The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Apostolic See. With more than 5.5 million faithful, it is the largest of all twenty-three Eastern Churches in the global Catholic community, second in number after the Latin (Roman Catholic) Church. The UGCC is headed by the Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk). According to the canonical tradition of the Catholic Church, the UGCC is a Church of its own right (Ecclesia sui juris). It has its own rite, which originates from the Constantinopolitan tradition, and preserves its liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary heritage in the cultural and historical circumstances of its people. As one of the parts of the ancient Church of Kyiv, the UGCC strives to restore its original unity. In the framework of its faithful’s social and civic life, the Church defends the right of the Ukrainian people to their independent conciliar state and the formation of a conscious civil society within it. The UGCC implements a range of charitable and civic projects in Ukraine and abroad.