Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a major archiepiscopal sui iuris ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. The major archbishop, currently Sviatoslav Shevchuk, presides over the entire Church.
The church regards itself as a successor to the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus', which was established in 988 following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Grand Prince Vladimir the Great. Following the establishment of the metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus', by the terms of the Union of Brest, the Ruthenian church was transferred from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of the Holy See in 1596, thereby forming the Ruthenian Uniate Church. The Union of Brest was a treaty agreed by the Ruthenian Orthodox Church in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, under the leadership of the metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus'—Michael III—on one part, and the Latin Church under the leadership of Pope Clement VIII on the other part.
Following the partitions of Poland, the eparchies of the Ruthenian Uniate Church (Latin: Ecclesia Ruthena unita) were liquidated in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Only the three eparchies that came under Austrian jurisdiction remained of the Brest Union. In 1963, the church was recognized as Ukrainian through the efforts of Yosyf Slipyi.
In 1963, the ordinary (or hierarch) of the church was granted the title of "Major Archbishop".
“Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church” enters the record as byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Church. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ukrainian, Greek and Catholic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ukrainian, Greek and Catholic provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q472189. VIAF identifies the subject as 151692331. The Library of Congress control number is n94028128. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1596 and 1963.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.