumlyansky, who began to call himself the administrator of the Metropolis of Kyiv, prompted both the hetman and the Moscow government to intensify their efforts to replace the vacant metropolitan throne. Bishop Joseph, who was in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was in solidarity with the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in his anti-Moscow plans, and there were rumors that he was ready to accept Catholicism, which further increased fear on the Left Bank. Therefore, in his letter to Hetman Samoilovych dated 31 October 1684, Patriarch Joachim motivated the need to replace the vacant Kyiv cathedra as soon as possible as follows:
Negotiations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople[edit]
Embassy to Constantinople[edit]
In November 1685 a deacon, Nikita Alekseev, was sent to Constantinople. When he passed through Ukraine, he was joined by the personal envoy of Hetman Lysytsia Ivan Pavlovych. They were instructed to ask the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to transfer the Metropolis of Kyiv to Moscow's jurisdiction. The ambassadors were presented with diplomas of Patriarch Joachim, Tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich and Hetman Ivan Samoilovych.
Political background[edit]
It should be borne in mind that by the middle of the 17th century there were quite close relations between the Eastern patriarchs and the Moscow sovereigns. The Greek clergy regularly visited Moscow, receiving generous alms. At the same time, the contacts of the Greek hierarchs with Moscow were not limited exclusively to the ecclesiastical sphere. As early as the end of the 16th century, the eastern patriarchs became, in the words of the professor, "political agents" of the Moscow tsars. They bring to Moscow information about the political situation in the Ottoman Empire. Patriarch Dosipheus of Jerusalem in one of his letters addressed to the Moscow tsar directly wrote: "In your God-protected state we have the rank of informer." However, material interest was not the only stimulus that prompted the Greek hierarchs to such cooperation. The Eastern Orthodox clergy enthusiastically embraced and strongly supported the political strengthening of Moscow, hoping that in time it was the Moscow tsar who would help the Greeks overthrow the hated Ottoman rule.
The activities of the Eastern hierarchs in favor of Moscow's political interests were of concern to the Ottoman government, which closely monitored all contacts between the patriarchs and the Moscow ambassadors. Patriarch Parthenius was hanged for secret connections with Moscow, and Patriarch Paisius of Alexandria and Macarius of Antioch lost their chairs for a trip to Moscow. In the second half of the 17th century, Moscow ambassadors to Constantinople were allowed to meet with patriarchs only after all political matters had been resolved with the vizier.
From the very beginning of the liberation war under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the Eastern patriarchs considered it a natural result of Ukraine's accession to the Moscow Empire. As early as December 1648, Patriarch Paisius of Jerusalem met with Khmelnytsky on his way to Moscow and tried to persuade him to accept Moscow citizenship. He asked for the same in Moscow. In 1651, the Patriarch of Constantinople said the same in a conversation with Khmelnytskyi's envoy in Constantinople. Mediation services in establishing Khmelnytsky's contacts with Moscow were also undertaken by other Eastern hierarchs. According to the Greeks, Ukraine's accession to the Moscow state gave hope for a joint campaign of Cossacks and Moscovites against the Tatars and Ottomans.
It is very characteristic that the same patriarch Paisius of Jerusalem hoped that after Ukraine the Danube principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) would become part of the Tsardom of Moscovy. In 1655 he even directly asked Tsar Alexis I The Quietest to accept the Principality of Moldavia under his patronage. This request was supported by the Patriarch of Antioch Macarius. However, this plan was not implemented.
The beginning of negotiations[edit]
The Moscow ambassadors arrived in Adrianople in the spring of 1686. Here, the Greek Yurii Metsevit recommended that they first go to the vizier and ask him to help resolve the issue of the Metropolis of Kyiv. Thanks to Alekseev, such an offer seemed strange. He considered this a purely ecclesiastical matter, and therefore thought that the patriarch could resolve it without consulting the vizier. To which Metsevit objected: "If the patriarch does this work without a vizier's decree, and some metropolitan reports that the patriarch is writing off with Moscow, the patriarch will be executed immediately."
Then the ambassadors tried to meet with the Patriarch of Jerusalem Dosipheus, whom Moscow rightly considered his ally. However, this hierarch also refused to meet with the delegation without the permission of the vizier. Then Alekseev still turned to the vizier, and with his consent, went to meet with Dosipheus.
Negotiations with the Patriarch of Jerusalem[edit]
During the conversation with the Moscow ambassadors, Patriarch Dosipheus spoke very strongly against the subordination of the Metropolis of Kyiv to Moscow. He considered the very image of the Moscow government to be deeply flawed. Dosipheus quite rightly remarked that before he was to receive the blessing of Constantinople, and only then to deliver the Metropolitan of Kyiv in Moscow: