Expatica news

US welcomes independent Ukraine church amid Russia anger

The United States on Monday congratulated Ukraine’s Orthodox church on its new autonomy from Russia, which has voiced anger over the split.

The State Department sent congratulations to Metropolitan Yepifaniy, the new church’s leader, and called the break after 300 years of Moscow domination “a historic moment for Ukraine.”

“The United States maintains unwavering support for Ukraine and respects the freedom to worship unhindered by outside interference,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

“The right to religious freedom extends to all Ukrainians, including those choosing to join — or not to join — the new Orthodox church,” he said.

The autonomous church has been a key priority of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after several years of conflict with Russia, which in 2014 annexed the Crimea peninsula.

Russia earlier accused the United States of orchestrating the “provocation” by the global Orthodox church’s first among equals, Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew I, with whom the Moscow church has severed relations in protest.