Tuesday, April 17, 2018

President: Ukraine is closer than ever to the emergence of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church

President Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with faction leaders of the Parliament and urged them to support the Appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on granting Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian church.
“I would like to ask you, colleagues people’s deputies, to support this Appeal. I would also like to address the people of Ukraine, because it is also up to you to decide - support the hierarchs, President, Parliament and get the Autocephalous Orthodox Ukrainian Church. I believe it will happen with God’s help,” Petro Poroshenko said.

“We are meeting shortly after the bright Resurrection of Christ, this day in Ukraine is called Easter. And on these Easter holidays it is said that the sky is open to the aspirations and wishes of the believers. And I have a great hope that we have a unique chance to fulfill the dream of generations of Ukrainians," the Head of State addressed the audience.
The President noted that he had attended the temples of different confessions on Easter, and in addition to the great joy of the bright Resurrection of Christ, believers demonstrated hope - hope that in the end Ukraine would get the Autocephalous Orthodox Ukrainian Church. "I cannot say that this hope has arisen now, because Ukrainians have hoped for that for 26 years since independence," he added.
Petro Poroshenko also reminded that during his election campaign and two years ago, in July 2016, in his address on the occasion of the 1028th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, which we received from our Constantinople Mother Church, he sought and requested these dreams of Ukrainian believers to be finally realized.
The Head of State said that immediately after Easter night, on Bright Monday, he traveled to Istanbul, where, in addition to the meetings with the Turkish President and Minister for Foreign Affairs, he also had a meeting with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Synod.
"I can tell very pleasant news that today, Ukraine is closer than ever to the emergence of its own Autocephalous Local Orthodox Church. This is evidenced not only by the position of the Ecumenical Patriarch, but also by the members of the Synod," the President emphasized.
He told that he couldn’t reveal all the details of the meeting, but the key elements necessary to ensure that process were achieved.
According to the President, the first such condition is the appeal of hierarchs. He informed that he had already met with the representatives of the clergy. Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine Filaret handed over to the President the appeal of all bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who demonstrated support for granting Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The President also informed that he had met with Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Makariy, Primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church: “All archbishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church signed the appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch and the appeal to the President”.
Petro Poroshenko noted that the bishops of other churches had signed or considered an opportunity to sign the appeal to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on granting Tomos of Autocephaly.

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