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.
