Key Ukrainian church gathering slated for next week
Posted Dec 5, 2018 5:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says local Orthodox communities will gather for a summit next week that is expected to form a new, independent Ukrainian church.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Istanbul-based institution that serves as a centre of the global Eastern Orthodox faith, has drafted a charter for an independent Ukrainian church. The move would separate the Ukrainian church from Russia after several centuries of unity.
Poroshenko, who has made an independent church one of the main slogans of his not-yet-announced re-election bid, said Wednesday that Orthodox communities would gather on Dec. 5 to adopt the charter of the new Ukrainian church and choose its leader. The newly formed community would then be expected to receive independence from Constantinople.
The Associated Press
