CWNews.com - A visit by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine has been marred by angry protests leading to multiple arrests, frustrating the Russian prelate’s efforts to promote Orthodox unity.

Patriarch Kirill, who was in Ukraine for a meeting of the Russian Orthodox synod, faced demonstrators in Kiev who shouted: “Down with the Moscow Pope!” The Orthodox Church in Ukraine split into three competing factions after the country gained its independence from Russia; only one of the factions maintains allegiance with the Moscow patriarchate. Nevertheless the Russian Orthodox Church continues to claim Ukraine as part of its "canonical territory."

 

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