The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
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The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Because of this it is often referred to as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and is one of the major Orthodox Churches in Ukraine, although it is the only one whose canonical status is recognized by the whole Eastern Orthodox communion.
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Formerly being the Ukrainian exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church it received a full autonomy (a status one step short of full autocephaly) on October 27, 1990. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church considers the descendant of the Orthodox Church of Kiev and all Russia in Ukraine, claiming a direct lineage to the original Baptism of Russia by St. Vladimir (Volodymyr) in 988. The Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Sabodan) is enthroned since 1992 as the head of the UOC under the title Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine, the with the official residency in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which also contains all of the Church's apparatus.
The church is currently the only Ukrainian church to have canonical standing in Eastern Orthodoxy, and operates in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches. It also owns the majority of Orthodox Church buildings in Ukraine and is predominant in eastern, central and southern Ukraine.
The Church currently has 42 dioceses, with 58 bishops (diocesan - 42; vicar - 12; retired - 4; with them being classified as: metropolitans - 10; archbishops - 21; or bishops - 26). There are also 8516 priests, and 443 deacons.
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