OTTAWA, October 16. /TASS/. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia fully supports the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church to sever Eucharistic ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and expects support from other Orthodox churches, Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Russian Orthodox Church made the right decision," he said. "The decision of Constantinople comes as gross interference in affairs of another local church. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia plans to issue a statement to this effect today and to express full support for Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Church in this decision," the archbishop said.

He urged other Orthodox churches to "express their outrage in this regard and solidarity with the Russian Church, especially the Serbian and the Antiochian Orthodox churches that are close to it".

On October 11, a Synod meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to "proceed with granting autocephaly (self-governance) to the Church of Ukraine. The Synod revoked a legally binding status of the 1686 letter, which empowered the Patriarch of Moscow to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev. In addition, the Synod decided to re-establish the office of the Stavropegion of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Kiev, which means its head would be subordinate directly to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Moreover, the Synod lifted an anathema from the heads of two non-canonical churches in Ukraine - Filaret of the Kiev Patriarchate, and Makary of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church.

In response, on Monday the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church ruled to sever Eucharistic ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.