"Now it is the turn of Ukraine, which will be accorded the autocephalous status soon despite the existing opposition, and it will happen because it is [Ukraine's] right… We are not afraid of threats," the Ecumenical Patriarch said without specifying what threats he was talking about.
Apart from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, there are also other orthodox churches operating in the country.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is trying to achieve recognition of non-canonical institutions and to create a single local autocephalous church based on them in Ukraine.
READ MORE: Patriarch Kirill to Cease Commemoration of Patriarch of Constantinople — Synod
In April, Poroshenko said that Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was launching the procedures required to establish the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church condemned the move, saying that the anti-canonical measures in Ukraine threatened to split the Orthodoxy.
