Ukrainian usage

In Brief

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world — 4.13 million faithful — and the Byzantine rite it prays is the Kyivan tradition: the Church understands itself as the heir of the Kyivan Church, "our Slavic identity and Kyivan Eastern tradition," in Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk's phrase.^1,2

Its root in communion with Rome is the Union of Brest, 1595–1596, when the Kyivan metropolia entered communion with Rome. Its books are new: in 2023 the Church in Ukraine adopted the new calendar for the fixed feasts, and on 25 March 2024 a new Sluzhebnyk and a new English translation of the Divine Liturgy entered use.^3,4,5

Where to Experience It

Ukraine, above all — the Major Archbishop at Kyiv–Halyč — and then one of the great diasporas of Eastern Christianity: Poland, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy. The 2023 calendar decision bound Ukraine; abroad, parishes keep the calendar their eparchy keeps — ask the parish which Christmas it keeps.^1,4

Come to a parish and you will hear Ukrainian — or Church Slavonic where the parish keeps it — in the new 2024 text: the Sluzhebnyk for the Slavonic, the new English Service Book for the English, the Dodatok for the people's parts.^5,8,11

Find a parish

• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church eparchies (find a parish)

Your First Visit

The Shape of the Liturgy

The order is the Byzantine order, and the 2024 books give it in the Church's own new rendering.

The preparation: the priest vests and prepares the gifts — the lamb from the leavened prosphora, the chalice mixed with wine and water. The Liturgy of the Word: the antiphons, the Little Entrance, the Trisagion, the readings and the homily. The Liturgy of the Faithful: the Great Entrance, the kiss of peace, the Creed, and the anaphora — St John Chrysostom's ordinarily, St Basil's on the appointed days. Then the Lord's Prayer, the elevation — "Holy things for the holy" — the Communion of clergy and faithful by spoon, in the Byzantine manner, the thanksgiving and the dismissal.^5,8,10

The calendar is part of the shape now. From 1 September 2023 the fixed feasts in Ukraine follow the new (Revised Julian) calendar — Christmas on 25 December — while the traditional Paschal reckoning is kept, so Easter stays with the Orthodox. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine made the same transition the same day.^4,9

The order of the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy

1. The preparation (proskomidija)
   The priest vests and prepares the gifts in the Byzantine order — the lamb from the leavened prosphora, the chalice mixed with wine and water.⁸
2. The Liturgy of the Word
   The antiphons, the Little Entrance, the Trisagion, the readings and the homily — in the new 2024 translation, in Ukrainian or in Church Slavonic from the new Sluzhebnyk.^5,8
3. The Liturgy of the Faithful
   The Great Entrance, the kiss of peace, the Creed, and the anaphora of St John Chrysostom — St Basil's on the appointed days — in the 2024 text.⁵
4. Communion and dismissal
   The Lord's Prayer, the elevation — 'Holy things for the holy' — the Communion of the clergy and the faithful, the thanksgiving and the dismissal. The people's parts are gathered in the 2024 Dodatok.^5,11

What makes it distinctive

• The Kyivan tradition: the Church understands itself as the heir of the Kyivan Church — 'our Slavic identity and Kyivan Eastern tradition,' in Shevchuk's phrase for the white klobuk.^2,12
• The 2024 books: a new Sluzhebnyk and a new English translation of the Divine Liturgy, in use from 25 March 2024.^5,8
• The 2023 calendar: the fixed feasts on the new (Revised Julian) calendar from 1 September 2023 in Ukraine, the traditional Paschal reckoning kept.^4,9
• The largest Eastern Catholic Church: 4.13 million faithful, in Ukraine and across a worldwide diaspora.¹

History

The tradition begins with the baptism of Rus' and the Byzantine inheritance of Kyiv — the Kyivan Church, whose heir the UGCC understands itself to be. In 1595–1596 the Union of Brest brought the Kyivan metropolia into communion with Rome; John Paul II's apostolic letter for the fourth centenary is the magisterial telling.^3,12

The Church's modern telling of that inheritance is its catechism, Christ Our Pascha (2011): the Synod of Bishops' own account of the Kyivan tradition. And its most visible sign is worn on the Major Archbishop's head: asked about the white klobuk, Shevchuk said the Church's liturgical commission told him he should wear it "because it emphasizes our Slavic identity and Kyivan Eastern tradition."^2,12

Then the two renewals. On 1 September 2023 the UGCC in Ukraine adopted the new calendar for the fixed feasts — the Church's own word is "historical decision" — keeping the Paschalion. On 25 March 2024 the new Sluzhebnyk and the new English translation of the Divine Liturgy entered use, with translations into other languages to be adapted to them.^4,5

Milestones

1. 1595–1596The Union of Brest: the Kyivan metropolia enters communion with Rome³
2. 2011The catechism Christ Our Pascha: the Synod of Bishops' telling of the Kyivan tradition¹²
3. 2023-09-01The UGCC in Ukraine adopts the new (Revised Julian) calendar for the fixed feasts, keeping the traditional Paschal reckoning; the Orthodox Church of Ukraine makes the same move^4,9
4. 2024-03-25The new Sluzhebnyk and the new English translation of the Divine Liturgy enter use⁵

Texts & Books

The books are the 2024 set: the Sluzhebnyk in Church Slavonic, with the Synod's preface; the English Service Book, proclaimed by the Head of the Church; the Dodatok, the supplement with the people's parts. The 2024 translation is the norm — the older books give way to it.^5,8,11

Behind them stands the catechism: Christ Our Pascha (2011), the Synod of Bishops' telling of the faith of the Kyivan tradition — the book to read if the liturgy's words raise the faith's questions.¹²

Family & Relations

The Ukrainian usage belongs to the Byzantine family, and its nearest kin is the Ruthenian recension: the 1942 Roman Slavonic books and the 2006 Pittsburgh English stand beside the UGCC's own 2024 books, two redactions of the central-European Byzantine inheritance. The Ruthenian recension's account — that Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Hungarian Byzantines use what is called the Ruthenian Recension — is the older map; the UGCC's 2024 books are the newer territory.^8,14

Within Ukraine the Church's family includes its Orthodox neighbours: the calendar reform of 2023 was made the same day as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's, and the kept Paschalion keeps Easter common.⁹

Compare with

• Ruthenian usage: the sister recension: the 1942 Roman Slavonic and the 2006 Pittsburgh English, where the Ukrainian books are the Church's own 2024 Sluzhebnyk and translation^8,14

The Rite Today

The Church prays the 2024 books — in Ukraine on the new calendar, in the diaspora on the calendar each eparchy keeps — and it prays them as the Kyivan Church: the white klobuk, the Slavonic and Ukrainian tongues, the 4.13 million faithful the diocesan pages sum. It is the largest Eastern Catholic Church, and the one whose liturgical life is most visibly being renewed in wartime.^1,4,5

As of 20 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

The sources for this page are the Church's own. The 2024 proclamation, the 2023 calendar decision, the Sluzhebnyk excerpt and the Dodatok, the 2011 catechism — all read, the Ukrainian PDFs in Ukrainian. Shevchuk's RISU interview gives the Kyivan-tradition phrase in his own mouth. John Paul II's Brest letter gives the root.^{2,3,4,5,8,11,12}

One caution: the calendar decision bound Ukraine. The diaspora's practice is the eparchies' own — this page does not generalize from Kyiv to Chicago. The translations in this entry are the Index's own.

On Domus Dei

• The Byzantine RiteThe rite this usage belongs to: the order, the anaphoras, the chant systems
• The Ruthenian usageThe sister recension: the Carpathian books and prostopinije

Official resources

• The UGCC's 2024 Service Book (proclamation)

Recommended reading

• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC Head Proclaims New Service Book, 2024.The Church's own proclamation: the new translation in use from 25 March 2024 Read online
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Historical Decision: The UGCC in Ukraine Switches to a New Calendar, 2023.The Church's own account of the historical calendar decision Read online
• Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Христос – наша Пасха: Катехизм Української Греко-Католицької Церкви (Christ Our Pascha: Catechism of the UGCC), 2011.Christ Our Pascha: the Synod's telling of the Kyivan tradition Read online
• John Paul II, Apostolic Letter for the Fourth Centenary of the Union of Brest, 1995.John Paul II on Brest, the usage's root in communion with Rome Read online

Sources

1. ReferenceGCatholic.org, Byzantine Churches sui iuris and their jurisdictions, 2026, Ukrainian diocese pages, summed; Ukrainian rite page. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · rite pages read; each Byzantine diocese page summed, 14 Sep 2026 (totals undated)
2. Primary textShevchuk, Sviatoslav, “His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk): 'I will continue to build the patriarchate'”, RISU. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: Shevchuk asked about the white klobuk; the Church's liturgical commission said he 'should wear a white klobuk because it emphasizes our Slavic identity and Kyivan Eastern tradition'
3. Magisterial / canonicalJohn Paul II, Apostolic Letter for the Fourth Centenary of the Union of Brest, 1995. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read on vatican.va
4. Primary textUkrainian Greek Catholic Church, Historical Decision: The UGCC in Ukraine Switches to a New Calendar, 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read on ugcc.ua
5. Primary textUkrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC Head Proclaims New Service Book, 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read on ugcc.ua (in use from 25 March 2024)
6. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990, can. 28 §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · URL repointed 18 Sep 2026 to the Latin text on vatican.va (part 1; cann. 656–657 are in part 2, codex-can-eccl-orient-2), because the caedm.ca English extract (616A) carries cc. 27–38 only; cann. 28, 40 §1, 656, 657 read there in the Latin, 18 Sep 2026. English translation: cann. 27–28 read in the caedm.ca PDF; cann. 671, 697, 707, 710, 713 read in the IntraText English edition; can. 881 §1 in IntraText, 2026-09-14
7. ReferenceCatholic World Report (CNA), Syro-Malabar Catholic Church leaders want a uniform liturgy. Why are they facing resistance?. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read in full: interviews Mar Joseph Srampickal (Eparchy of Great Britain) — the 1999 synodal compromise (Word facing the people, Anaphora facing the altar); John Paul II inaugurated the restored Holy Qurbana during his 1986 India visit; the Church raised to major archiepiscopal in 1992; Synod of August 2021 mandated the 1999 formula from Advent 2021; Ernakulam-Angamaly kept the status quo on a Vatican dispensation; diaspora eparchies in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand
8. Primary textSynod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Служебник (Service Book), 2024: published excerpt, 2024, preface. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read (Ukrainian PDF; excerpt only, pp. 5-11 and 91)
9. ReferenceReligious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU), On September 1, 2023, UGCC and OCU to Transition to New Calendar, 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read (OCU decision to use the New Julian calendar, preserving the Paschalion)
10. ReferenceExaltation of the Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Parish, How to Receive Eucharist in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read
11. Primary textUkrainian Greek Catholic Church, Додаток до Служебника (supplement to the Service Book: the people's parts), 2024, 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read (Ukrainian PDF)
12. Primary textSynod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Христос – наша Пасха: Катехизм Української Греко-Католицької Церкви (Christ Our Pascha: Catechism of the UGCC), 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read (Ukrainian PDF)
13. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 923, 1248 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
14. ReferenceVernoski, John, “Study Texts of the Byzantine Liturgy”, New Liturgical Movement. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Hungarian Byzantines (Catholic and Orthodox of central Europe) use 'what is called the Ruthenian Recension of the Byzantine Liturgy'; the normative Church Slavonic texts published by Rome in 1942; the 1964 Pittsburgh English translation and the 1976 Basil translation; differences from the Russian and Greek recensions are small — 'an occasional different text or rubric (the Ruthenian ones often being the more ancient)'