Poroshenko will soon announce the creation of a unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church - a source

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will soon announce the start of the procedure for the creation of a unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was reported by RBK-Ukraina’s sources in the presidential administration.

According to sources, the corresponding agreement was reached during the negotiations of Poroshenko with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

In September 2017, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has said that Ukraine has the right to an autocephalous Local Orthodox Church, and that he will push for its establishment. However, he also stressed that “the recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch that we are expecting will in no way mean the emergence of a state Church or a banning on the activities of other Orthodox confessions”. The president said this in his annual address to parliament.

He also noted that the state is separated from the church, but it cannot passively watch how other countries use church institutes dependent on them to achieve their political goals.