You're reading: Associated Press: Russian Orthodox church rejects decision on Ukraine envoys

Associated Press: Russian Orthodox church rejects decision on Ukraine envoys

Published Sept. 9, 2018 at 9:12 am

Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, his wife, Maryna Poroshenko (C) take part in a march during religious processions marking the 1030th anniversary of the Day of Baptism of Kyivan Rus,on July 28 in Kyiv.

Photo by Mykola Lazarenko

The Russian Orthodox Church is denouncing a decision by Orthodox Christianity’s leading body to send two envoys to Ukraine as a step toward declaring ecclesiastical independence for the church there.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the world’s largest Orthodox church by far also threatened to take unspecified “retaliatory actions.”