Ryllo, Maksymiliian

Ryllo, Maksymiliian [Рилло, Максиміліян], b 21 September 1719 in Barysaŭ, Belarus, d 22 November 1793 in Peremyshl. Uniate bishop and church figure. He was raised in the Vilnius region and became a priest of the Basilian monastic order (1742) and hegumen of the Kholm Monastery (1748–56). While bishop of Kholm (1759–84; see Kholm eparchy), he occasionally (1763–6 and 1773–4) had jurisdiction in areas of Right-Bank Ukraine. In 1780–4 he was the administrator and in 1784–93 bishop of Peremyshl (see Peremyshl eparchy). Ryllo founded theological seminaries in Kholm and Peremyshl, saw to the establishment of canonical chapters, and took measures to improve the quality of the clergy. He convinced Emperor Leopold II to issue a decree in 1790 establishing the equality of the Byzantine and Latin church rites in the Habsburg Empire and took measures to renew Halych metropoly. Ryllo kept a diary from 1742 that provides valuable insights into church affairs.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]