Press-release of the Embassy of Ukraine in Iran on the petition of the Ukrainian authorities to grant the Tomos of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

On April 19, 2018 the Ukrainian Parliament upheld the petition of Petro Poroshenko,  the President of Ukraine to the Ecumenical Patriarch asking him to grant the Tomos of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. About 268 MPs voted in favor, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The President of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Parliament, sending an appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch with the request to grant the Tomos the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, ensuring the equality of interests of all concerned religious groups and did not create preconditions for the formation of privileges for any of them or their separate parts.

The appeal of the President of Ukraine to the Ecumenical Patriarch and his support by the Parliament of Ukraine is the fulfillment of his constitutional duties by the Head of State and People’s Deputies and the strict observance of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has always come forth and proceeds from the fact that the Constantinople Church-Mother, the only one for Ukraine since the Baptism of Kyivan Rus in 988, was and remains.

Due to the lack of a constructive position and insistence on absolutely non-core technical issues, the Russian Orthodox Church lost the opportunity to secure for itself the guaranteed right to block the granting by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of autocephaly to any church without the consent of Moscow, including the current issue of granting Tomos to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Moscow’s current attempts to interpret the results of the pre-assembly meetings in their favor are null and void.

The disapproval of the MP with the provision of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine will not lead to a rift in the world Orthodoxy. A possible move of Moscow to terminate relations (contacts) with the Patriarch of Constantinople will receive a negative or neutral assessment from the side of other Local Orthodox churches.

Press section of the

Embassy of Ukraine in Iran