The leaders of the central branch of the Orthodox church in Ukraine have made a formal break with the hierarchy in Moscow, widening the schism in a church that was already divided before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said that it disagreed with the position that Patriarch Kirill I, the leader of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, had taken on the war, according to a statement posted on the council’s Facebook page on Friday. Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly blessed the Russian military forces invading Ukraine.

Because he is the church’s spiritual leader in both countries, many of the Ukrainians dying under the onslaught are his followers. He has also avoided condemning attacks on civilians. Until now, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had formally maintained its allegiance to Moscow. The church has been under the wing of the Moscow Patriarchate for centuries, and its departure will markedly decrease the size of the patriarch’s flock because Ukrainians attend church in greater numbers than Russians.

But it is unclear how many of the bishops and parishes in Ukraine will follow the lead of the council, or how many might try to stick with Moscow, Sergei Chapnin, a Russian religious scholar who has been in the US since the invasion, wrote on Facebook.Vladimir Legoyda, the spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, declined to comment on the rupture, writing on his Telegram channel that the church had not received any formal notification from the Ukrainian church.

Before the announcement on Friday, about half the 45 dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had already stopped mentioning Patriarch Kirill in their prayer services, the first step towards a formal rupture. Hundreds of Orthodox priests in Ukraine recently signed an open letter demanding that Patriarch Kirill face a religious tribunal over the war.

New York Times News Service