US Congratulates 'Metropolitan' Epifaniy On Election As Head Of 'New Church' In Ukraine

Umer Jamshaid Published December 18, 2018 | 09:18 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) The United States congratulates "metropolitan" Epifaniy on his election as head of the "new Orthodox church" in Ukraine, Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Roberto Palladino said.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the creation of the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, following a "unification council" held in Kiev, at which the metropolitan of Pereyaslavsky and Bila Tserkva of the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) was elected as primate of the "new church."

"The United States congratulates Metropolitan Epifaniy on his election as head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The establishment of the Church was a historic moment for Ukraine," Palladino said in a Monday statement.

He also stressed the US' continued "unwavering support for Ukraine" and respect for "the freedom to worship unhindered by outside interference."

"The right to religious freedom extends to all Ukrainians, including those choosing to join - or not to join - the new Orthodox Church," Palladino added.

The "unification council" in Ukraine mainly brought together representatives of the non-canonical religious structures, which are not recognized by the world's Orthodox churches, except for the Constantinople Patriarchate. Only two bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) participated in the council. Later, they were excommunicated from the UOC-MP and defrocked.

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) said the canonical meaning of the "council" in Kiev was insignificant, and the possibility of recognizing Epiphany in the Orthodox world was a task "hardly possible to fulfill."

The Ukrainian authorities and the new church want to get a tomos from the Constantinople patriarch on autocephaly. On Saturday, the Constantinople Patriarchate's press service told Sputnik that Patriarch Bartholomew invited the elected head of Ukraine's "new church" to visit Istanbul to receive the tomos on January 6.