For my own understanding, and perhaps for that of a few readers as well, I feel it is necessary to begin a discussion of Ukrainian Orthodoxy with a quick historical primer. Everyone always asks when and how the Orthodox churches began to differ from the Catholic Church. I have tried to sketch this history below, by cramming a couple thousand years into a few paragraphs. The piece concludes with an introduction to the complex situation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and a summary of thoughts that Archbishop Mitrofan shared with me during an interview in the Monastery of the Caves.
What is the difference between Orthodox and Catholic?
The apostles of Christ trekked around Mediterranean lands and planted churches, within which evolved a hierarchy. The apostles of Christ, consecrated bishops, who could then pass on spiritual power to others. By the 2nd century AD many notable cities had a bishop. Persecution meant that the Church frequently operated underground. In places it was physically underground, with caves becoming the most important alters, schools, and resting places of martyrs. Early in the new millennium Emperor Nero did a lot to keep Christians in hiding -- he issued sanctions against believers and allegedly found a use for them as human torches in his gardens. The start of the 4th century saw the "great persecution" under Emperor Diocletian. Then in 313 AD, after Constantine had his famous vision of the cross, the edict of Milan was passed -- ending government-sanctioned persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Constantine was also the one responsible for moving the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, and founding in Constantinople what would become a thousand year dynasty. In 325 he convened the council of Nicaea to sort out a controversy that Arius had started in the Church regarding the nature of Jesus and the Father.