The Russian Orthodox Church has announced plans to break tieswith the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.Russian orthodox officials acted after the Patriarchate's recognitionof a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church,which will be independent of the Russian church.Orthodox Christianity has several leaders, or patriarchs,across the world unlike the Roman Catholic Church,which is led by the Pope.However, the Patriarch of Constantinople is considered "the firstamong equals" in the leadership of Orthodox Christianity.Constantinople is the former name for Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.Traditionally, the Ukrainian Orthodox Churchhas been led by the Patriarch of Moscow.But several issues have increased tensionsbetween Ukrainian and Russian religious leaders.Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its continued supportfor separatists fighting Ukraine's central governmenthave led to a split between the two sides.On October 11, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinopleofficially recognized the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine as independent.While church members in Ukraine celebrated the move,the decision angered Russian church officials.On Monday, Moscow Patriarch Kirill held a meeting, called a Holy Synod,with top church officials in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.Following the talks, the Russian Orthodox Churchannounced the split and what it would mean to worshipers.Now, clergy from the Russian Church and the Constantinople Patriarchatewill be barred from serving together.Worshipers of one church also may not take partin holy communion in the other church."We cannot be in communication with this church, which is in schism,"said a Russian Orthodox spokesman.He added that the Russian church hopes that "common sense will prevailand that the Constantinople Patriarchate changes its mind."The Ukrainian Patriarch blamed his Russian counterpart for the split,adding that his actions have "pulled all of Orthodox Christianity into conflict."The move affects millions of Orthodox Christians across Eastern Europe and Russia.An estimated 100 million of the world's 260 million Orthodox Christians live in Russia.Some consider the split the most importantsince Eastern and Western Christianity split more than 900 years ago.