Lazar Baranovych or Baranovich (, , ; 1620 – 3 (13) September 1693 in

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

) was a Ruthenian

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

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 ...

and then of the

Early life

Ecclesiastical, political, and literary figure, professor (1650) and rector of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Career

He founded schools and monasteries. While he supported the incorporation of

left-bank Ukraine The Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left (east) bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of Kyiv and Cherkasy. Left-bank Ukrain ...

into the

, he also defended the independence of the Kyiv metropolis to the

Patriarch of Moscow The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the ordinary of the diocese ...

. He was the Bishop of

from 1657 onwards. In 1658, when the presence of Muscovite troops forced Metropolitan Balaban to move his episcopal seat to Chyhyryn, the government in Moscow appointed Baranovych in his place. In 1661, Pitirim of Moscow, who at that time was the Metropolitan of

Krutitsy Krutitsy Metochion (), full name: Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion () is an operating ecclesiastical estate of Russian Orthodox Church, located in Tagansky District of Moscow, Russia, 3 kilometers south-east from the Kremlin. The name ''Krutitsy' ...

and the deputy of the Patriarch of Moscow, ordained Methodius Fylymonovych as Bishop of

Mstsislaw Mstislaw or Mstislavl is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw District. In 2009, its population was 10,804. As of 2024, it has a population of 10,019. History Mstislavl was first mentioned in the ...

. Fylymonovych was later appointed as Baranovych's vicar of the Metropolis of Kyiv. In 1662,

Patriarch Nikon of Moscow Nikon (, ), born Nikita Minin (; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from 1652 to 1666. He was renowned for his eloquence, energy, piety and close ti ...

cursed Metropolitan Pitirim for this act. The Patriarch of Constantinople also pronounced

anathema The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...

on Methodius. As a result, the Ukrainian clergy refused to obey the new vicar. This first attempt by Moscow to directly nominate a candidate for the throne in Kyiv resulted in failure. In 1674 he established a printing house at the Monastery of Holy Transfiguration in Novhorod-Severskyi, which in 1679 was moved to

. In 1667, at a local Council in Moscow, a decision was made to elevate the Chernihiv diocese to an archdiocese with Lazar Baranovych as archbishop. However, since the decision was made without the consent of Constantinople, Patriarch Parthenius IV of Constantinople did not recognize its legitimacy. Baranovych may have assumed the title of " Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and all Ruthenia" or ''

locum tenens A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...

'' in pretence.

Publications

The publications of his sermons, written in a baroque style in

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...

language, include: * ''Mech dukhovny'' (The Spiritual Sword, 1666); and * ''Truby sloves propovidnykh'' (The Trumpets of Preaching Words, 1674). He is the author of several polemical works against Catholicism in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and

(see also Polemical literature); of a poetry collection in

, ''Lutnia Apollinowa'' (Apollo's Lute, 1671); and of a large correspondence. Among other things, ''Lutnia Apollinowa'' contains six epitaphs for Metropolitan

Petro Mohyla Petro Mohyla or Peter Mogila (21 December 1596 – ) was the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' (1620–1686), Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church from ...

References

*
Baranovych, Lazar
' at the
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
'

* [in Ukrainian
Лазар Баранович, архієп. Нагробки митрополиту Петру Могилі
/ Переклад зі старопольської, вступна стаття та коментарі архім. Митрофана (Божка) // Труди Київської Духовної Академії. — №37. — К.: Київська духовна академія і семінарія, 2022. — С.140–147. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baranovych, Lazar Eastern Orthodox bishops of Kyiv 1693 deaths 17th-century Ukrainian people Year of birth unknown Baroque writers Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni Academic staff of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Bishops of Chernihiv Metropolitans of Kiev and all Rus' (claimed or partially recognised) 17th-century Polish poets 17th-century Polish male writers