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At its formal session on April 20, 2018, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople voted to proceed with taking the necessary steps for granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine. This decision was made after extensive study and discussion based on the responsibilities and rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as enumerated by the sacred canons, and the historical reality that in 1589 when the Church of Russia received its status as a patriarchate from the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Metropolis of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was not included but remained under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. Additionally, within the Patriarchal and Synodal “Praxis” (act) of 1686 there is further affirmation that the Ukraine remained under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
