Photo from the Administration of the President of Ukraine

The Embassy of the United States of America in Kyiv has congratulated Ukraine on establishing a local Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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"We congratulate Ukraine on today's historic Council to establish a local, independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and we warmly congratulate Metropolitan Epifaniy as head of the new church," the embassy wrote on Twitter on December 15, 2018.

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"We support all Ukrainians' ability to worship as they choose. Tolerance and restraint are key to a peaceful transition period so that people with different religious affiliations can live and prosper together," reads the tweet.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Pereiaslav and Bila Tserkva Epifaniy (Serhiy Dumenko) was elected head of the local Orthodox Church in Ukraine.