The Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially gained independence on Saturday, with the signing of a decree that marked its separation from the Russian church that it has been tied to for centuries.

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I signed the decree of independence, or tomos, in Istanbul, formalizing a split that has angered Moscow amid a broader political conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

"The pious Ukrainian people have awaited this blessed day for seven entire centuries," Bartholomew I said in his address at the Patriarchal Church of St. George.

The Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly denounced the creation of an independent Ukrainian church and severed ties with Istanbul, the historical seat of the Orthodox faith, after Bartholomew I approved the Ukrainian church's request for autocephaly, or independence, last October.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended Saturday's signing, which many in his country see as one more step toward independence from Moscow, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports. Poroshenko, who is up for re-election at the end of March, has made the creation of the independent church a part of his campaign platform. Joining Poroshenko was 39-year-old Metropolitan Epiphanius, who was elected last month as head of the new Ukranian Orthodox Church.

Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have belonged to a unified church for centuries. Moscow argues it has had legal authority over Ukrainian churches since 1686, according to the BBC.

"In many circles in Ukraine, the idea of the creation of an independent Orthodox Church independent from Moscow is the culmination of Ukraine's political independence," Edward Siecienski, an associate professor of Byzantine theology at Stockton University in New Jersey, told NPR last month. "You can't have one without the other."

The Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church controls the majority of churches in the country — 12,000 to the new church's 5,000, the BBC reports. Ukrainian clerics will now be forced to choose between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Kiev Patriarchate, amid continued conflict between the two countries in eastern Ukraine.

Russian church leaders and spokespeople have called the split "anti-canonical," according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Russia has compared the independence of the Ukrainian church to the split between Eastern and Western Christianity a thousand years ago, NPR's Lucian Kim reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen part of his role as safeguarding the Orthodox faith, with frequent visits to churches and monasteries broadcast on state television, Kim reports. The proximity between the Kremlin, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian army has driven a wedge between the Russian church and Ukrainian believers.

Tensions escalated in the religious and political schisms after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, following the ouster of a pro-Moscow president in Kiev. The war in eastern Ukraine that erupted between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists after the annexation has left more than 10,000 people dead.

In November, Russia intensified the conflict when it seized three Ukrainian vessels and 24 sailors and security officers near Crimea. Russia accused Ukraine of illegally entering its waters, but Ukraine said its two navy ships and tugboat were following international maritime rules.

Ukraine's split may have caused the Russian Orthodox Church to lose 30 to 40 percent of its 150 million members, as The New York Times reported last month.</s>Istanbul: An independent Ukrainian Orthodox church has been created at a signing ceremony in Turkey, formalising a split with the Russian church it had been tied to since 1686.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed the "Tomos" in Istanbul in front of clerics and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday, forming the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

It forces Ukrainian clerics to pick sides between the Moscow-backed Ukrainian churches and the new church as fighting persists in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed rebels.

"The pious Ukrainian people have awaited this blessed day for seven entire centuries," Bartholomew I said in his address.</s>ISTANBUL — The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide recognized the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in a four-hour ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday, formalizing a split with the Russian church to which it had been tied for more than four centuries.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader, handed a Tomos containing a decree of independence to the newly appointed Metropolitan Epiphanius of Ukraine, cleaving millions of Ukrainians from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The independence effort outraged political and religious leaders in Russia. But for President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine, who stood before an elevated throne throughout the ceremony in Istanbul, the occasion was an affirmation of independence from Russian influence in his embattled country and a boost ahead of elections in March.

“Tomos for us is actually another act of proclaiming Ukraine’s independence,” Mr. Poroshenko said in an address posted on the presidency’s website. “For Ukrainians, our own Church is a guarantee of our spiritual freedom. This is the key to social harmony.”</s>The spiritual head of Orthodox Christians worldwide formally granted independence to the Ukrainian church on Saturday, marking an historic split from Russia which Ukrainian leaders see as vital to the country's security. The decree, granting "autocephaly," was signed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at a service with the head of the Ukrainian church Metropolitan Epifaniy and President Petro Poroshenko in St George's Cathedral in Istanbul. "I want to thank the millions of Ukrainians around the world who responded to my appeal to pray for the church to be established," Poroshenko said at a ceremony accompanied by solemn liturgical singing. "I want to thank the generations of Ukrainians who dreamed...and finally God sent us the Orthodox Church of Ukraine," he told the congregation in the crowded church. The patriarchate, the seat of the spiritual leader of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, endorsed Ukraine's request for the new church in October. The decree, or Tomos, will be handed to Epifaniy at a ceremony on Sunday, completing the process of recognition by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The new church may boost pro-Western leader Poroshenko, who lobbied hard for its creation and faces a tight election race in March. Russia bitterly opposes the split, comparing it to the Great Schism of 1054 that divided western and eastern Christianity. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill made a last-ditch appeal against the process last month. "Huge win for Ukraine, defeat for the Kremlin," economist Timothy Ash wrote on Twitter. "[It] will make Moscow's hope of some future pull of Ukraine back into its 'orbit' nigh on impossible without the use of overwhelming [catastrophic] military force." Religious divisions deepened in Ukraine after 2014 and two Orthodox factions vie for dominance. The church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, sees itself as the only legitimate church in Ukraine. On Dec. 20, Ukrainian MPs passed a law that could force the church to add "Russian" to its name. The rival Kiev Patriarchate was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its popularity has grown since 2014. It favours European integration and championed the independent church but the Moscow Patriarchate denounces it as schismatic.

Ukraine last month chose 39-year-old Epifaniy to head the new church, in a move which Poroshenko compared to Ukraine's referendum for independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The move incensed Moscow, and prompted President Vladimir Putin to warn of possible bloodshed in his annual news conference. Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after Moscow's seizure of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine imposed martial law in November, citing the threat of a full-scale invasion after Russia captured three of its vessels in the Kerch Strait. The Ukrainian Orthodox church has been beholden to Moscow for hundreds of years, and Ukraine's leaders see church independence as vital to tackling Russian meddling. Kiev says Moscow-backed churches on its soil are a Kremlin tool to spread propaganda and support fighters in the eastern Donbass region in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people. The churches strongly deny this. "Tomos - is just a paper, the result of restless political and personal ambitions. It was signed in breach of canonicity and this is why it has no power", Vladimir Legoida, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations, posted in Telegram messenger. Epifaniy was chosen by a council at the St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, built by the son of Prince Volodymyr whose baptism in 988 led to the spread of Christianity in the region.</s>The Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarch on Sunday handed over a formal decree confirming the creation of an independent Ukrainian church to its leader, Metropolitan Yepifaniy.

The decree was signed at a landmark ceremony on Saturday, putting the formal stamp on a break with the Russian Orthodox church which has infuriated Moscow.

The document was handed over by Patriarch Bartholomew during an Epiphany service at St George’s Cathedral in Istanbul, an AFP correspondent said, completing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople’s recognition of the newly-independent Ukrainian church.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, who attended Saturday’s signing ceremony, was also present for the mass.

Known as a Tomos decree, the document grants autonomy to the Ukrainian Orthodox church which until now has been overseen by Moscow for more than 330 years.

The decree opens the way for Ukraine’s Orthodox Church to be recognised by other branches of orthodoxy and other churches.

The Constantinople Patriarchate, based in modern-day Istanbul and considered the first among equals in the Orthodox world, first agreed to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in October.

Then in December a historic council of Orthodox bishops in Kiev created the independent body and chose 39-year-old Metropolitan Yepifaniy as its head, whose secular name is Sergiy Dumenko.

He has been a long time critic of Moscow’s religious influence in Ukraine.

The move has dealt a huge blow to Moscow’s spiritual authority in the Orthodox world, prompting it to cut all ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate in protest.

Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Kiev street protests calling for Ukraine’s integration with Europe led to the fall of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia subsequently annexed Crimea and has supported Russian-speaking separatists in Ukraine’s east in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people.

Ukraine is home to millions of believers who belong to the Orthodox Church, but their loyalties are divided between the Kiev and Moscow patriarchates.

Analysts said the ceremony was “the first step in a long road”, indicating it was not clear which of Ukraine’s bishops would choose to join the new church.</s>ISTANBUL: The Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarch on Saturday signed the formal decree confirming the creation of an independent Ukrainian church, marking a break with the Russian church that has angered Moscow.

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the leading authority in Orthodox Christianity, signed the decree known as Tomos at a ceremony in Istanbul. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko were on hand to witness the ceremony.

“Dear Ukrainians, this is a historic event! This is a great day!” Poroshenko said as he thanked the Orthodox patriarch. “Once more, words of great gratitude in the name of the Ukrainian people, in the name of our nation to Your Holiness... It took us a very long time to get here.”

The Ecumenical Patriarchate had first agreed to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in October. Then in December a historic council of Orthodox bishops in Kiev created the independent body. The Russian Orthodox Church cut ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate in protest at the move, which dealt a huge blow to Moscow’s spiritual authority in the Orthodox world.

Vladimir Legoida, a spokesman for the Moscow church, denounced the decree as “a document that is the result of irrepressible political and personal ambitions”.

It had been “signed in violation of the canons and therefore not possessing any canonical force,” Legoida added in a statement. The Ukrainian church’s new leader is Metropolitan Yepifaniy.

Yepifaniy, whose secular name is Sergiy Dumenko, has been a critic of Moscow’s religious influence in Ukraine and has supported Kiev’s army against pro-Russian rebels.

Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Kiev street protests urging Ukrainian integration with Europe led to the ousting of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych. Russia subsequently annexed Crimea and has supported Russian-speaking separatists in Ukraine’s east, in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people.</s>An independent Ukrainian Orthodox church was created at a signing ceremony in Turkey on Saturday, formalizing a split with the Russian church it had been tied to since 1686.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed the “Tomos” in Istanbul in front of clerics and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, forming the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

It forces Ukrainian clerics to pick sides between the Moscow-backed Ukrainian churches and the new church as fighting persists in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed rebels.

“The pious Ukrainian people have awaited this blessed day for seven entire centuries,” Bartholomew I said in his address.

The patriarch, considered “first among equals” in Orthodox Christianity, said Ukrainians could now enjoy “the sacred gift of emancipation, independence and self-governance, becoming free from every external reliance and intervention.”

Poroshenko thanked Bartholomew I “for the courage to make this historic decision” and said that “among the 15 stars of the Orthodox churches of the world a Ukrainian star has appeared,” referring to the updated number of churches that don’t answer to an external authority.

Last month, Ukrainian Orthodox leaders approved the creation of a new, unified church split from the Moscow Patriarchate and elected 39-year-old Metropolitan Epiphanius I to lead it.

Bartholomew I’s decision in October to grant the Ukrainian church “autocephaly,” or independence, infuriated Moscow and the Russian church severed ties with Istanbul, the center of the Orthodox world.

Criticism continued Saturday when a spokesman for the Russia-affiliated church in Ukraine, Vasily Anisimov, said, “We consider these actions to be anti-canonical ... This action will not bring anything to Ukraine except trouble, separation and sin,” according to Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti.

Kiev has been pushing for a church free from Moscow’s influence, which intensified after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and amid the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko, president since 2014, has pushed for the creation of the church as he campaigns for a March 31 election. Though the church is not formally part of the state, it is closely tied. Recent opinion polls suggest he is in second or third place in the race.

Poroshenko met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the ceremony.</s>ISTANBUL (AP) — The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Patriarch Bartholomew I signed the "Tomos" in Istanbul Saturday, formalizing the Ukrainian church's independence from the Russian Orthodox Church to which it has been tied to since 1686. The move is forcing Ukrainian clerics to pick sides as fighting persists in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed rebels.

Last month, Ukrainian Orthodox leaders approved the creation of a new, unified church split from the Moscow Patriarchate and elected Metropolitan Epiphanius to lead it. The Russian church has severed ties with Istanbul, the center of the Orthodox world.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has campaigned for the creation of the new church, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the ceremony.</s>ISTANBUL — The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on Sunday presented a decree of independence to the Metropolitan bishop of the nascent Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

In Istanbul, Patriarch Bartholomew I presented the Tomos, a scroll containing the decree, in a symbolic ceremony sanctifying the Ukrainian church’s independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. He signed the decree a day earlier.

Ukraine’s decision to split from the Moscow Patriarchate after more than three centuries of ties has deeply angered Russia. The move comes as fighting continues in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed rebels and it forces clergy and believers in Ukraine to choose between belonging to Moscow-backed churches or the new Ukrainian Orthodox one.

Bartholomew I, considered first among equals in Orthodox patriarchy, announced the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has become the 15th independent Orthodox church. He argued Ukrainians “desired ecclesiastical independence” for centuries and never accepted that they were part of the Russian church.

The patriarch also entreated that the new church “strive for unity and peace” with clergy who remain under Moscow’s orbit and help reconciliation to “help them understand that Ukraine deserves a united church body.”

Following Bartholomew I’s October decision for independence, the Russian church severed ties with Istanbul, the center of the Orthodox world.

Metropolitan Epiphanius I, who was elected last month by Ukrainian Orthodox leaders to head the new church, will take the decree to Kiev.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has campaigned for the new church, attended the two-day ceremony in Istanbul.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>ISTANBUL (AP) — The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has presented a decree of independence to the Metropolitan bishop of the nascent Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

In Istanbul on Sunday, Patriarch Bartholomew I presented the Tomos, a scroll containing the decree, in a symbolic ceremony sanctifying the Ukrainian church's independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. He signed the decree on Saturday.

The decision to split from the Moscow Patriarchate after more than three centuries of ties has angered Russia. The Russian church has severed ties with Istanbul, the center of the Orthodox world.

Metropolitan Epiphanius I, who was elected last month by Ukrainian Orthodox leaders to head the new church, will take the decree to Kiev.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has campaigned for the new church, is attending the two-day ceremony.
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I signs the independence decree ('tomos') officially separating the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church as autocephalous Church.