Ecumenical Patriarch signs Tomos for Ukraine’s Orthodox Church
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has signed a tomos of autocephaly for the united Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The signing ceremony of the tomos was held at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Ukrinform’s correspondent reported from Turkey.
The ceremony was attended by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna Poroshenko, and Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius. The Ukrainian delegation included Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy, First Vice Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv, Vice Prime Minister Hennadiy Zubko, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, Youth and Sports Minister Ihor Zhdanov, third Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko and others.
On Sunday, January 6, the Ukrainian delegation will take part in the tomos handover ceremony and a divine liturgy that will be jointly offered by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Epiphanius, and in a water blessing ceremony in the Golden Horn Bay.
The unification council on the creation of a single local Orthodox church in Ukraine was held at Sofiyska Square in Kyiv on December 15. Metropolitan Epiphanius was elected the primate of the new church.