Verkhovna Rada votes for transferring St. Andrew’s Church to Phanar

St. Andrew's Church

On October 18, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada supported largely and generally in its first reading the bill “On the peculiarities of using St. Andrew’s Church of the National Reserve ‘St. Sophia of Kiev’”, according to which St. Andrew’s church is handed over to the Constantinople Patriarchate. It is reported by RBC.

237 deputies voted for the decision, 30 voted against, 13 abstained.

The draft law No. 9208, proposed by Petro Poroshenko, was registered on October 17. The document envisages the transfer of the church of St. Andrew to the “gratuitous, permanent use of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the performance of worship services, religious rites, ceremonies and processions”. As noted in the explanatory note, this decision "will help accelerate the arrival of the Tomos."

The Speaker of the Rada, Andrei Parubiy, declared that the church remains in state ownership. At the same time, according to media reports, the conclusions of the Main Scientific and Expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada state that the parliament is not authorized to transfer “specific objects of state ownership” for use, since this is the prerogative of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Representatives of the UAOC used to hold worships in St. Andrew’s church. “Metropolitan” Makariy Maletich said that if the UAOC gives up its only cathedral, then it should be given something in return.

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