Kiev, Nov 15: A landmark Kiev church was attacked on Thursday with Molotov cocktails, an official said, as tensions flare over a split between the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Last month, Kiev voted to hand over Saint Andrew’s Church to the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate, which earlier agreed to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Church from Moscow.
“Molotov cocktails were thrown at the doors” of the church, Kiev-loyal Archbishop Eustratius wrote on Facebook.
The unknown assailants did not cause any serious damage to the building but they had used “force and gas spray” against a security guard, he added.
Eustratius accused Moscow of being behind the violence.
Kiev police said they were investigating the case.
Built in the 18th century on a picturesque hill in the centre of the capital, Saint Andrew’s is now a museum and has not been used for services since 2015.
The Orthodox church in Ukraine is divided between a branch whose clerics pledge loyalty to Moscow and one overseen by the Kiev-based Patriarch Filaret that Moscow does not recognise.
The split deepened after Russia annexed Crimea and a separatist uprising broke out in eastern Ukraine, a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2014.
In a historic decision in October, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide, agreed to recognise the Ukrainian Church’s independence from Moscow.
The decision was a huge blow to Moscow’s spiritual authority in the Orthodox world.
The Russian Church condemned the move and announced it would break ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate in protest.
(India.com)