The first leader of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was enthroned in Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv on Feb. 3, marking the final breakaway of the church in Ukraine from centuries of domination by Moscow.
The new Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Epiphanius I (born Serhiy Dumenko) officially assumed the leadership of the church in a lavish ceremony conducted, significantly, according to the Greek Orthodox rite for enthroning patriarchs, and not the Russian Orthodox rite.
The enthronement of Epiphanius coincided with his 40th birthday.
Speaking after the ceremony, Epiphanius called on all the Orthodox confessions in Ukraine to unite under his church’s umbrella.
“We want all those Orthodox believers who are in Ukraine, and who due to various reasons are not a part of the local Orthodox Church of Ukraine, to enter it and become a part of it,” he said.
“We call for church unity of the Orthodox bishops, the clergy, the monkhood, and the laity … Let us leave in the past the things that separated us, and work together for the benefit of the Orthodoxy in Ukraine as a unified local church.”
President Petro Poroshenko also attended the enthronement ceremony and addressed those there. He guaranteed the independence of the church in Ukraine, and offered the newly enthroned metropolitan and his church to work in partnership for the benefit of the country and its people.
“There will be no state church in Ukraine,” Poroshenko said.
“This constitutional principle has been, and will remain inviolable.”
The president added that “independence and mutual respect open the way for true partnership between the state and the church,” which share the vision of what the citizens of Ukraine want.
“This is order, security, and well-being,” Poroshenko said.
Patriarch Filaret, who initiated the drive towards independence from Russia for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decades ago, did not attend Epiphanius’ enthronement ceremony due to ill health.
