Mohyla’s gift: the church of the Saviour at Berestove
Metropolitan Peter Mohyla (d. 1646) embarked on a project of Orthodox “globalization,” which included the official condemnation of the “Calvinist” Confession of Faith attributed to Loukaris, the preparation of an “Orthodox” Confession, its translation into Greek, its approval by the Eastern Patriarchs, and its dissemination in print. In constant competition with the Uniate Church—the institutional offspring of Rome’s attempt to integrate Slavia Orthodoxa—Mohyla strengthened the educational system by founding a college, which later became the Kyiv Academy, and successfully reformed the liturgical practices of his Church. In cooperation with one of the leading Greek theologians of the time, Meletios Syrigos (d. 1663), he succeeded in imposing his Confession as the standard text for the whole “Universal and Apostolic Eastern Church.” Mohyla’s efforts to integrate Muscovy into his projects failed: neither the printing of the Confession nor the establishment of a college and a Greek typography gained approval. Instead, the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia—two Ottoman tributary states at the crossroads of empires and cultures—proved highly receptive. Most liturgical books followed Kyivan models, the printing presses used Kyivan typographic materials, and Kyivan teachers came to teach at a college in Iași. Furthermore, it was in Iași that representatives of Mohyla and the Great Church of Constantinople discussed Mohyla’s Confession; it was also here that the condemnation of Loukaris’ Confession was printed. Mohyla’s role in shaping the “True Faith” can thus hardly be overstated.
Title:
Peter Mohyla, Metropolitan of Kyiv, Halych, and All Rus, kneels before Christ, offering Him the recently restored Berestove church. Kyiv – church of the Saviour at Berestove. Fresco by brothers Ioannis and Georgios (1643).
