Kyiv, Ukraine, Sep 26, 2018 / 10:45 am
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church seems on the verge of achieving independent status, a development straining ties between the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Moscow.
Earlier this month, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople dispatched two envoys to meet with Church and governmental leaders in Kyiv, to help prepare the way for a newly autocephalous – self-headed – Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In a Sept. 7 announcement, the Patriarchate of Constantinople said that Archbishop Daniel and Bishop Ilarion would be working "within the framework of the preparations for the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine."
"The question [of independence] has already been decided" Daniel said during a meeting Sept. 17 with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.