The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir, who was hospitalized with respiratory problems in late October, remains in a serious, but stable condition, his secretary said.
"Though his condition remains serious, it is stable," said Alexander, Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis and Secretary for the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The 76-year-old Ukrainian church leader was hospitalized in grave condition on October 30, days after undergoing a successful operation to fix a hip fracture. Pneumonia was initially cited as the reason for the hospitalization, but church officials later declined to comment on the issue.
The Ukrainian church leader is undergoing treatment in a "special clinic" in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. On December 2 doctors transferred him from intensive care to a rehabilitation ward.
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine split in the 1990s following the breakup of the Soviet Union into followers of the Moscow Patriarchate and those seeking an independent church. The Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is recognized worldwide, while the other churches are not.
