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 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 ...

to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical practices, leading to the formation of 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 ...

, which currently exists as the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

and the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church.

The union

Background

Rome-oriented Christians and their Byzantium-oriented counterparts formally severed connections from 1054. Subsequent attempts to unify Eastern Orthodox believers and the Catholic Churches were made on several occasions, including an instance in 1452 in which the deposed Metropolitan of Kiev, Isidore (in office from 1437 to 1441), endorsed the 1439 Union of Florence and formally promised the unity of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church with Rome. In 1588–1589, Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremias II traveled across Eastern Europe, particularly the

and 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. ...

, where he finally acknowledged the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

in Moscow (estranged from Constantinople since the 1440s) and consecrated Patriarch Job of Moscow as the Eastern Orthodox All-Russian Patriarch (a dignity previously held by Isidore from 1437 to 1441). Patriarch Jeremias II deposed the Metropolitan of Kiev, , and with the approval of the King of Poland Sigismund III, consecrated Michael Rohoza as the new Metropolitan of Kiev, Halych, and all Rus'.

Negotiations

After Patriarch Jeremias II left Muscovy in 1589, four out of nine bishops 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 ...

in the Ruthenian lands of the

gathered in synod in the city of Brest. They signed a declaration of their readiness to reunite with Rome.Hudziak, B.O., Tu, O.Yu.
The 1596 Brest Church Union (БЕРЕСТЕЙСЬКА ЦЕРКОВНА УНІЯ 1596)
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. The 33 articles of Union were accepted by

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

. At first widely successful, the Union lost some of its initial support within the following several decades, mainly due to its enforcement on the Orthodox parishes, which provoked several massive uprisings. ;List of bishops who did not initially accept the union * Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' * Archeparch of Polotsk–Vitebsk * Bishop of Smolensk * Bishop of Volodymyr–Brest * Bishop of Przemyśl-Sambir-Sanok (adopted the union in 1692) ;List of bishops who in 1590 signed the declaration of intent * Bishop of Luck and Ostrog — Kyrylo Terletskyi (exarch of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople) * Bishop of Pinsk and Turow — Leontiy Pelchytskyi * Bishop of Chelm —

Dionisiy Zbyruiskyi Dionysius Zbyruyskyy (worldwide ''Dmitry Hrytskovych''; ) (died 18 November 1603) was the Bishop (Eparch) of the Eparchy of Chełm–Belz (Ruthenian Uniate Church), Eparchy of Chełm–Belz in the Ruthenian Uniate Church. From 1585, he had been the ...

* Bishop of Lviv — Hedeon Balaban ;List of bishops who later joined the agreement * Bishop of Przemysl — Mykhailo Kopystenskyi * Archbishop of Polock — Herman Zahorskyj ''(acting)'' * Bishop of Volodymyr-Brest — Hypatius Pociej * Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' — Michael Rohoza At the request of Prince Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Hypatius Pociej left his post of Greater Castellan of Brześć Litewski and accepted the King's appointment to the

eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

of Volodymyr-Brest. Prince Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski considered that the Metropolitan of Kyiv should reach an agreement with the eastern patriarchs, the Patriarch of Moscow, and Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina for joint participation in agreement with the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

. In 1595, both Hedeon Balaban and Mykhailo Kopystenskyi withdrew their signatures from the agreement. That same year the Archbishop of Polotsk, Nathaniel Sielitskyi, died, and was replaced with Herman Zahorksyi.

Proclamation

The union was solemnly and publicly proclaimed in the Hall of Constantine in the Vatican. Canon Eustachy Wołłowicz, of

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 ...

, read in Ruthenian and in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

the letter of the Ruthenian episcopate to 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 ...

, dated 12 June 1595.

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Silvio Antoniani thanked the Ruthenian episcopate in the name of the Pope, and expressed his joy at the happy event. Then Hipacy Pociej, Bishop of Volodymyr, in his own name and that of the Ruthenian episcopate, read in Latin the formula of abjuration of the 1054 Greek Schism, Bishop Cyril Terlecki of

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, 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 populati ...

read it in Ruthenian, and they affixed their signatures.

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 ...

then addressed to them an allocution, expressing his joy and promising the Ruthenians his support. A medal was struck to commemorate the event, with the inscription: '. On the same day the bull ' was published, announcing to the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

world for the first time that Ruthenians were in the unity of the Roman Church. The bull recites the events which led to the union, the arrival of Pociej and Terlecki at

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, ...

, their abjuration, and the concession to the Ruthenians that they should retain their own rite, save for such customs as were opposed to the purity of Catholic doctrine and incompatible with the communion of the Roman Church. On 7 February 1596,

addressed to the Ruthenian episcopate the brief ', enjoining the convocation of a synod in which the Ruthenian bishops were to recite the profession of the Catholic Faith. Various letters were also sent to the Polish king, princes, and magnates, exhorting them to receive the Ruthenians under their protection. Another bull, ', dated 23 February 1596, defined the rights of the Ruthenian episcopate and their relations in subjection to 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 ...

Terms

It was agreed that the formulation '' filioque'' should not be inserted in Ruthenians'

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

, and that the Ruthenians

"should remain with that which was handed down to us in the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel, and in the writings of the holy Greek Doctors, that is, that the Holy Spirit proceeds, not from two sources and not by a double procession, but from one origin, from the Father through the Son."

The bishops asked to be dispensed from the obligation of introducing the

Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

, so as to avoid popular discontent and dissensions, and insisted that the king of Poland should grant them, as of right, the dignity of senators.

Outcomes

The union was strongly supported by the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

and

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

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 ...

, but opposed by some bishops and prominent nobles of Rus', and (perhaps most importantly) by the nascent Cossack movement for Ukrainian self-rule. The result was "Rus' fighting against Rus'", and the splitting of the Church of Rus' into

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

and

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

jurisdictions. The greatest noble to oppose it was Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski. In 1620, the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia was erected under the care of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for dissenting Eastern Orthodox faithful. This resulted in parallel successions of metropolitans to the same ecclesiastical title in the territory of the Commonwealth.

Notes

References

External links

*
The text
{{Ruthenian Uniate Church 1595 in Europe 16th-century Eastern Catholicism 1590s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 16th century in Belarus Eastern Christianity in Belarus 16th century in Ukraine History of Christianity in Ukraine History of Brest, Belarus Eastern Orthodoxy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Eastern Catholicism in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Ruthenian Uniate Church History of Eastern Catholicism 16th-century Eastern Orthodoxy Conversion to Catholicism 1595-06