| Rusyns (also referred to as Ruthenians, | | | | occurred prior to the Great Schism between |
| Ruthenes, Rusins, Carpatho-Rusyns, and | | | | the Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1054. |
| Rusnaks) are a modern ethnic group that | | | | Many Rusyn churches are named after the |
| speaks the Rusyn language and are descended | | | | Eastern Christian saints Cyril and Methodius, |
| from the minority of Ruthenians who did not | | | | who are often referred to as the "Apostles to |
| adopt a Ukrainian national identity in the | | | | the Slavs." |
| nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. | | | | |
| Because an overwhelming majority of | | | | Historian Paul Robert Magocsi recorded that |
| Ruthenians within Ukraine itself have adopted | | | | there were approximately 690,000 |
| a Ukrainian identity, most modern | | | | Carpatho-Rusyn church members in the United |
| self-declared Rusyns live outside Ukraine. | | | | States, with 320,000 in the largest Catholic |
| Thus, of the approximately 2 million people | | | | affiliations, 270,000 in the largest Orthodox |
| claimed by Rusyn organizations as being | | | | affiliations, and 100,000 in various |
| Rusyns, only 55,000 declare themselves as | | | | Protestant and other denominations. |
| having this nationality. The ethnic identity | | | | |
| of Rusyns is therefore highly controversial, | | | | Eastern Rite Catholics |
| with some researchers claiming a separate | | | | |
| East Slavic ethnicity distinct from Russians, | | | | Many Rusyns are Eastern Catholics, who since |
| Ukrainians, and Belarusians, while others | | | | the Union of Brest in 1596 and the Uzhorod |
| considering Rusyns to be a subgroup of the | | | | Union in 1646, are united with other |
| Ukrainian nation. Some parallels can be drawn | | | | Catholics under the spiritual leadership of |
| with the relationship of Moldovans to | | | | the Pope, but retain their Old Slavonic |
| Romanians. | | | | liturgy and most of the outward forms of the |
| | | | Greek or Eastern Orthodox Church. |
| Location | | | | |
| | | | The Rusyns of former Yugoslavia are organized |
| Rusyns have traditionally inhabited the area | | | | under the Eparchy of Krizevci. |
| of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and still | | | | |
| inhabit those areas. While their homeland is | | | | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| often referred to as Carpathian Ruthenia, | | | | |
| that area no longer exactly corresponds with | | | | Although originally associated with the |
| the places inhabited by Rusyns. There are | | | | Orthodox Church of Constantinople, the |
| also resettled Rusyn communities located in | | | | affiliation of the Rusyn Orthodox Church was |
| the Pannonian plain, as well as in parts of | | | | adversely affected by the Communist |
| present day Serbia (especially in Vojvodina | | | | revolution in Russia and the subsequent Iron |
| – see also Ethnic groups of | | | | Curtain which split the Orthodox diaspora |
| Vojvodina), as well as in present-day Croatia | | | | from those living in the ancestral homelands. |
| (in the region of Slavonia). Still other | | | | A number of emigre communities have laid |
| Rusyns migrated to the northern regions of | | | | claim to continuing the Orthodox tradition of |
| present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. | | | | the pre-revolution church, while either |
| | | | negating or minimizing the validity of the |
| Many Rusyns also emigrated to the United | | | | church organization operating under Communist |
| States and Canada, and now are able to | | | | authority. For example, the Orthodox Church |
| reconnect as a community with the advent of | | | | in America (OCA) was granted auto-cephalous |
| the internet, voicing their concerns and | | | | (self-governing) status by the Moscow |
| trying to preserve their separate ethnic and | | | | Patriarchate in 1970. Although approximately |
| cultural identity. | | | | 25% of the OCA was Rusyn (referred to as |
| | | | "Ruthenian") in the early 1980s, an influx of |
| Religion | | | | Orthodox emigres from other nations and new |
| | | | converts wanting to connect with the "early" |
| When the Rusyns accepted Christianity (and | | | | church have lessened the impact of a |
| who or what they worshiped before) is a | | | | particular Rusyn emphasis in favor of a new |
| source of some debate, but it clearly | | | | American Orthodoxy. |