10:13 16.07.2018

Autocephaly a pillar of Ukrainian state and world geopolitics

2 min read
Autocephaly a pillar of Ukrainian state and world geopolitics

The autocephalous church is a pillar of the national security of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Autocephaly is one of the pillars of the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian nation, Ukrainian national security, and in the end, the entire world geopolitics," Poroshenko said in Ternopil region on Sunday, July 15.

The head of state said that the situation with the provision of a tomos (decree) to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not easy.

"The opposite is large-scale and systemic. There is no reason to believe that a tomos is allegedly in our pocket. We have two things left to get it – to pray and to fight," Poroshenko said.

He noted that he remains convinced that the church should be independent.

"It's not about establishing a state church. The churches were and will be independent of the state, as stipulated by the Constitution. I firmly believe that the church in Ukraine is independent of the state, but especially of a foreign state," the president said.

Poroshenko said that he wrote about this to Pope Francis and the other day the state secretary of the Vatican said that "Pope Francis states with great satisfaction that the authorities in Ukraine guarantee full observance of religious freedom for believers of all faiths."

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