WASHINGTON – Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), recently visited the U.S. capital and a few other American cities, in his search for support of his efforts to unite all Ukrainian Orthodox believers into one Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This unification, he assured a large gathering at the Atlantic Council on September 19, will not only resolve this unnecessary continuing split within the Church, but may also play a major role in stopping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continuing efforts to return Ukraine to the realm of the “Russian empire.”