Hypatius Pociej (, , ) (12 April 1541 – 18 July 1613) was the " Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia" in the

Ruthenian Uniate Church The Ruthenian Uniate Church (; ; ; ) was a Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church of the Catholic Church in the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was created in 1595/1596 by those clergy of the Ea ...

— a ''

sui juris ''Sui iuris'' (), also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both the Catholic Church's canon law and secular law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Canon ...

Eastern Catholic Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. He reigned from 1599 to his death in 1613. He played an active role in the 1595

Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...

of which he was a firm supporter. He was also a writer, polemist and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Early life

Adam Tyczkowicz was born on 12 April 1541 from a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family. His father, Lev Tyczkowicz, was scribe of the Queen of Poland (

Anna Jagiellon Anna Jagiellon (, ; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was King of Poland, Queen of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587. Daughter of Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund I the Ol ...

). His mother, Anna Łosa, after the death of her husband, on about 1550, married the governor of areas of

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. Prince Mikolaj "the Black" Radziwill took care of his education and sent him to a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

school and later in the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1572 Adam was secretary of king

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

and in 1580 he was judge in Brest. In 1588 he was

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Brest and a senator of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. In his youth, under the influence of Prince Radziwill, Adam converted to

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

, but about 1574, scared about the extremes of that denomination he returned to the Orthodox Church. In the same year he married Anna, of the dukes of Hołowniów-Ostrożeckich, with whom he had six children.

Bishop

After the death of his wife in 1592, he chose to become a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

, taking the religious name of ''Ipati'' (Hypatius). In 1593, thanks to the support of

Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (; ; ; 2 February 1526 – 13 or 23 February 1608) was a Ruthenian Orthodox magnate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a prince, starost of Volodymyr, marshal of Volhynia and voivode of the Kiev Voivodeship. O ...

(a Prince of the

) who was his close friend, he was appointed as the Bishop of

Volodymyr Volodymyr (, ; ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', which in other Slavic languages became Vladimi ...

- Brest. He was consecrated bishop on 6 June 1593on 27 May 1593 according to the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

by the hands of Mykhajlo Rohoza. Hypatius played a crucial role in establishing of the

by which the Ruthenian Church moved from the jurisdiction of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

to the jurisdiction of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, thus forming the

. He traveled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, along with the Bishop of

Lutzk Lutsk (, ; see below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a population of A city with ...

Cyril Terlecki Bishop Cyril S. Terlecki (, Kyrylo Terletsky; , Kiryla Ciarlecki; ; died May 1607) was a religious and political figure and one of the initiators of the conclusion of the Union of Brest in 1596. He served as the eparch of the Eparchy of Lutsk� ...

, to carry the petition to

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

which had been signed by the bishops in Brest on 12 June 1595. They arrived in Rome on 25 November 1595 and obtained the approval of the Pope on the conditions that

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

, liturgical practices and the not-use of the

filioque ( ; ), a Latin term meaning "and from the Son", was added to the original Nicene Creed, and has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. The term refers to the Son, Jesus Christ, with the Father, as th ...

would be preserved. They were back in

in March 1596.

Metropolitan

Hypatius Pociej was appointed new

Metropolitan of Kiev Metropolitan of Kyiv is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the Metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolita ...

in August 1599 by the will of king Sigismund III Vasa and he was confirmed by

on 15 November 1600. In 1601 he founded a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and on 3 March 1605 he was formally recognized as the only

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

Metropolitan in the

. On 11 July 1609 some Orthodox, who opposed the Union of Brest, attempted to his life, but without success. In 1611 he succeeded to appoint also a bishop favorable to the Union of Brest in the Eparchy of Przemyśl. He also worked on the restructuring of the

Order of Saint Basil the Great The Order of Saint Basil the Great (; , abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is a Greek Catholic monastic order of pontifical right that works actively among Ukrainian Catholics and other Greek-Catholic churc ...

. Potii died on 8 July 1613 in

and was buried in the cathedral of that town.

Works

Hypatius Pociej was also a writer, polemist and

. Among his works we have: ''"The Union, or an Exposition of the Articles"'' (1595), ''"Antirysis"'' (''Anti-Discourse'', 1599), ''"A Defense of the Council of Florence''" (1603), and ''"Harmony, or the Agreement of Faiths"'' (1608). He wrote numerous letters, also to

Lew Sapieha Lew Sapieha (; ; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Great Clerk of the Grand Duchy in 1581, Crown Chancellor in 1 ...

and

Consecrated bishops

* 1603 Paisius Onyskevych-Sakhovsky (Bishop of Pinsk and Turov) * 1610 Athanasius Krupetsky (Bishop of Przemysl) * 1613 Joseph Velamin-Rutski

Notes

References

External links

Ipatii Potii
at

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potii, Ipatii Metropolitans of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia (Holy See) Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodox bishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Leaders of the Ruthenian Uniate Church Former Ukrainian Orthodox Christians Ukrainian Eastern Catholics Ukrainian male writers Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1541 births 1613 deaths People from Włodawa County People from Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Hypatius