Petro Mohyla

By Walter Kish

For the past several months I have been involved in helping organize a Canadian tour for the President of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy of Kyiv. This is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in Ukraine dating back to the early 1600’s, and is named after one of its principal founders Petro Mohyla, at that time the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Halych and All Rus.  Because of the connection, I was spurred to do a little research on Mohyla and discovered a most fascinating and colourful character.

Interestingly enough, despite being one of the most influential figures in Ukrainian history, he was not even Ukrainian.  He was born in 1597 into a family of Moldovan nobility as Petru Movila.  His father Ieremia was Voivode or ruler of Moldova and Wallachia, and his mother was a Hungarian princess.  When he was ten years old, his father was murdered in an internecine power struggle, so Petro and his mother fled to Western Ukraine where they had relatives amongst the local nobility.  He studied in Lviv as well as The Netherlands and France, gaining a broad classical education.

Upon completing his studies, he entered into the military service of the Polish Crown Hetman Stanislaw Zolkiewski and saw action as an officer fighting against the Turks at the Battles of Cecora and Khotyn.  For this he was rewarded with estates near Kyiv. 

Upon relocating to Kyiv, he was befriended by the then Metropolitan of Kyiv, Yov Boretsky, who encouraged and nurtured his involvement with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.  As an educated and prominent noble, his progression in the church hierarchy was assured and at the age of thirty in 1627, Petro Mohyla was appointed the Archimandrite of the Pecherska Lavra or Kyivan Cave Monastery.  At about this time, he was also elected to the Polish Sejm or parliament.

During this period in Ukrainian history, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was beset with threats to its existence.  Most of Ukraine was in Polish hands, and the Polish Catholic Church was pushing strongly for the elimination of the Orthodox Church in its territories and the forcible conversion of its Ukrainian population to Catholicism. On the northern front, the Russians were looking to expand their influence into Ukraine, and the Russian Orthodox Church on its part was looking to absorb its Ukrainian Orthodox brethren under its umbrella.

Caught between these two forces, Petro Mohyla decided to seek an understanding with the Poles, who were being increasingly challenged by a restive and antagonistic Ukrainian population.  His lobbying efforts proved successful when in 1632, the Polish government recognized the legality of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and gave it the right to appoint its own leadership, subject to Polish approval.  In 1633, the Polish government nominated Petro Mohyla to be the new Metropolitan of Kyiv, and he was so consecrated.

Mohyla proved to be a vigorous and able administrator, injecting new order and life into the Orthodox Church.  He instituted significant reforms to the monastic orders and canon law, as well as becoming a strong patron and promoter of scholarship and education.  During his time, the printing facilities at the Kyivan Cave Monastery became one of the leading publishing centres in all of Eastern Europe. His own published writings were numerous and influential in defining the theological dogma of his day.  It is safe to say that he was probably the leading intellectual of his time in Ukraine.

He used most of his personal wealth to renovate and restore many churches and cathedrals that had fallen on hard times. In addition, he was the prime force behind the creation in 1632 of a new college at the monastery which became known as the Kyivan Mohyla Academy. 

Petro Mohyla died in Kyiv in 1647, bequeathing most of his personal fortune to the Kyivan Mohyla Academy.  He is buried in the Dormition Cathedral of the Pecherska Lavra complex.  He left behind a powerful legacy whose influences are being felt even today.