"This day will go into history as a sacred day ... the day of the final independence from Russia," Poroshenko told thousands of supporters, who shouted "glory, glory, glory".
"And Ukraine will no longer drink, in the words of Taras Shevchenko, 'Moscow's poison from Moscow's cup,'" he said, quoting the country's national poet.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...new-church-in-split-from-russia-idUSKBN1OE0KG
Ukraine won approval for the new church in October from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, the seat of the global spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians.
"We want to support the process of Ukraine's split from Moscow and for us to have our own church, which is not governed from the Kremlin," said Lyudmyla Alekseyeva, 66, a pensioner who had come to the event with her daughter and granddaughter.
"The church should not depend on those who fight against us in the Donbass."
Supporters wore ribbons in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, with the message "We are going our own way." Many had waited outside in freezing temperatures while the council deliberated.
Religious divisions deepened in Ukraine after 2014 and two Orthodox factions vie for dominance.
The church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, sees itself as the only legitimate church in Ukraine.
The rival Kiev Patriarchate was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its popularity has grown since 2014. It favors European integration and championed the independent church but the Moscow Patriarchate denounces it as schismatic.
