The Apostolic Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Vitaly (Kuzhevatov), gathered clergy and laity in Kyiv in late October 2013. Opening the council, the primate greeted the participants, after which the assembly turned to an agenda that ultimately proved broader than routine church reporting. The account of the council, published on the APC in Ukraine website on 22 October, records canonical changes, personnel decisions, and the first conciliar resolution on glorification.
Rank and Office
The main reform concerned governance. The positions of primate and metropolitan became elective for four years with the right to re-election and early re-election. The title "metropolitan" is now added to the episcopal rank only for the term, meaning it ceases to be a lifelong status. The rationale for this change was given by Bishop of Volyn and Galicia Oleg (Vedmedenko). As stated in the council report, "There is no higher rank in the Church than Bishop," and metropolitan is an office, not a separate rank.
The council confirmed the all-Ukrainian status of the Kyiv Metropolis and its Synod with the title "Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine." According to the APC's own report, this formulation secured for the Kyiv see a church-wide significance within the country, not merely a local one.
Elections and the Procedure for Ordinations
By secret ballot, Vitaly (Kuzhevatov) was re-elected primate for four years. Oleg (Vedmedenko) was elected Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine in place of Viktor (Veryaskin). At his own request, Veryaskin was retired with the title "metropolitan emeritus." In 2019 he headed the Apostolic Church-ified, or AOC, and this later fate of the church figure well illustrates how rapidly jurisdictions changed in the Ukrainian Orthodox space of that time.
The council also established the procedure for ordinations. A candidate for episcopal service is nominated by at least three communities, then undergoes a preliminary examination, and final consent is given by the metropolitan after consultation with all bishops. This procedure entrenched collegiality and made the decision on consecration visible to the whole church, not only to the primate.
The first decision of the council was the canonization of Priest Pavel Adelgeim. The council unanimously recognized him as a confessor and teacher of the Church. A report on his life and legacy was prepared by historian Lev Regelson. Speeches were given by Archpriest Gleb Yakunin, secretary of the APC Synod, and Metropolitan Viktor (Veryaskin). The icon of the saint was painted by Priest Sergiy Vutyanov, rector of the Kyiv APC community.
Vutyanov soon found himself at the center of events only loosely connected to the council's decisions, but which show how the Kyiv community lived in the winter of 2014. On 5 January 2014, he brought the icons of the Kyiv community to the Maidan. On 19 February of the same year, the tent-church burned down, but the icons were saved. In April 2014, reports of myrrh-streaming appeared, which were discussed in the press at the time.
Two years after the council, the structure of the Ukrainian part of the APC changed. On 22 November 2015, Oleg (Vedmedenko) and Vladimir (Mocharnik), Bishop of Transcarpathia and Montenegro, announced the creation of the UNAPC. On 23 December 2015, a unification council was held in Kyiv, at which the APC in Ukraine was formed, and Stefan (Negrebetsky) became metropolitan. At the same council, Gleb Yakunin, who had spoken at the 2013 council, was glorified.
In November 2021, Oleg (Vedmedenko) died, and in February 2022, the bishops of the APC of Ukraine, Russia, and the USA issued a joint appeal. It became one of the last documents signed by Primate Vitaly (Kuzhevatov), who had been re-elected for four years in Kyiv in October 2013.
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