Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew noted the good attitude seen in the Ukrainian government to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The comment came as the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke with Ukrainian journalists in Phanar on December 6.
“I was in a very good mood when I saw the attitude of the state towards the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine, it is a very good mood and desire to cooperate with the Autocephalous Church,” said the Ecumenical Patriarch.
His All-Holiness has noted that he often reads about how many parishes of the ROC in Ukraine are converting to the Autocephalous Church.
“This shows that autocephaly is strengthening and expanding, that people want to have their own independent Church, they don’t want to be dependent on Russia. And political relations between Russia and Ukraine are very tense now. It (Ukrainian nation – ed.) wants to have its own Local Church and not depend on Moscow. That is why they (parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine – ed.) are gradually joining the Autocephalous Church,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew concluded.
It should be recalled that Patriarch Bartholomew said that the “schism” was caused by the ROC, while there’s no such thing in world Orthodoxy.
Read the full speech of Patriarch Bartholomew on the Spiritual Front of Ukraine.
