Tomos returns to Ukraine, brought to Rivne — Poroshenko
The scroll of Tomos on the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has returned to Ukraine from Constantinople where it stayed for the duration of the day on January 9 to be signed by members of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has said.
"This morning the Tomos returned to Ukraine. By the decision of our primate, by His Holiness's blessing, it is here, in Rivne," Poroshenko said in his address at the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Rivne on January 10.
After the words of the head of state, the scroll of Tomos was brought into the temple by clerics and demonstrated to those present in the temple.
"The Tomos, which is equal to the Act of Independence of Ukraine, is today in Rivne. This is a historical event that will be written down in the history of this temple forever," Poroshenko said.
As reported earlier, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All of Ukraine, received the tomos of autocephaly from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul on January 6. Patriarch Bartholomew signed the Tomos on January 5.
On January 7, Metropolitan Epiphanius and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko brought the scroll with the Tomos to St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv for the Christmas liturgy.
After that, the Tomos was returned to Istanbul to be signed by all members of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which traditionally meets on the 9th day of each month.
It was also reported that the Tomos of autocephaly of the Ukrainian church would be briefly returned to Istanbul so that members of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople could sign it.
A spokesman for the OCU, priest Ivan Sydor, said that the Tomos on the autocephaly would be returned to Ukraine immediately after it is signed by the participants of the synod, after which it would always stay in Kyiv. At the same time, he noted that the document is valid after the signature of the Ecumenical Patriarch, "but according to the procedure, there must also be the signatures of those bishops who are members of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate."
