The Union of Brest

In 1596, the Byzantine (by then Orthodox, since the Great Schism of 1054) bishops of Poland agreed to the Union of Brest by which they would acknowledge the primacy of the Pope of Rome but would keep their Byzantine tradition of worship and discipline (including married clergy), thereby creating the Byzantine Catholic (also Greek Catholic or Uniate) Church. However, a split developed within the Eparchy of Peremyshl, where there were two bishops, one united with Rome and the other not. The deaneries in the Lemko Region immediately accepted the jurisdiction of the united bishop. This situation continued in the eparchy until 1692, when it was rejoined under the bishop united with Rome.8 This began the period of the flowering of the Byzantine Catholic Church, during which many new church structures were built throughout the Lemko Region and the Church's influence over the Lemko population grew.


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