On the fourth anniversary of Tomos, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew invited the fifth President Petro Poroshenko to his residence on Phanar.
As you know, on January 6, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch officially presented Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, with the Tomos, document on the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church, signed the day before in the Church of St. George.
Petro Poroshenko thanked His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew for his constant support of Ukraine. “Today is a truly historic day, four years ago, out of the great love of His Holiness, the Ukrainian Church was created, uniting all the Orthodox churches of Ukraine. And today we have one united nation and one united church. Tomorrow, Metropolitan Epiphanius will hold a Christmas mass in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra,” Poroshenko told reporters.
Patriarch Bartholomew conveyed a sincere blessing to the Ukrainian people and congratulated them on Christmas. “We are very happy, it is an honor for us to have our good friends here, President Petro Poroshenko. We cooperated together to grant a new status to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We have achieved success in this and now we are praying for the unification of all Orthodox believers in the country around the OCU – this is the only possible solution. We pray for the end of this unjust war and aggression day and night, for the Ukrainian people, strong and brave, who dared to defend the integrity and freedom of Ukraine. We are with you through love and prayers. We are glad to see that the international community is also with you. Justice and truth always wins,” said Bartholomew.
“I congratulate Ukrainian believers on Christmas, which you celebrate tomorrow. Metropolitan Epiphanius will have a mass tomorrow in the Lavra. We show unity with your believers in the name of freedom and stability in Ukraine,” added the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Petro Poroshenko also discussed with the Ecumenical Patriarch the influence of the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. As you know, the OCU recently appealed to Bartholomew and the heads of other churches to condemn the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“We cannot allow connections with the church of the aggressor country, which is killing Ukrainians in Ukraine. This is not the church where the devil is. And in this situation, I really appreciate your love for Ukraine, for the Ukrainian people, for God. And if God is with us, then no difference who is against us. I think that in these four years we have come a long way, many people have joined our church. Our church is open to unification. In my opinion, the activity of our church, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, is extremely important for our future victory, no less important than the activity of our army, our volunteers, our people,” the fifth President emphasized.
“Back in 2018, an agreement was adopted between the state of Ukraine and the Ecumenical Throne on cooperation in supporting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in particular regarding its international recognition. And accordingly, everyone who works for the interest of the state of Ukraine must follow it. What is very important is the condemnation of the Russian Orthodox Church as an organization that actually professes the heretical ideas of the “Russian world”, that supports the war against Ukraine and that should be condemned,” explains People’s Deputy Rostyslav Pavlenko.
“We prayed to God for Ukraine’s victory in the war against the invaders,” Poroshenko said.
“On the fourth anniversary of receiving the Tomos, I am here to convey your messages of gratitude from the Ukrainian people to His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew for his devotion to Ukraine,” Poroshenko sums up.