Skip to content

← Home

Yosyp Tukalskyi-Neliubovych

Yosyp Tukalskyi-Neliubovych (? — 26 July 1675) — a Ukrainian ecclesiastical and political figure, Metropolitan of Kyiv, Halych, and All Rus (1663–1675), the closest ally of Hetman Petro Doroshenko in the struggle for the independence of the Zaporozhian Host from the Tsardom of Muscovy and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Overview

Yosyp Tukalskyi-Neliubovych consistently defended the canonical independence of the Kyiv Metropolia from the Moscow Patriarchate and opposed the interference of secular authorities in church affairs.

After the conclusion of the Korsun Agreement of 1668 between Hetman Petro Doroshenko and the Ottoman Empire, Metropolitan Yosyp issued an official order to cease commemorating the Muscovite tsar as head of state in all Orthodox churches of Ukraine. He sought to establish a separate independent "Cossack patriarchate" with its center in Kyiv under the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Rank and residence: Metropolitan of Kyiv, Halych, and All Rus since 1663. Due to military operations, Chyhyryn served as his residence for a long time.
  • Struggle for church independence: Imprisoned by the Poles in Malbork (1664–1665) for his anti-Polish and anti-Muscovite position.
  • Abolition of the commemoration of the Muscovite tsar (1668): After Doroshenko's Korsun Agreement, he issued a decree removing the name of the Muscovite tsar from the liturgical texts of Ukrainian churches.
  • Idea of the Cossack Patriarchate: Promoted the idea of establishing an independent patriarchate for the Ukrainian Cossack state, which led to complex diplomatic relations with the Constantinopolitan throne.
  • Legacy: Died in Chyhyryn on 26 July 1675, buried in the Mhlyn Monastery (later reinterred in Liubech).