THE DECISION TO GRANT THE TOMOS OF AUTOCEPHALY OF THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH SHOULD BE APPROVED BY ALL THE CHURCH CANONS - PRESIDENT

The decision to grant the Tomos of Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be approved by all the church canons, as stated by President Petro Poroshenko.

"We are confident that now this decision must be made in strict accordance with the canons. Especially since His All Holiness is also known as a great specialist in the field of the canon law of the Eastern churches," the Head of State said in a meeting with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which arrived in Kyiv to participate in the celebration of the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Ukraine-Rus’.

Petro Poroshenko noted that Ukraine was eagerly waiting for this visit and would like to greet the representatives of His All Holiness. "With the same impatience we, Your Eminence, are waiting for the Tomos. We are waiting for the decision of our Mother Church. We are waiting for the decision of the Synod," the President said and once again expressed gratitude to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew "for the firmness shown by His All Holiness now towards Ukraine on behalf of the Mother Church".

The President noted that he remembered with great pleasure the meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew this year immediately after Easter and "the warm conversation, the support given to us by His All Holiness and the whole Synod".

The Head of State reminded that after that, significant events took place - the appeal to His All Holiness on granting the Tomos of Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, supported by an absolute majority of the Verkhovna Rada, was submitted. In addition, the appeal was supported by the episcopate of the UOC of the Kyivan Patriarchate and the UAOC, individual bishops of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate also expressed their commitment to the autocephaly, as stated by Petro Poroshenko.

"This is a very important element in the creation of our Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church," the President is convinced.

"At the same time, I would like to emphasize separately that the secular authorities do not interfere in church affairs, because, as I believe, secular authorities and state have no right and should not interfere in church affairs. Especially if this state is a foreign one," the Head of State stressed and added that "we will certainly defend our sovereignty, territorial integrity".

Petro Poroshenko thanked His All Holiness: "For us, this is an extremely important signal. Thank you for your blessing for my country. Thank you for your continued support for our movement".

Representative of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Metropolitan of France Emmanuel emphasized that the address of His All Holiness, conveyed today to the Ukrainian President, demonstrated the continued support of Kyiv on behalf of the Mother Church of Constantinople. “It shows that we are proud to be here now at the celebration of this anniversary. It takes place at a very important moment,” he said, adding that after the visit of the Ukrainian President to the Ecumanical Patriarchate on April 9 and the decision of the Holy Synod of April 20, the way to a new era had been paved.

“This is a historic moment for Ukraine, because it opened the procedure for granting the autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. Kyiv has always been under the protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. We have all the historical documents that prove it. The Mother Church has never stopped taking care, as stated in the address of His All Holiness, and the care of the Mother Church is noticeable," Metropolitan of France Emmanuel noted.

The Representative of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch assured that the delegations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had been officially informing other autocephalous orthodox churches of the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and urged them to come together in that procedure. “This is the first part of the implementation, which has already been started, and we openly receive anyone who visits His All Holiness to discuss the next step,” he added.

"We are very grateful for your efforts in uniting the churches of Ukraine, because we need Ukraine to have united churches and all our efforts are directed towards this. Be sure of that, Mr. President. We also pray for your mission, God and the Mother of God protect you and your Government and give blessings to the Ukrainian people," Metropolitan of France Emmanuel noted.

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