On 15 December in Kyiv, the Orthodox Church General Council of the Metropolis of Kyiv,
which is subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, was convened. The
attendees approved the statute presented by the Ecumenical Patriarch, and elected Metropolitan
Epiphanius (bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, UOC-KP) to be
its superior. Epiphanius will be granted the tomos, giving the Metropolis of Kyiv autocephaly
(canonical independence), in Istanbul on 6 January 2019. The newly founded church will be
called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, thus commencing the process of unification of the
church structures of three Ukrainian orthodox churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv
Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (UOC), which recognises the primacy of the Moscow Patriarch. For the moment
the number of priests and faithful of the Patriarch of Moscow that will move to the new Metropolis
of Kyiv is not clear. The convening of the general council and election of the superior
of the united church will not necessarily bring to an end the split within Ukrainian orthodoxy.
This is merely the beginning of a complicated process that could trigger a series of conflicts
within Ukraine and in Ukrainian-Russian relations.
The convening of the Kyiv council is a success for Petro Poroshenko, who agreed the granting
of the tomos last spring with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in person. This will be
a success actively exploited for the purpose of the presidential election campaign (31 March
2019), but does not guarantee that he will go through to the second round, let alone achieve
ultimate victory
