Source: Bloomberg As Ukraine’s church moves toward independence, the Russian president could lose his role of defender of the faith. By Leonid Bershidsky The Eastern Orthodox Church is closer than ever to a schism that would cast Russian President Vladimir Putin in a role similar to that of King Henry VIII when he split the Church of England from Rome in the 16th century. Russia’s ambition to be the center of the Orthodox world threatens to end in isolation. But holding back from splitting the church will mean humiliation by the Ukrainians, who have been ruthlessly terrorized by the Russian leader. On…
Ukrainians celebrate a historic decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, on the Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on 12 October 2018. In Istanbul, under the chairmanship of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, a three-day meeting of the synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate was held, at which, among other things, the question of autocephaly of the Ukrainian church was considered. A synod meeting chaired by Patriarch Bartholomew, seen as the first among equals of Orthodox Church leaders, "decreed to proceed to the granting of autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine," said an official statement read in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople.The synod also agreed to reinstate the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret and Kiev Metropolitan Makariy to their canonical ranks following their excommunication in the dispute with Moscow. In addition, Constantinople warned against the illegal seizure of churches and monasteries in Ukraine. (Photo by STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)