Bartholomew will forever remain in history of Orthodox Church - Poroshenko

He stated this in his address following a tomos handover ceremony in Istanbul on January 6, an Ukrinform correspondent said.

"We are glad that the Ecumenical Patriarch, as the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of Orthodox people, as a global figure, has heard our voice and our requests. The tireless work of His Holiness in the spiritual sphere will forever remain in the history of the church and in the history of peoples, especially the Orthodox peoples," Poroshenko said.

On January 6, the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul hosted a ceremony to hand over a tomos of autocephaly to the united Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew passed the tomos to Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius.

On December 15, 2018, the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv hosted a unification council of orthodox churches in Ukraine. At this council, the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church created a single local Orthodox Church of Ukraine, approved its charter and elected the primate - Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius.