A Christmas Eve mass was held on Sunday by the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul.
The celebrations began early Sunday with a mass held in Hagia Yorgi Church led by Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Epiphany of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
On Saturday, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was formally got independence at a ceremony in Istanbul after receiving the Tomos of Autocephaly (autonomy) from Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew at the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul.
Bartholomew had said Sunday mass marks a step for the independence of Orthodox Church and Poroshenko’s attendance at the ceremony gave them power.
The service was followed by a ritual at the Fener dock in the Golden Horn, during which the patriarch will throw a large cross into the sea to be retrieved by a group of swimmers.