Ukraine celebrates it's 1,020th anniversary of Christianity

In July 2008 Ukraine celebrated the 1,020th anniversary of its adoption of Christianity by holding church services and processions and welcoming foreign Orthodox Church leaders to the capital, Kiev.President Viktor Yushchenko held a reception for Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, at the 11th century St. Sophia Cathedral on Saturday. King Volodymyr the Great was the figure who officially brought Christianity to modern-day Ukraine. In 988 A.D., King Volodymyr was baptized and then instated Christianity as the state religion of what was then known as Kievan Rus.Afterwards, Volodymyr, had his family and all the people of Kievan Rus baptized and destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods. Ukrainian President Yushchenko said Thursday ahead of the gatherings that he hoped Ukraine’s celebrations of the adoption of Christianity will encourage unity among the country’s Orthodox communities.

The country has three major Orthodox Churches, which often compete against one another: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kiev Patriarchate, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the only one with a canonical standing in Eastern Orthodoxy and has full communion with other Eastern churches. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchy broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1989, while the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church obtained autonomy from Moscow.