MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Patriarch...

While in Kiev, Kirill will visit holy sites and meet with President Viktor Yushchenko before touring eastern and western Ukraine, and the Crimean peninsula. His visit to the country will last for 10 days.

Ukraine is a predominantly Orthodox country, but the Orthodox Church in Ukraine is divided, with the Moscow Patriarchy controlling the larger branch of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Yushchenko, who has pursued pro-Western policies and sought to reduce Russian influence in the country, has advocated unifying Ukrainian Orthodox churches under the Kiev Patriarchate.

The patriarch was met at the airport by Ukraine"s top church official, Metropolitan Volodymyr, and other church hierarchs, and opposition party leader Viktor Yanukovych. A choir of seminary students sang by the plane.

Several dozen protesters gathered outside the airport in Kiev as Krill arrived. Wearing yellow and blue clothes, the colors of Ukraine"s national flag, they held up banners saying: "We serve to

Pages: [1] 2 3 4