President Petro Poroshenko emphasizes that with the issue of granting
the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukraine
wants to withstand the right to its own independent church.
"We are not against anyone. Take the church - every country must have
its own. It turns out that only Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova do not
have such a right. Before the beginning of the war with Russia, internal
struggles within the Orthodox Church could be acceptable. But after the
Russian aggression - no more. The Russian Orthodox Church acts under
the instructions of Russia," the Head of State said in an interview to
Focus, informs press service of the president.
“I hope that my appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew will yield positive
results and give us the right to our own autocephalous church. Ukrainian
church was established 1000 years ago in Constantinople. We just return
to our origins,” Petro Poroshenko said.
The President emphasizes that it is important for the independence of
Ukraine, because Ukrainians will finally have the right to determine
the ecclesiastical hierarchy and what Patriarch to pray for.
"We hate the stereotype, as if we are part of the Soviet or Russian
empire. Our past is related to Europe. We are trying to get back to the
European family right now. This applies not only to western but also to
central Ukraine. In 2013, only 35% of respondents supported Europe, 16% -
the idea of NATO membership. Currently, 70% are for the EU, 56% are for
NATO," the Head of State emphasized.