Ukranian church breaks free of Moscow control

Ukrainian Orthodox leaders have approved the creation of a unified church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate and have elected a leader, officials said.

The leader of the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be Metropolitan Epiphanius, a 39-year-old bishop, who was voted in yesterday at St Sophia’s Cathedral in Kiev in a move that is certain to anger authorities in Russia.

Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, who made the creation of a new church a key campaign issue, attended as a non-voting observer.