Head Of Breakaway Orthodox Church Dies

The head of a breakaway Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Volodymyr, has died, the church announced Saturday. He was 69.

The patriarch died of a heart attack Friday. Church officials did not say when a new patriarch would be chosen or who would serve as interim head of the church.

Volodymyr had been patriarch since 1993, the year after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split. The split left Ukraine with two Orthodox churches, one ruled by the patriarch in Moscow, the other by Volodymyr.