Ukraine was given permission by the spiritual leader to form a church independent of Moscow in 2019
\nnews agency
\nKYIV
\nA branch of Ukraine\u2019s Orthodox Church that remained loyal to Moscow after a 2019 schism has said it will break with the Russian church over the country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.
\nUkraine was given permission by the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide to form a church independent of Moscow in 2019, largely ending centuries of religious ties between the two countries. However many parishes, especially in Ukraine\u2019s east, elected to remain loyal under the umbrella of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate.
\nFollowing a meeting of its leadership the church announced that it would declare its \u201cfull independence\u201d from Russia.
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\n\u201cThe council has approved the corresponding additions and changes to the Statute on the Management of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, indicating the full autonomy and independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,\u201d it said in a statement late on Friday.
\nThe statement condemned Russia\u2019s Feb 24 invasion of Ukraine and the support of Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia\u2019s church, for what Moscow calls its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d to combat anti-Russian nationalists. Ukraine says the full-scale invasion was entirely unprovoked.
\nA 2020 survey by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Centre found that 34% of Ukrainians identified as members of the main Orthodox Church of Ukraine, while 14% were members of Ukraine\u2019s Moscow Patriarchate Church.
\nAhead of Friday\u2019s decision, more than 400 parishes had left the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate in the aftermath of the invasion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukraine was given permission by the spiritual leader to form a church independent of Moscow in 2019 news agency KYIV A branch of Ukraine\u2019s Orthodox Church that remained loyal to Moscow after a 2019 schism has said it will break with the Russian church over the country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine was given permission by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[338,7894],"class_list":{"0":"post-263330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-russia","9":"tag-ukrainian-orthodox-church"},"yoast_head":"\n