KIEV. – Capital city of Ukraine, a metropolis of the Byzantine rite and a bishopric of the Latin rite.
I. THE METROPOLIS OF THE BYZANTINE RITE
After the baptism of St. Vladimir in 988, several Byzantine pilgrim bishops were probably active in Russia. By 1016 at the latest, a bishop was established at K. The first metropolitan τῆς Ὑωσίας is mentioned under the name of Theopemptos: the Russian sources assign this to 1039, the Byzantine sources to 1040.Vladimir’s successor, Yaroslav the Wise, attempted to create a local metropolis. He therefore had the “Russian” Ilarion elected metropolitan in 1050 by the bishops of his empire. This, however, remained an isolated case. His successors were Greek once again. The Byzantine schism (1054) remained without repercussions in Russia for a long time. Metropolitan Nicephorus (1104–21) was the first to adopt a hostile attitude toward the Church of Rome. From 1147 to 1154, a Russian once again held the office of metropolitan of K.: the monk Clement of Smolensk. In the election, he was preferred to the Greek metropolitan Michael (1130–45). His successor Constantine (1156–1158) also appears to have been a Russian. Like Nicephorus, these two metropolitans were, for their time, men of learning. In the thirteenth century, Metropolitan Cyril I (1224–33) was consecrated at Nicaea by Patriarch Germanus II. The Venetian conquest of Constantinople therefore did not alter the dependence of the Russian metropolis on the Byzantine patriarchs. Metropolitan Cyril II (1249–81) worked actively for the reform of his Church, which had greatly declined after the Tartar invasion (1238–41) and the consequent annexation of the principal Russian territories to the great Tartar empire. In 1299, Metropolitan Maximus (1283–1305) transferred the see of the metropolis from K., which had been completely destroyed, to Vladimir, in the upper Volga region, on the Kijasma. Maximus’s successor, Peter (1308–26), transferred it to Moscow without consulting the patriarch of Byzantium, thereby rendering a great service to the tiny principality of that name, then undergoing a powerful revival: in 1339 he was canonized by Patriarch John XIV Aprenos.
In 1354, Patriarch Callistus recognized the transfer of the metropolitan see to Moscow; from then on, it bore the title of the metropolis “of K. and all Russia.”
The first metropolitan to bear this title was Alexis (1354–78), whose entire work served the principality of Moscow. After Peter, he is the second patron
of the city. Toward the end of the century, the princes of Moscow acquired great influence over the choice of the metropolitan. Metropolitan Cyprian, of Bulgarian origin, was the first to consolidate his position. Under him, Byzantine influence was also strengthened once again. Through the separation from the metropolis of a Lithuanian branch and another Galician branch, the patriarchs of Constantinople succeeded in weakening the members’ sense of unity within the metropolis. For a certain period, the archbishopric of Novgorod even attempted to acquire a degree of autocephaly.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the struggle for spiritual leadership waged by the Byzantine Church reverberated strongly in the patriarchate of K. and all Russia. The new metropolitan, Photius (1408–31), was entirely under the influence of the Byzantine anti-Latin circles which, in opposition to the emperor and the patriarch, were against union with the Church of Rome. Since the political situation in Moscow likewise did not encourage union with Rome, the efforts toward union by Metropolitan Isidore, imposed upon the Russians by Byzantium, found no understanding among the princes of Moscow or the bishops. They therefore did not recognize the union of Florence.
In 1448, they consequently chose, against Metropolitan Isidore and independently of the Byzantine patriarch, their own autocephalous metropolitan of Moscow, named Jonah (1488–94). From then on, the Moscow metropolis began. The new metropolitan immediately asserted the claim to ecclesiastical supremacy over the ancient territory of K., but was unable to maintain II.
In 1458, the Byzantine patriarch Gregory Mammus consecrated Gregory, appointed by the Pope, as Isidore’s successor and metropolitan of K.; he nevertheless attempted in vain to extend his influence eastward beyond the grand duchy of Lithuania. Thus the metropolis of K. continued to exist alongside that of Moscow. It differed from the latter chiefly in maintaining its dependence on Byzantium. Until the early years of the sixteenth century, relations with the Church of Rome were weak and often interrupted. In the sixteenth century, the metropolis declined.
The holders of the episcopal see were very often laymen; neither the metropolitan nor the bishops could offer effective resistance to the advancing Protestantism.
All this, in addition to other causes, led the hierarchy of the metropolis, toward the end of the century, to unite with the Church of Rome. The union was concluded at Brest-Litovsk in 1596. Thus the “United Ruthenian Church” came into being in the then so-called “Ruthenian lands.” In 1620, however, despite all Polish legal provisions, a new metropolis of K., separate from Rome, arose for those who opposed the union. At first, the bishops of this separated church remained strongly pro-Moscow; nevertheless, after receiving recognition from the Polish Parliament in 1632, they reached a reconciliation with the Polish state. The most important schismatic metropolitan of this period was Peter Moghila. He founded a Western-style school at K., which later became the K. Academy. Celebrated teachers taught at this school.
In the war between the Ukrainians and the Poles, the metropolitans tended to side with the Ukrainians; they were always suspected of maintaining their submission to Byzantium.
Although the city of K. passed under the principality of Moscow in 1668, the metropolitans remained in Poland. When they later began negotiations for union with Rome, the schismatic bishop of Luck went to K., where he was appointed metropolitan, while the schismatic incumbent, Joseph Szumlański, accepted union in 1701. Thus the schismatic metropolis in Poland came to an end. The metropolis of K. in Ukraine subject to Moscow had already ceased to exist as an autonomous ecclesiastical administration in 1685, since it had been simply annexed to the patriarchate of Moscow. Thus only the metropolis of K. united with the Church of Rome remained; it became extinct in 1805 upon the death of Metropolitan Rostocki.
II. THE BISHOPRIC OF THE LATIN RITE
As early as the time of Princess Olga, a Latin bishop lived in K. for two years. Perhaps a Latin bishop was also in K. for a certain period under Prince Jaroslav, before the battle of Llatwin.In the thirteenth century, a Latin bishop was consecrated for K. Toward the end of the fourteenth century, the Pope once again wished to know whether a Latin bishopric should be established in K. The bishops appointed thereafter did not reside in the city. Before one of them, Giuseppe Szumlański made his profession of faith in Warsaw in 1701. — Vedi tav. XLIV.