Metropolitan Epiphanius: Procedure for granting Tomos to Ukraine will start on January 5

The procedure for granting the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will start on January 5.

"The procedure for granting the Tomos will begin on January 5. For the first time, I as the primate of the independent local Orthodox church and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will thank God in a prayer service in the St. George's Cathedral in the Fener [(Phanar) district of Istanbul]. The Ecumenical Patriarch will officially sign the Tomos on January 5. On January 6, a liturgy of two primates will be held for the first time: Patriarch Bartholomew as the first patriarch among the equal and the patriarch of the already free independent local Orthodox church," Primate of the independent local Ukrainian church Metropolitan Epiphanius said in an interview with the Priamyi Ukrainian TV Channel.

He added that the Tomos of the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine would be granted after the solemn liturgy.

As reported, the unification council of the local Orthodox Church of Ukraine took place at the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv on December 15. The clergy elected Metropolitan Epiphanius as the primate of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine.