Last October, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople announced the creation of a new autocephalous (self-governing) national Church in Ukraine. A council to bring this new body into being will meet on December 15. It is intended to heal the rift between the separate Orthodox churches in Ukraine. All three rival groups have been summoned to take part in the synod, in the hope that they will be able to unite under the aegis of Constantinople.
In reality, Bartholomew knows that there is virtually no chance of any significant participation from the largest group, the official Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which has no intention of severing its historical ties with Moscow.
