Ukraine currently has three Orthodox denominations: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC+MP), which remained subordinate to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union; and two breakaway entities -- the now-recognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC+KP), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). ""The actions of Constantinople cross the red line and deal a catastrophic blow to the unity of the global Orthodoxy," said Aleksandr Volkov, spokesman for Patriarch Kirill, the head of the church.Vladimir Legoyda, who chairs the Church's public relations department, called the decisionsHe added that the reaction to Constantinople's move will be discussed by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church next Monday.Volkov said that Moscow will now have to declare that it is no longer in communion with Constantinople, since the latter decided to treat Filaret and Makariy as clerics. The Istanbul-based patriarchate, whose head Bartholomew I is considered the "first among equals" of Orthodox church leaders, said it was removing its condemnation of leaders of schismatic Orthodox churches in Ukraine, a step toward establishing an ecclesiastically independent — or autocephalous — church in Ukraine.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople plans to recognize the autocephaly of two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, a move welcomed by Ukrainian leaders and denounced as "catastrophic" by the Russian Orthodox Church.