What the Church of Greece's recognition meant for Ukraine's Orthodox church
A retrospective on two reports from 12 October 2019, one ecclesiastical and one from the boxing ring, as they stood on 15 October 2019.
What did Ukrainians have to digest by 15 October 2019? The most consequential item was religious. On 12 October 2019, at an extraordinary session, the Council of the Orthodox Church of Greece recognised the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
For a church seeking acceptance among fellow Orthodox churches, recognition by another autocephalous church was a concrete step. The decision came from a council convened specially for the purpose, which marked it out as a deliberate act rather than a routine procedural matter.
The same day brought news of a different kind. Oleksandr Usyk won by early stoppage in his debut in the heavyweight division, beating the American Chazz Witherspoon.
The two items had nothing to do with one another, but both were reported on 12 October 2019. Together they showed a country whose public attention ran from questions of church standing to sporting achievement, with the Greek council's ruling the one that bore on Ukraine's institutions.
