20 Facts About Petro Mohyla

Petro Mohyla was born into the House of Movilesti, who were a family of Romanian boyars.

Petro Mohyla was a descendant of Stephen the Great, through the bloodline of his great-grandfather Petru Rares.

Petro Mohyla started preparing spiritually at his aristocratic home in Rubiejovka, where he founded a church dedicated to Saint John the New from Suceava.

Petro Mohyla then settled in Kyevo-Pechers'ka Lavra in Kyiv, which was the political, cultural, spiritual, and educational center of Ukraine.

In 1632 Petro Mohyla became the bishop of Kyiv and abbot of Pecherska Lavra.

The first years as abbot Petro Mohyla showed that he had far-reaching goals to reform not only the monastic life at the Lavra and the Church.

Petro Mohyla wanted to strengthen the Orthodox spirituality and enhance the sense of national identity as well as raise the educational level in the country and in all Russian and Romanian lands to equal that in Western Europe.

One of the first steps in implementing this vision, Petro Mohyla founded at the Lavra a school for young monks.

Petro Mohyla helped to establish the school in Iasi in Moldova as well.

For over 20 years, Petro Mohyla played a leading role in Ukraine's book printing.

Petro Mohyla was one of the first to print in the Ukrainian language.

Petro Mohyla wanted to preserve the Ukrainian nation's identity that had been experiencing enormous pressure from the Polish and Lithuanian regimes.

Petro Mohyla initiated the publication of sermons for the laity in Ukrainian, Biblical texts in Church Slavonic, and scientific books in Ukrainian, Polish, Greek, and Latin.

Petro Mohyla wrote several books which were distributed in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Muscovy, Romania, and Georgia.

Petro Mohyla stressed the need for students to ponder over and understand and not simply repeat scientific, religious, and moral truths.

Petro Mohyla argued that the person has to maintain peace with the neighbors; defend his lands in the times of war; a ruler is not only obligated to issue laws but first of all he should limit his own powers.

However, Petro Mohyla remained undeterred in his efforts to make the use of Latin in schools obligatory since it was an essential part in the curriculum in all European schools and universities.

Petro Mohyla initiated substantial restoration projects of key historical monuments in Kyiv and around the country.

Petro Mohyla is venerated as a saint in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, and the Polish Orthodox Church.

The Greek Orthodox Church has tended to be more suspicious of Petro Mohyla, some believing him to be too influenced by trends in Roman Catholic theology.