UAOC favours a "neutral" candidate in the lead of the Local Church

Celebrations of the UAOC on the occasion of the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus

The head of the Local Church in Ukraine should be a "neutral" candidate, said the head of the UAOC "Metropolitan" Makariy (Maletic) during the commemoration of the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.

"We do not mind a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch coming with the Tomos," TSN cites "Metropolitan" Makariy, "to unite around the Tomos, and then we’ll elect the primate. Not me, neutral."

Earlier, the head of the UAOC reported that he did not intend to nominate himself for the role of the head of the Single Local Church.

The schismatics have repeatedly claimed to see Filaret, anathematized by the canonical Church, as the head of the future Local Church. Filaret himself said that he was going to run for the head of the SLC, "because it is necessary to complete not a challenging task of uniting the Church". Previously, the media wrote that the Presidential Administration sees in the ambitions of the head of the Kiev "patriarchate" a problem in the way of getting the Tomos.

In mid-April, Poroshenko turned to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to grant the Tomos on autocephaly for the Church in Ukraine and announced the creation of the Single Local Church. The Verkhovna Rada supported the President’s appeal.

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