MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko awarded the Hero of Ukraine title to Filaret Denisenko, a patriarch of the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the presidential press service said on Tuesday.
Poroshenko announced his intention to award the distinguishing mark to Filaret on January 8. The Ukrainian president explained his decision by the contribution Filaret had made to the fight for creation of Ukraine's autocephalous church.
"I emphasize that your award is absolutely deserved," Poroshenko said, as quoted by the press service.
Filaret had been the leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) since 1995 and until it merged into the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine in mid-December 2018 as a result of the so-called unification council in Kiev.
On January 6, Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew handed over the independence decree, or tomos of autocephaly, to the head of the newly-established Ukrainian church. Under the tomos, the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine will have jurisdiction exclusively over Ukraine and will not be authorized to appoint bishops and establish its parishes abroad, becoming effectively dependent on Constantinople.
The Russian Orthodox Church has refused to recognize the results of the council and Constantinople's decision to grant autocephaly to Ukraine's new institution.
