Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday awarded Constantinople's Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for granting independence to a "new Orthodox Church" in Ukraine, the president's press office said.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2019) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday awarded Constantinople's Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for granting independence to a "new Orthodox Church" in Ukraine, the president's press office said.The Istanbul-based patriarch signed a decree earlier in the day, known as tomos, which grants independence to the recently-created church. The document is expected to be handed over to the head of the "autocephalous church" at a ceremony on Sunday.
"Poroshenko awarded the Order of Merit of the first grade ... to his Holiness Bartholomew for his contribution to the creation of an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine," the statement read.
A spokesman for the new Ukrainian Church published a photo of President Poroshenko, Patriarch Bartholomew and the Church's top cleric, Metropolitan Epiphany, having a meeting together. The spokesman said the two church leaders spoke in Greek.
Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Bishop Ilarion will perform a liturgy at St. Andrew's Church in Kiev on Orthodox Christmas Day, January 7, the "new church" announced Saturday.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which does not recognize this decision, said the signing of tomos was illegal and would only cause trouble in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church said the move was a result of Kiev's political ambitions, calling it a tragic day in the history of Eastern Orthodoxy.
