As part of TAG President Jack Devine’s trip to Kiev, Ukraine, he was bestowed with the Order of St. Andrew by Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The cleric thanked Jack for the U.S. support for Ukraine’s independence and a unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The following is a translation of an article about the event published on December 14:
Patriarch Filaret awarded the deputy director of the CIA Devine for the support of Ukraine’s independence and the creation of the Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church
His Holiness Patriarch of Kyiv and All Russia-Ukraine Filaret met with former deputy director of the CIA Jack Devine. During the meeting, Jack Devine expressed his sincere enthusiasm for the level of support among Ukrainians for the idea of getting Tomas for autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He also emphasized the prominent role of the Patriarch of Kyiv Filaret in his almost thirty-year historical struggle for the creation of an independent Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russia and thanked for protecting the rights of Christians to atheistic Soviet authorities.
In his turn, Patriarch Filaret thanked Jack Devine for helping Ukraine on the part of the United States in support of Ukraine’s independence and the creation of a Single Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
At the suggestion of Bogdan Gubsky, Chairman of the Board of the Ukraine-XXI Century Foundation and Paul Yaroshenko, a member of the Foundation Council, the Primate of the Kyiv Patriarchate awarded Jack Devine with the Order of St. Andrew Pervozvannyi.
