Patriarch Kirill Departs for Ukraine

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill will visit Ukraine on November 22-23 to mark the 75th birthday of Metropolitan Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, the Kyiv Post reports.

He will arrive at Boryspil Airport on Monday and conduct a prayer service at the Kyiv Cave Monastery.

A solemn ceremony is set to be held at the National Opera House on Monday evening.

There will be a festive liturgy led by the patriarch at the Cave Monastery on Tuesday morning.

Metropolitan Volodymyr was born on November 23, 1935, as Viktor Sabodan. He was elected the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the church council in Kharkiv in May 1992.