Istanbul’s Orthodox Church retains support for independent Ukrainian church

Patriarch Kirill of the Orthodox Church of Moscow visited Bartholomew I, the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church based in Istanbul, on Aug. 31 in an eleventh hour bid to prevent the Ukrainian church from being separated from Moscow.

Against the backdrop of Patriarch Kirill’s suggestion to hold a conference on the matter, Patriarch Bartholomew said the issue had been debated for a long time and “they will go with the decision,” according to sources of the patriarchate in Istanbul.

A senior official in the Orthodox Church in Istanbul also told the Associated Press reported on Aug. 31 that “there is no going back” in granting Ukrainian clerics ecclesiastic independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.

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