President of Ukraine promises no state church in the country
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko
In Ukraine, there is and will be no state church, said President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Facebook.
At the same time, he once again “reminded” that the believers have allegedly waited several centuries for the creation of the OCU, and only due to the solidarity of the clergy, Poroshenko himself, the Government, parliamentarians and the common people such a landmark event became possible.
According to the head of State, Ukraine has always kept true religious freedom.
“I emphasize that we do not have and will not have a state church. But there is real religious freedom, which we all cherish. With all the diversity, we are united by Ukraine and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,” wrote the President.
Earlier, confident in the existence of “real religious freedom” in the state, Poroshenko said that “representatives of the ROC must leave Ukraine” because they have nothing to do in the Ukrainian state.
On December 22, 2018, he also signed bill No. 5309 on renaming religious organizations, whose governing center is located in the aggressor country, although he had said earlier that he would not do this.
According to the President, this bill will help Ukrainians to better realize the right to freedom of religion and facilitate making decisions which Church to belong to. "Either to the newly created autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine or to the Church that insists on maintaining its connection and dependence on the Russian Orthodox Church," Poroshenko explained.
MP Oksana Bilozir, a representative of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc party, explained the emergence of bill No. 5309 by the need to legally fix that the UOC no longer exists in Ukraine and in nature.
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