Number DOI: http://doi.org/10.33209/2519-4348-2707-9627-2023-11-141

VB. – № 11, 2023. – P. 187-206

Summary

The article studies the archpastoral activities of Metropolitan Ioan (Bodnarchuk) as the First Hierarch of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the late1980s and early 1990s. Research concentrates on the life path of Vasyl Bodnarchuk before his studying at the seminary and during his priesthood. Also the paper investigates the main directions of Bishop Ioan’s activities at the Zhytomyr-Ovruch eparchy (at that time Russian Orthodox Church) and his doings as the Vicar of the Holy Kyiv Patriarchal See of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church at the Lviv Cathedral. After that he was the bishop of the Drohobych-Sambir eparchyof the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (later Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate), and diocesan of the Lutsk-Volyn eparchyof the UOC KP. It can be reasonably contended that Bishop Ioan played one of the most important roles in the revival of the UOC and the formation of the UOC KP. The study highlights Metropolitan Ioan as one of the most prominent church figures of the late 20th century in Ukraine. Like every person, Metropolitan Ioan had his weaknesses, but in a difficult period of history, he managed to make the fateful decision to become the First Hierarch of the UOC, the history of the UOC KP is associated with his name. His contribution to the realization of the idea of the Ukrainian people regarding the unification of all branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy into a single local Ukrainian Orthodox Church is colossal. Partial attention is paid to the processes of state-denominational relations in the period under study, as well as to the causes of conflict situations and misunderstandings between Orthodox denominations. In the conclusions, it is substantiated that the church-historical science has rather limited information about this outstanding Ukrainian, the First Hierarch of the UAPC. The activities of Bishop Ioan require further detailed study in order to form an objective historical picture of his life path, which in turn will help determine the causes of complex inter-religious relations in the 1990s of the last century.

Key words: Metropolitan Ioan (Bodnarchuk), autocephaly, UAOC, Patriarch Mstyslav (Skrypnyk), UOC KP

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