Nevertheless, the said delegation did not get to Kyiv. As we reported earlier, the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, has been sabotaging the arrival of the delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to Ukraine for almost two years, which Patriarch Bartholomew had intended to send to the country several times to try to resolve the Ukrainian church crisis. However, representatives of the OCU, represented by Epiphany Dumenko and Yevstratiy Zoria, have been inventing various excuses to prevent the Phanar delegation from entering Ukraine.
The Office of the President of Ukraine said that Patriarch Bartholomew supports Zelensky's initiatives to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian presidential office has reported some details of the meeting of the Ukrainian delegation with the head of the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, which took place on August 13, 2024. The Office of the President said that Patriarch Bartholomew supports the initiatives of Volodymyr Zelensky “to strengthen spiritual independence”. About it reports the Office of the President of Ukraine.
“The parties discussed in detail the state of religious freedom in Ukraine, which, despite the war, Ukrainian society is deepening. The Ukrainian side is proud of the fact that in our state there are no closed churches, major and minor religions, and the voice of the few religious communities in the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations sounds as loud as the voice of the churches to which the majority of Ukrainians belong. The Ecumenical Patriarch testified to his constant readiness to make the necessary efforts for the prosperity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine and noted that he cares for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. His All Holiness noted that he supports everything that is aimed at good for Ukraine. In particular, it concerns the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelensky on spiritual independence, which is a prerequisite for the development of our state. From the Ukrainian side, the Ecumenical Patriarch received an invitation from the President of Ukraine to visit our country,” — a press release on the results of the meeting said.
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