An independent Ukrainian Orthodox church was created at a signing ceremony in Turkey on Saturday, formalizing a split with the Russian church it had been tied to since 1686.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed the “Tomos” in Istanbul in front of clerics and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, forming the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
It forces Ukrainian clerics to pick sides between the Moscow-backed Ukrainian churches and the new church as fighting persists in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed rebels.
“The pious Ukrainian people have awaited this blessed day for seven entire centuries,” Bartholomew I said in his address.
The patriarch, considered “first among equals” in Orthodox Christianity, said Ukrainians could now enjoy “the sacred gift of emancipation, independence and self-governance, becoming free from every external reliance and intervention.”
Poroshenko thanked Bartholomew I “for the courage to make this historic decision” and said that “among the 15 stars of the Orthodox churches of the world a Ukrainian star has appeared,” referring to the updated number of churches that don’t answer to an external authority.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, top left, as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, right back to a camera, listens to him during a meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Last month, Ukrainian Orthodox leaders approved the creation of a new, unified church split from the Moscow Patriarchate and elected 39-year-old Metropolitan Epiphanius I to lead it.
Bartholomew I’s decision in October to grant the Ukrainian church autocephaly, or independence, infuriated Moscow and the Russian church severed ties with Istanbul, the center of the Orthodox world.
Kiev has been pushing for a church free from Moscow’s influence, which intensified after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and amid the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second from left, his wife Emine Erdogan, left, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna Proshenko pose for a photo before a meeting, in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. Poroshenko will attend a ceremony with the new primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphany, during which Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church. (Presidential Press Service/Pool Photo via AP)
Poroshenko, president since 2014, has pushed for the creation of the church as he campaigns for the March 31 elections. Though the church is not formally part of the state, it is closely tied. Recent opinion polls suggest he is in second or third place in the race.
Poroshenko met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the ceremony.
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By AYSE WIETING and ZEYNEP BILGINSOY , Associated Press
Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau in Minsk, Belarus and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed.
An Orthodox priest holds a copy of a Bible at the Patriarchal Church of St. George prior to a meeting of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, center, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I greet each other as Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, right, looks on during a meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. (Mykhailo Markiv, Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Pool Photo via AP)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, talks to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s wife Maryna, right, as Poroshenko looks on, center, during a meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. (Mykhailo Markiv, Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Pool Photo via AP)Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, left, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center, and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko during a meeting prior to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. (Mykola Lazarenko, Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Pool Photo via AP)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, and Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church pose for a photo during their meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, and Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church pose for a photo after their meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left of him, and Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, right of him, pose for a photo after their meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, top left, as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, right back to a camera, listens to him during a meeting to sign “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center left, Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, center right, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, top right, attend the ceremony of signing the “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for the Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center left, Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, center right, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, top right, attend the ceremony of signing the “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for the Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, center, and his wife Maryna walk after signing “Tomos” decree of autocephaly for Ukrainian church at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has signed a decree of independence for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
