Michael Rohoza (died 1599) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in 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 ...

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

from 1588 to 1596. In 1595, he signed the

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 ...

which moved the

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

from the

ecclesiastical jurisdiction Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is jurisdiction by Clergy, church leaders over other church leaders and over the laity. Overview Jurisdiction is a word borrowed from the legal system which has acquired a wide extension in theology, wherein, for examp ...

of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of 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 ...

. By this act, 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 ...

was formed in the territory 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 ...

. From 1596 until his death in 1599, he held the title of Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ruthenian Uniate Church.

Early life

Michael was born in

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

about 1540 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 ...

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

family in the region of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

county. He probably studied in a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

college in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

where he worked as clerk for the prince Bogush Koretsky, a voivode of Vilnius.Holovata, N.
Mykhailo Rohoza
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine He later entered in the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the Ascension in

. In 1579 he became the

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

of the monastery.

Career

At that time, there were two ecclesiastical titles of the

in the former

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

with similar names and origins; the "Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus'" and the "Metropolis of Moscow and all Rus'". The territory of the former was effectively confined to the territory of the

while the territory of the latter included the

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. ...

. Both metropolitans were recognized, and sometimes consecrated, by the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

. In 1589, Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople visited the Tsardom of Russia. At the request of Boris Godunov — the ''de facto''

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of the Tsardom — he raised the "Metropolis of Moscow and all Rus'" to the status of a

patriarchate Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...

. On his return trip to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Jeremias also visited the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In agreement with King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

, he deposed the Metropolitan , probably because he was a digamy (the second marriage for priests) and he tolerated this use. King Sigismund, under the advice of such magnates as the voivode of Navahrudak (Teodor Skumin-Tyszkiewicz) and the voivode of Kiev (

Konstanty Ostrogski Konstanty Iwanowicz Ostrogski ( – 10 August 1530) was a Ruthenian prince and magnate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He later had the title of grand hetman of Lithuania from 11 September 1497 until his death in 1530. Career Ostrogski began ...

), put forward Michel Rohoza as his candidate for the metropolis. In August 1589 at Vilnius, Jeremias consecrated Michel as Metropolis of Kiev, Halych and all Rus'. As Metropolitan, he started to reform the Church. He wished to improve the mores of the clergy and to reduce of the meddling of lay people (and of

confraternities A confraternity (; ) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Catholics, L ...

) in the life of the Church and in monasteries. To this end, he summoned a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

in 1590. His attempts of reform were opposed by the stauropegics. Since it proved difficult to carry on the reforms, he began to look 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, ...

.T. Kempa, Metropolita Michał Rahoza a unia brzeska, "Klio", t. 2: 2002, s. 56–62 In 1590, Metropolitan Rohoza with all his

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

bishops, subscribed to a document that solicited a union with

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on condition that this union of faith would preserve the

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 ...

, the liturgical practices and the

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

of the metropolis. This was agreed and was formalized in a document on 2 December 1594 and again in two petitions, one to the king and one 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 ...

, undersigned in Brest on 12 June 1595. This

, as it became known, was formally proclaimed 8 October 1596. While Rohoza signed the union, he later tried to hinder its action, but without results. Rohoza died between June and August 1599. He was succeeded by the bishop of Volodymyr, Hypatius Pociej, a fierce supporter of the union. Not all the Ukrainians supported the union, and twenty years later, in 1620 the Patriarch of Jerusalem re-established a Kievan Metropolia under his own

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

, which first Metropolitan was Yov Boretsky, so duplicating the hierarchy.

Notes

References

External links

Mikhail Rahoza
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 ...

Michael Rohoza
at Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohoza, Mykhajlo People from Volhynian Voivodeship (1569–1795) Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Ukrainian Orthodox Christians Metropolitans of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' (1441–1596) Leaders of the Ruthenian Uniate Church Bishops of the Ruthenian Uniate Church Eastern Orthodoxy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1599 deaths Year of birth unknown Clergy from Minsk Archimandrites