Uniate

[ yoo-nee-it, -eyt ]

noun

1. a member of an Eastern church that is in union with the Roman Catholic Church, acknowledges the Roman pope as supreme in matters of faith, but maintains its own liturgy, discipline, and rite.

Other Words From

• Uni·at·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Uniate¹

1825–35; < Ukrainian uni ( y ) át, equivalent to úni ( ya ) the Union of Brest-Litovsk (1596), an acceptance of papal supremacy by some Orthodox clerics in Poland (< Polish uni ( j ) a < Latin ūniō union ) + -( y ) at ≪ Latin -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Senior Orthodox cleric Metropolitan Hilarion said that long-standing differences between the two churches remain, most notably a row over the status of the Uniate Church in Ukraine.

From The Guardian

"The Eastern Catholic churches banned by Stalin re-emerged, especially in Ukraine and Romania, and from the Orthodox came the old accusation about Uniate churches and proselytism."

From Reuters

Though the establishment of the Uniate churches cannot be divorced from its place in an outdated tradition of tit-for-tat inter-Christian conversions, the result demonstrates what an practical Christian unity could look like.

From Time

If the Polish and Russian Bishops are allowed to come, they too will swell the majority; and so, it is believed, will the Armenian and Uniate Bishops in Austria, Russia, and Bulgaria, numbering about 40.

From Project Gutenberg

In Transylvania the Uniate church became an important medium by which Romanian national identity was fostered in the struggle against foreign assimilation.

From Project Gutenberg