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UNIAN: Poroshenko says the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the parent church for the Russian Orthodox Church

By UNIAN.

Published April 24, 2018 at 2:56 pm

An Orthodox priest blesses believers and their traditional Easter cakes and painted eggs during an Orthodox Easter ceremony at the Volodymyrsky Cathedral in Kiev on April 7, 2018. Orthodox Ukrainians flock to churches around the country this week to celebrate Easter, the country's foremost religious celebration.

Photo by AFP

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says it is up to Ukrainians to elect the head of their local church, and the head of the new independent Orthodox Church with autocephaly will be elected in Ukraine.

“There is a clear agreement with the Ecumenical Patriarch that the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Church will be elected in Ukraine,” Poroshenko told a Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech] talk show on Ukraine’s ICTV channel, according to the president’s press service.