UOC KP: Poroshenko-Phanar agreement – interference in church affairs

Head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko, Patriarch Bartholomew, and the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. Photo: NTV

The agreement between the former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is direct state interference in the life of the Church, as said on the UOC KP Facebook page.

“The very fact of signing an agreement between the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is obvious and not acceptable because it is direct interference of the state in internal church affairs,” the message said.

We recall that on November 3, 2018, in Istanbul, Poroshenko and Patriarch Bartholomew signed an agreement, the content of which the Administration of the President of Ukraine refused to disclose for a long time.

Later it became known that in exchange for the Tomos Poroshenko promised “properties” to the Phanar. “In accordance with the purpose of the agreement, Ukraine will contribute <...> to the acquisition, in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s representation in Ukraine, namely, the ‘Stavropigy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine’ mission, of buildings and premises, and other properties necessary for the functioning of the ‘Stavropigy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine’ mission," reads the text of the agreement, a copy of which the Presidential Administration provided to the media.

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