Visiting Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios and Greek Archbishop Ieronymos held a joint church service on Saturday in which they commemorated the name of Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev, despite the vehement opposition of the Russian Patriarchate.



Last week, Russian Patriarch Kirill threatened to sever ties with Ieronymos, or any Greek cleric, who commemorates Epiphanius.



The decision earlier in the year by Vartholomaios, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox, to grant independence to the Ukrainian Church from Russia has been fiercely opposed by Moscow, which, as a result, cut links with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.



During Saturday’s service, which was held at at the 5th century Byzantine Church of the Acheiropoietos in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Vartholomaios thanked Ieronymos for also recognizing the independence of the Ukrainian Church.