First three Presidents of independent Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid
Kuchma, and Viktor Yushchenko have supported an initiative of incumbent
president Petro Poroshenko to create an independent local Orthodox
church in Ukraine.
They signed a joint appeal in favor of asking the Ecumenical
Patriarch to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the
presidents announced at a joint press conference on May 8, the news
outlet Ukrainska Pravda said.
"We believe that the granting of autocephaly by the Constantinople
mother church would play an important role in strengthening Ukraine's
independence, the spiritual and national unity of our people, and the
development of religious freedom in Ukraine, and would promote fruitful
interfaith dialogue in our country," Kravchuk read from the appeal.
"We are convinced that the Ukrainian people's unity, which an autocephalous local Orthodox church would greatly strengthen, would be an unconquerable spiritual fortress in fighting Russian aggression against Ukraine," it said. "Therefore, we support Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's efforts in this matter, which is extremely important for Ukraine, and appeal to all citizens, responsible politicians, and public figures to unite around this great goal and work together actively to create an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine."
"We are convinced that the Ukrainian people's unity, which an autocephalous local Orthodox church would greatly strengthen, would be an unconquerable spiritual fortress in fighting Russian aggression against Ukraine," it said. "Therefore, we support Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's efforts in this matter, which is extremely important for Ukraine, and appeal to all citizens, responsible politicians, and public figures to unite around this great goal and work together actively to create an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine."
Poroshenko announced on April 17 that the heads of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox Church had decided to officially appeal to Archbishop of
Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for autocephaly.
Autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical Christian Church whose head
bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop (used especially in
Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Independent Catholic churches).
Autocephaly opens the way for the creation of a Unnited Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which will not be subordinate to Moscow.