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Volodymyr I
Holiest Patriarch of Kyiv and all Rus-Ukraine
Memorial plaque to Patriarch Volodymyr on the facade of the Holy Protection Church in Kyiv
Native name	Володимир І
Church	Ukrainian Orthodox Church
See	Kyivan Patriarchate
Elected	22 October 1993 (by All-Ukrainian Orthodox Assembly)
Installed	24 October 1993 (at Saint Sophia's Cathedral)
Term ended	14 July 1995
Predecessor	Mstyslav
Successor	Filaret
Other post(s)	Locum tenens of Patriarchal throne, Metropolitan (1993) Archbishop of Lviv and Sokal (Lviv diocese, 1993)
Orders
Ordination	28 April 1990 by Ioan (Bodnarchuk)
Consecration	29 April 1990 by Ioan (Bodnarchuk)
Personal details
Born	Vasyl Omelianovych Romaniuk (1923-12-09)9 December 1923 Chomczyn [uk], Poland (now Khimchyn, Ukraine)
Died	14 July 1995(1995-07-14) (aged 71) Botanic Garden, Kyiv, Ukraine
Buried	Sofia Square (Sofiyivska plochsha), Kyiv
Nationality	Ukrainian
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Spouse	Maria Antonyuk (1920–1987)
Children	Taras Romaniuk
Alma mater	Moscow Theological Academy

Volodymyr (secular name Vasyl Omelianovych Romaniuk, Ukrainian: Василь Омелянович Романюк; 9 December 1923 – 14 July 1995) was a Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox priest and human rights activist who was Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate from its founding until his death. Prior to becoming patriarch, he had been a prisoner of conscience and one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.

Biography

Vasyl Omelianovych Romaniuk was born on 9 December 1923 into a Hutsul family in the village of Khimchyn [uk], in what was then the Second Polish Republic. During World War II, he studied at Kosiv within the General Government and was a member of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists operating underground in opposition to the German occupation. Following the recapture of Kosiv by the Red Army, Romaniuk was arrested for his nationalist activities on 12 July 1944. His family was deported to Siberia while he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. He served out his sentence in Poltava Oblast.

Romaniuk was again imprisoned during the 1972–1973 Ukrainian purge and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for anti-Soviet agitation. He was recognised as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

In 1979 he became a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, was exiled from 1979 till 1982, and became a political emigrant at the end of the 1980s. On 1 July 1976 Volodymyr renounced his Soviet citizenship.

Between 1987 and 1990, Vasyl Romaniuk lived in Canada and was a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. He also served under the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, whose Metropolitan was Metropolitan Mstyslav (later Patriarch of Kyiv). In 1990 with the onset of Perestroyka and movement for revival of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, he returned to Ukraine.

In April of 1990 he was tonsured as an archimandrite selecting name of Volodymyr and next day consecrated as Bishop of Uzhhorod and Vynohradiv. His cheirotonia was carried out by Metropolitan of Lviv and Galicia Ioann (Bodnarchuk), bishop of Ternopil and Buchach Basil (Bondarchuk), bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk Andrew (Abramchuk), bishop of Chernivtsi Daniel (Kovalchuk). His speedy consecration of bishop was not something special and similar method was widely practiced in the Russian Orthodox Church.

For a short period, he was Archbishop of Lviv and Sokal.

On 22 October 1993 he was elected Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate.

Death and funeral

On 14 July 1995 Patriarch Volodymyr suddenly died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, with the official diagnosis being causes related to a heart attack.

Volodymyr's burial, on 18 July 1995, turned into a riot. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), which controlled Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (with support from the Kuchma Ukrainian Government), refused a request from the Kyiv Patriarchate Orthodox Church to bury him on the cathedral's grounds. Kyiv Patriarchate officials, flanked and supported by uniformed paramilitary guards of the UNA-UNSO nationalist movement, broke through the sidewalk asphalt outside the cathedral gates and buried him there. The Berkut riot police came out from the gates of the Cathedral and attacked the assembly and fighting with Volodymyr's supporters left about 70 people injured. Although an official inquiry was later made, no prosecutions were made. Many religious faithful later called the event Black Tuesday.

Patriarch Volodymyr (Romaniuk) was succeeded by Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko) who was enthroned as Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’ - Ukraine on October 22, 1995.

Awards

• Order for Courage 1st class (8 November 2006).

Notes

1. In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Omelianovych and the family name is Romaniuk.

References

1. ^ Melnyk, Ihor (18 July 2015). "Кривавий похорон Патріарха" [The Patriarch's bloody funeral]. Zbruč (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 10 March 2024.
2. Prisoners of Conscience in the USSR: Their Treatment and Conditions. London: Amnesty International. 1975. p. 30. ISBN 0-86210-006-2.
3. Krainiy, I. Архібідняцька юність Патріарха. (in Ukrainian; archived 15 April 2015) "Ukrayina Moloda", accessed 25 June 2022
4. ^ ""Чорний вівторок" : Похорон Патріарха Володимира - YouTube". Retrieved 11 January 2024.
5. Rupert, James. Washington Post, "Ukraine Patriarch's Unruly Burial Brings Church-State Ties to a Low", accessed 20 April 2023.
6. Decree of the President of Ukraine from 8 листопада 2006 year № 937/2006 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України засновників та активістів Української Громадської Групи сприяння виконанню Гельсінкських угод» (in Ukrainian)

External links

• Religious Information Service of Ukraine
• Joseph R. Gregory Ukraine: Christians in Conflict
• Video about Patriarch Volodymyr on YouTube (in Ukrainian)

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