Ukraine's President names leader of new church in split from Russia

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko congratulates newly elected head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox church Metropolitan Epifaniy (Dumenko) at the Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine chose the head of a new national Orthodox church on Saturday, marking an historic split from Russia which its leaders see as vital to the country's security and independence.

President Petro Poroshenko said 39-year-old Metropolitan Epifaniy of the Kiev Patriarchate church had been chosen as head of the church by a council, comparing the move to Ukraine's referendum for independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.