X. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church

  1. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is self-governing with rights of broad autonomy.
  2. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall enjoy independence and self-determination in its governance in accordance with the Resolution on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held on 25th – 27th of October 1990.
  3. In its life and activities the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be guided by the Resolution on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of 1990, the Charter of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of 1990 and the Statute of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which shall be confirmed by its Primate and approved by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
  4. The bodies of church authority and governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be its Council and Synod headed by its Primate who bears the title “His Beatitude the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine.” The centre of governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be located in the city of Kiev.
  5. The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be elected by the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and blessed by His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
  6. The name of the Primate shall be commemorated in all churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church after the name of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
  7. The bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be elected by its Synod.
  8. The decision to establish or abolish dioceses which are a part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to define their territorial boundaries shall be taken by its Synod with the subsequent confirmation by the Bishops’ Council.
  9. The bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be members of the Local and Bishops’ Councils and participate in their work in accordance with Sections II and III of the present Statute and in the sessions of the Holy Synod.
  10. The decisions of the Local and Bishops’ Councils shall be binding for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
  11. The decisions of the Holy Synod shall be effective in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with taking into account the peculiarities determined by the independent nature of its governance.
  12. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall have its own supreme ecclesiastical court instance. At the same time, the court of the Bishops’ Council shall be the ecclesiastical court of last resort for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the canonical sanctions such as suspension for life from ministry, defrocking and excommunication from the Church shall be imposed by a diocesan bishop with the subsequent confirmation by the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine and the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

  1. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall receive the Holy Chrism from the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.