Country Ukraine Headquarters Odessa, Ukraine Established July 28, 2003 | Territory Southern Ukraine Rite Byzantine Major archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk | |
Sui iuris church Ukrainian Greek Catholic | ||
The Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Odessa – Crimea was established on 11 January 2002 from the Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Kyiv – Vyshhorod (which has now become the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archeparchy of Kyiv-Halych). It has been divided on 13 February 2014, in Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Odessa and Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Crimea. The only archiepiscopal exarch was Archbishop Vasyl Ivasiuk, now transferred transfer to the see of the eparchy of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi of the Ukrainians.
They are two of the only five archiepiscopal exarchates which exist in the world, all part of the particular Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and following the Byzantine Ukrainian Rite.
Status as Archiepiscopal Exarchate
As Major Archbishops have similar authority to that of Patriarchs, Archiepiscopal Exarchates similarly have roughly the same status in canon law as Patriarchal Exarchates.