President Petro Poroshenko is convinced that granting the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarch will strengthen the independence of our state.
“The long-awaited Tomos will further strengthen religious freedom in Ukraine, strengthen inter-confessional peace, strengthen the rights and freedoms of citizens who will finally become united,” the Head of State said during his speech in the Verkhovna Rada.
"Such Tomos will strengthen our independence. It will erase the rudiments of the political project "Russian world" invented, by the way, by the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, this dangerous political heresy for Ukraine was taken over by the authorities of the Russian Federation," he also emphasized.
He noted that the issue of autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church had always been important for the Head of State and the efforts in that direction had been made for a long time. "It was a priority - both in my election program and from the very first days of my presidency. I have repeatedly emphasized this in my speeches, especially on the Day of Baptism, and the words were backed up by my actions aimed to fulfill the promise. And all these years, we conducted the dialogue between Ukraine and the Ecumenical Throne, which was imperceptible for the outside world,” Petro Poroshenko noted.
According to the President, this year’s Easter meeting with His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew “was not the first one, but it turned out to be very promising and fruitful for the first time”. “During my hours-long conversation with the Patriarch, I have finally felt that it is time to interrupt this diplomatic silence with quick concrete steps,” Petro Poroshenko said.
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