Source: The Guardian
Religion correspondent and agencies
As relations between Russia and Ukraine deteriorate over the seizure of three ships by Moscow, the long-running conflict between the two countries is also playing out in the pews.
The Ukrainian Orthodox church has been granted independence from the Russian church in a historic move that is likely to result in a split in eastern Orthodoxy.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, led by Bartholomew I of Constantinople, issued a brief communique late on Thursday at the end of its assembly. It said the synod had drafted a constitutional charter for the Ukrainian church after an earlier decision by the patriarch to grant it independence, or autocephaly.
Categories: Christianity, Europe, Russia, The Muslim Times, Ukraine