Brest Union

The Union of Brest, or Union of Brześć, was the 1595-96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place itself under the authority of, the Pope of Rome.

The attempts to come to union with Catholic church were made before on several occasions among which is instance with Metropolitan of Kiev Isidore who signed the Union of Florence and technically united the Ruthenian Orthodox Church.

In 1588-1589 Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremias II traveled across the Eastern Europe, particularly the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Grand Duchy of Moscow where he finally acknowledged the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow and consecrating Patriarch Job of Moscow.

The hierarchs of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church of Vilnius gathered in synod in the city of Brest composed 33 articles of Union, which were accepted by the Pope of Rome. At first widely successful, within several decades it had lost much of its initial support, mainly due to its enforcement on the Orthodox parishes, which stirred several massive uprisings.

The union was solemnly and publicly proclaimed in the Hall of Constantine in the Vatican. Canon Eustachy Wołłowicz (), of Vilnius, read in Ruthenian and Latin the letter of the Ruthenian episcopate to the Pope, dated 12 June 1595. Cardinal Silvio Antoniani thanked the Ruthenian episcopate in the name of the Pope, and expressed his joy at the happy event. Then Hipacy Pociej, Bishop of Volodymyr, in his own name and that of the Ruthenian episcopate, read in Latin the formula of abjuration of the Greek Schism, Bishop Cyril Terlecki of Lutsk read it in Ruthenian, and they affixed their signatures. Pope Clement VIII then addressed to them an allocution, expressing his joy and promising the Ruthenians his support. A medal was struck to commemorate the event, with the inscription: Ruthenis receptis. On the same day the bull Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis was published, announcing to the Roman Catholic world the return of the Ruthenians to the unity of the Roman Church. The bull recites the events which led to the union, the arrival of Pociej and Terlecki at Rome, their abjuration, and the concession to the Ruthenians that they should retain their own rite, saving such customs as were opposed to the purity of Catholic doctrine and incompatible with the communion of the Roman Church. On 7 February 1596, Pope Clement VIII addressed to the Ruthenian episcopate the brief Benedictus sit Pastor ille bonus, enjoining the convocation of a synod in which the Ruthenian bishops were to recite the profession of the Catholic Faith. Various letters were also sent to the Polish king, princes, and magnates exhorting them to receive the Ruthenians under their protection. Another bull, Decet Romanum pontificem, dated 23 February 1596, defined the rights of the Ruthenian episcopate and their relations in subjection to the Holy See.

...
Wikipedia