Phanar: What Poroshenko did with the church was an age-old Ukrainian dream

The Poroshenko couple and Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: eurosolidarity.org

During a meeting in Istanbul between Patriarch Bartholomew and Petro Poroshenko, the Phanar hierarch, Archbishop Daniel (Zelinsky), said that the Ukrainian people had dreamed for centuries of restoring the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the website of the European Solidarity Party reports.

“The contribution of Petro Alekseevich is invaluable, because it was he who was the driving force when the Ukrainian people tried to restore historical justice in order to have their own metropolis, to restore their metropolis and autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for centuries,” said Daniel (Zelinsky).

According to the Phanar hierarch, Poroshenko "had the opportunity to touch not only the spiritual life of the Ukrainian people, but also the social aspect – what we are as a nation."

The former president took part in the festive liturgy at the Phanar. After the service, Patriarch Bartholomew said that he was “happy to welcome the honorable signor,” and he “recalls with pleasure how autocephaly was granted to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine through joint efforts (with Poroshenko – Ed.)”.

As the UOJ previously reported, Patriarch Bartholomew received Petro Poroshenko at Phanar.

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