Ukrainian primate avoids commemorating Moscow patriarch in first Liturgy

Metropolitan Yepiphaniy’s first divine liturgy as primate of the new autocephalous Orthodox church in Ukraine was celebrated today in Kyiv, Orthodoxia.info reports.

The service, which attracted the attention of all the country’s news agencies, was broadcast live, with the cathedral being packed with worshippers.

No mention of the Russian patriarch

As is custom, the newly elected primate commemorated the names of the heads of the other Orthodox churches during the liturgy, beginning with the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Yet when the time came to commemorate the patriarch of Russia, Metropolitan Yepiphaniy made no mention of Patriarch Kirill, proceeding instead to the next name in the diptychs, that of the patriarch of Serbia.

This moment can be seen in the video below at around 01:03:17.