All protests from Moscow were in vain: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has recognized the independence of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine. At a ceremony in the Patriarchate in Istanbul Bartholomew I. signed in the presence of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko a document on the independence of the new church, headed by the Ukrainian Metropolitan Epiphanius.
On December 15, two Orthodox Ukrainian churches had united in Kiev, which split off in 1921 and 1992 from the Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow. By merging into the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the two previously unrecognized churches paved the way for their recognition by Bartholomew I.
Unlike the Pope, who governs a unified Catholic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is merely the most respected of a dozen Orthodox church leaders, a first among equals. Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill denies that Bartholomew has the right to decide on the independence of the Ukrainian Church, as it was subordinate to Moscow in past centuries. However, it was Constantinople that once confirmed Moscow's ecclesiastical independence, and later the subordination of Kiev to the Moscow Patriarchs.
Election campaign with church politics
ERDEM SAHIN / EPA-EFE / REX
Petro Poroshenko, Bartholomew, Epiphanius (from left to right)
The long-simmering conflict in the Orthodox Church has been exacerbated in recent years by the annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula by Russia and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Moscow supports the pro-Russian separatists there.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has recently been pressing for the secession of the Ukrainian Church from Moscow. He also pushed the plans forward as part of his election campaign. At the end of March, a new president will be elected in Ukraine, and Poroshenko hopes to improve his poor poll ratings by his commitment to church independence. (Read more about the political background of the schism here)
"Finally, the Lord has sent us an Orthodox Church of Ukraine," said the President in Istanbul under the applause of the audience. "Ukraine is now united in love and prayer." He thanked Bartholomew in the "name of the Ukrainian nation" and declared that Ukraine would act "with love and faith alone".
In contrast, the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow criticized the decision to recognize the new church. The document signed on Saturday was "the result of political and personal ambitions" and violated canon law, which is why it has no validity, said Russian spokesman Vladimir Legoida.