Russian Orthodox Church 'Has No Business In Ukraine' - Poroshenko

Sumaira FH Published November 07, 2018 | 06:09 PM

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that the Russian Orthodox Church "has no business in Ukraine" and its representatives should leave the country.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th November, 2018) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that the Russian Orthodox Church "has no business in Ukraine" and its representatives should leave the country.

"Is it a normal situation when the Russian Security Council is holding an urgent meeting in the Kremlin under the chairmanship of [President Vladimir] Putin with the only issue on the agenda � how to protect the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine? My dear, you have nothing to do here. Your church, armed forces and weapons have nothing to do here as well. Go home to Russia," Poroshenko said in Kiev.

Poroshenko also expressed hope that the Ukrainian church hierarchs will not postpone the holding of a Ecumenical Council. After that, according to Poroshenko, Kiev will receive a tomos of autocephaly.

In October, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) head Filaret Denisenko said that the date to convene a new Ecumenical Council during which granting autocephaly to the UOC-KP was to be announced depended on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

Ukraine is a canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although several Orthodox churches operate there, only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) is officially recognized. Poroshenko is seeking to achieve recognition of non-canonical institutions and to create a single local autocephalous church in Ukraine.

In October, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Constantinople Patriarchate launched preparations for granting autocephaly to the non-canonical UOC-KP. In response, the Russian Orthodox Church decided to completely break the Eucharistic communion with the Constantinople Patriarchate.

The Russian Orthodox Church qualified the Constantinople Patriarchate's move to revoke the 1686 act transferring the Kiev archdiocese to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate as canonically void.