Orthodox Church Fractures in Ukraine; Efforts of Kiev Faction to Break From Moscow Strain Relations Throughout Eastern Christianity From: The Washington Post | Date: May 26, 2001| Author: Frank Brown | Copyright 2001 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

Dressed in a simple burgundy cassock, flashing the occasional gold- toothed smile and speaking in soothing tones, Patriarch Filaret does not come off like a master of this country's religious scene, a rough- and-tumble world where Orthodox Christianity and post-Soviet politics meet.

But Filaret, the 71-year-old head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Kiev Patriarchate, is arguably Ukraine's most powerful religious leader, the architect of a plan to give this mostly Orthodox country of 4...