Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'
The Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' (Russian: Митрополит Киевский и всея Руси, romanized: Mitropolit Kiyevskiy i vseya Rusi; Ukrainian: Митрополит Київський та всієї Русі, romanized: Mytropolyt Kyivskyi ta vsiiei Rusi) was a metropolis of the Eastern Orthodox Church that was erected on the territory of Kievan Rus'. It existed between 988 AD and 1596 AD. Canonically, it was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The episcopal seat (cathedra) was located in the city of Kiev.
This article is about the metropolis established in Kievan Rus' (988–1596). For other metropolises with similar names, see Metropolis of Kiev.
In 1596, the Union of Brest was adopted in which the church's leadership left Eastern Orthodoxy and converted to Eastern Catholicism. In forming a sui juris Eastern Catholic particular church, the metropolis came to be known as the Ruthenian Uniate Church. To reflect its exclusion from the eastern part of Ukraine (in the Tsardom of Russia), it was renamed as the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia.
The metropolis was later revived by the Orthodox in the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1620 AD to 1686 AD as an exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This episcopal title was renamed the "Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus'". The fate of the metropolis after that date is a matter of dispute. According to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the metropolis was uncanonically annexed or was in abeyance until it received the tomos of autocephaly[1][2][3] from the Ecumenical Patriarch. Other churches including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) maintain that the Metropolis came to be part of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Rus', becoming an exarchate of the ROC until 1990, and gaining independence as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.[4]