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Article: Orthodox Church Fractures in Ukraine; Efforts of Kiev Faction to Break From Moscow Strain Relations Throughout Eastern Christianity
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 26, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Dressed in a simple burgundy cassock, flashing the occasional gold-
toothed smile and speaking in soothing tones, Patriarch Filaret does
not come off like a master of this country's religious scene, a rough-
and-tumble world where Orthodox Christianity and post-Soviet politics
meet.
But Filaret, the 71-year-old head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-
Kiev Patriarchate, is arguably Ukraine's most powerful religious
leader, the architect of a plan to give this mostly Orthodox country
of 49 million people a legitimate, independent Orthodox church.
The Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church has for centuries claimed
Ukraine -- along with a vast swath of the world from the Baltic Sea
to the Pacific ...