Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the context of "Orthodox Church of Ukraine"

The 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism is an ongoing schism between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which began on 15 October 2018 when the former unilaterally severed full communion with the latter.

The resolution was taken in response to a decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople of 11 October 2018, confirming its intentions to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the future. The decision also stated that the Holy Synod would immediately: reestablish a stauropegion in Kyiv, i.e. a church body subordinated directly to the ecumenical patriarch; revoke the "Letter of issue" (permission) of 1686 that had given permission to the patriarch of Moscow to ordain the metropolitan of Kiev and lift the excommunications which affected the clergy and faithfuls of two unrecognized Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox churches. Those two unrecognized churches, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), were competing with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) and were considered "schismatics" (illegally segregated groups) by the Patriarchate of Moscow, as well as by the other Eastern Orthodox churches.

A tomos (Greek: τόμος, romanized: tomos, lit. 'section', 'part of', 'part which is cut') in the Eastern Orthodox Church is a decree of the head of a particular Eastern Orthodox church on certain matters (such as the level of dependence of an autonomous church from its mother church).

Tomos is a Greek word; it can be literally translated as 'a section'. "In the narrower meaning in Orthodox church terminology, a tomos is [...] a scroll or a small book, but one with a very specific purpose — it codifies a decision by a Holy Synod, or council of Orthodox bishops." The translation of the word tomos in English is document.

The Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' (Ukrainian: Митрополит Київський та всієї Русі, romanized: Mytropolyt Kyivskyi ta vsiiei Rusi) was a metropolis of the Eastern Orthodox Church that was erected on the territory of Kievan Rus'. It existed between 988 AD and 1590s AD. The long lasting "tug of war" between bishops from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and bishops of the Principality of Moscow resulted in reorganization of the metropolis as the bishops from Moscow refused to recognize decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Canonically, it was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The metropolitan seat (cathedra) was located in the city of Kiev until it was moved to Vladimir-na-Klyazme in 1299 and then Moscow in 1325.

The metropolis was later revived in the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1620 AD to 1686 AD as an exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Again, to reflect its exclusion from the Tsardom of Russia, this episcopal title was renamed the "Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus'". The fate of the metropolis after that date is a matter of dispute: according to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the metropolis was uncanonically annexed or was in abeyance until it received the tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch; on the other hand, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) maintains that it was absorbed by the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Rus' and is currently an exarchate of the ROC that styles itself on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP).

The Metropolis of Kyiv (Greek: Μητρόπολις Κιέβου, romanized: Mitrópolis Kiévou; Ukrainian: Ки́ївська митропо́лія, romanized: Kyivska mytropoliia; Belarusian: Кіеўская мітраполія, Kijeŭskaja mitrapolija) was an autonomous metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople with center in Kyiv after its formation in 988 as a result of the Christianization of Rus by Volodymyr the Great until January 6, 2019, when it received the Tomos on Autocephaly.

In 1596, the Union of Brest was adopted which transferred the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the metropolis from the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Holy See. As a sui juris Eastern Catholic particular church, the metropolis retained its ancient rights; in time, it came to be known as the Ruthenian Uniate Church. Some clergy and laity in the Commonwealth continued to give their loyalty to Constantinople but had no hierarchs to support them. In 1620, the Ukrainian Cossacks, led by Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny, secured the restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy in the Commonwealth as the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus'.

Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian politician and oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. From 2007 until 2012, he headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank. He was elected president in 2014.

During his presidency, Poroshenko led the country through the first phase of the war in Donbas, pushing the Russian separatist forces into the Donbas Region. He began the process of integration with the European Union by signing the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement. Poroshenko's domestic policy promoted the Ukrainian language, nationalism, inclusive capitalism, decommunization, and administrative decentralization. In 2018, Poroshenko helped create the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, separating Ukrainian churches from the Moscow Patriarchate. His presidency was distilled into a three-word slogan, employed by both supporters and opponents: armiia, mova, vira (English: military, language, faith). As a candidate for a second term in 2019, Poroshenko was defeated by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.