TheMajor Archeparchy of Kyiv–Galicia (Kyiv–Halych)^[a] is aUkrainian Greek CatholicMajorArcheparchy of theCatholic Church, that is located inUkraine. It was erected on 21 August 2005 with the approval ofPope Benedict XVI. There are other territories of the Church that are not located in Ukraine. Thecathedral church — theCathedral of the Resurrection of Christ — is situated in the city ofKyiv. Themetropolitan bishop is —ex officio — thePrimate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The incumbentmajor archbishop isSviatoslav Shevchuk.^[1]

The ecclesiastical province dates back to 988 AD when ametropolis was established by theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople after theconversion of theGrand Prince of Kiev —Vladimir the Great. TheMongol invasion of Europe devastatedKievan Rus' during the 13th century. A second metropolis for the south-western parts of Rus' — theMetropolis of Halych — was established in 1303 with its episcopal seat in the city ofHalych. This was proposed by KingLeo I of Galicia and came to fruition during the reign of his sonGeorge. It existed during most of the 14th century but remained vacant since 1401 as the Metropolitan of Kyiv took over the title.

During the 15th century, the metropolitans worked for Christian unity with the Patriarch of Constantinople. The first such attempt was in 1439 with theUnion of Florence. With theFall of Constantinople, the union fell asunder. A second attempt at union was essayed in 1596. It resulted in theUnion of Brest which re-establishedfull communion with theHoly See. Some clergy refused to subscribe to the articles of union and continued with the old rites and their allegiance to the Ecumenical Patriarch. More than 25 years of struggles within parishes for possession of church buildings and monasteries ensued. In 1620, thepatriarch of Jerusalem —Theophanes III — established an "Exarchate of Ukraine" for those dissenting clergy and laity who refused to conform to the union. Parallel successions to the title of "Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia" continued until 1686. In that year, thePatriarchate of Moscow uncanonically assumed the right to consecrate the Kiev metropolitans; from that time onwards, the metropolis became a creature of Moscow.

TheRuthenian Uniate Church (Greek Catholic) continued the succession of metropolitans in the lands of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Today, these lands are mainly found in the modern states of Ukraine,Poland, andBelarus. Following thepartitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772–1775), most of theRuthenian lands came under the control of theRussian Empire.Freedom of religion was not permitted in those lands. Consequently, by theSynod of Polotsk of 1839 (when all the Greek Catholic Bishops joined theRussian Orthodox Church) the Greek Catholic Church had been thoroughly suppressed. Church temporalities were seized by the OrthodoxMost Holy Synod. In the lands that came under the control of theHabsburgs (later theAustrian Empire), the Church survived. TheHabsburg monarchy reorganized their annexed territories as theKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. TheEparchy of Lviv in the kingdom was raised to the status of anarcheparchy or metropolis. Its bishop became a metropolitan bishop who governed thesuffragan eparchies. All primates were approved by the Pope. The new metropolis received the name"Metropolis of Galicia" in memory of the 14th century metropolis. In 1807,Pope Pius VII authorised the metropolitan to administer the vacant see of Kiev on the basis of the Eparchy of Lviv.

In 1939, the Metropolis of Galicia came underSoviet rule. In 1946, the Church structure was forcefully subjected to theRussian Orthodox Church. Church members however, continued to practice their faith in secret. The metropolitan resided in Rome during the period of theIron Curtain. In 1963,Pope Paul VI raised the metropolitan to the newly created rank ofMajor Archbishop, with rights equivalent to those of a Patriarch. The position was not so named however, in order not to provoke a new wave of repressions against the Catacomb Church in Ukraine and to avoid hampering ecumenical dialogue with thePatriarch of Constantinople.

Following thecollapse of Soviet Union, the Major Archbishop returned to his archepiscopal see inLviv. In June 2001, the Church enjoyed a visit fromPope John Paul II. On 25 November 1995, theArchiepiscopal Exarchate of Kyiv-Vyshhorod was created under the jurisdiction of theArcheparchy of Lviv. Originally, it covered all central, eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. Later (2002-2003), it lost territory to form newexarchates for the eastern region (the Exarchate of Donets’k–Kharkiv) and the southern region (theExarchate of Odesa). On 6 December 2004, the remaining central region of the Exarchate was transformed into theArcheparchy of Kyiv. Since the "Synod of Polotsk" in 1838, Kyiv had been deprived of its own see. At the same time, an ecclesiastical province ("major archeparchy") was erected. The Archeparchy of Kyiv became the principal see of the newly createdMajor Archeparchy of Kyiv-Halych, and thus a primatial see of theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church.^[2] Theepiscopal seat of the "Metropolis of Galicia" was transferred fromSt. George's Cathedral in the city of Lviv to theCathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in thecapital city of Ukraine —Kyiv. The title of the suppressedUkrainian Catholic Eparchy of Kamyanets was united with it on 6 December 2004. On 21 November 2011, the Major Archeparchy lost threesuffragan sees:Buchach (Bučač) andKolomyia–Chernivtsi andKamyanets; as a result, theArcheparchy of Kyiv is the sole territory of the Major Archeparchy of Kyiv-Halych.

• Antin II (1808—1814)
• Mykhailo II (1816—1858), also served as a Primate of Galicia and Lodomeria;elevated to cardinal in1856^[3]
• Hryhoriy II (1859—1866)
• Spyrydon (1866—1869)
• Josyf II (1870—1882)
• Sylvester (1882—1898),elevated to cardinal in1895^[4]
• Julian (1899-1900)
• Andrei (1900—1944)
• leading bishopJosyf Slipyj (1944-1945) In 1945, as the leading bishop of the Greek Catholic Church, he was arrested by the Soviet authorities. Following the Lviv Council (1946), the Greek Catholic Church was forcibly abolished on the territory of theSoviet Union, and its property and clergy transferred to theRussian Orthodox Church.

• Josyf III (1963–1984, in exile) In 1963, he was elevated to the rank ofMajor archbishop. Withfall of the Soviet Union in 1989, the Metropolis of Galicia was revived.Elevated to cardinal in 1965^[5]
• Myroslav (1984–14 December 2000).elevated to cardinal in1985^[6]
• Lubomyr Husar (January 2001 – 21 August 2005),elevated to cardinal in 2001^[7]

In 2005, the Exarchate of Kyiv-Galicia was transformed into a diocese and converted into an archdiocese. The new archdiocese was also turned into the Major Archbishop's see and reinstating the Kyiv see since the 1838 Synod of Polotsk.

• Lubomyr Husar (21 August 2005–10 February 2011),elevated to cardinal in 2001^[7]
• Sviatoslav Shevchuk (March 2011–incumbent) He wasauxiliary bishop of the Major Archeparchy of Lviv during 1996–2000 and wasapostolic administrator in 2000 until his appointment as Major Archbishop in 2001.

• Kyiv archeparchy
• GCatholic.org information page about the Major Archdiocese

• Eparchies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine
• 2005 establishments in Ukraine
• Dioceses established in the 21st century
• Metropolis of Kyiv

• CS1: abbreviated year range
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Latin-language text
• Articles containing Ukrainian-language text