Antiochian Orthodox Church Calls Meeting on Ukrainian Religious Independence

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch on Saturday called for an urgent meeting of all Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches to discuss Kiev’s drive for independence of the Ukrainian Church.

"The Antiochian Church urges His All Holiness the Patriarch to call an urgent meeting of patriarchs of all autocephalous Orthodox Churches to discuss… the issue of granting autocephaly to Churches and find common ground on it," the Church said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been pushing for his country’s independence from the Russian Church. The autocephaly was tentatively approved by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Russian Orthodox Church objected to this intention.

READ MORE: Moscow Patriarchate Says No Support For Ukrainian Church Autonomy

In September, two exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople started working in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, which came as part of Constantinople's preparations to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.