Conditions for granting Tomos revealed: MP tells about Poroshenko's talks with Patriarch Bartholomew

MP Rostislav Pavlenko, who oversaw the process of obtaining the Tomos of autocephaly for the OCU, revealed the details of the negotiations between the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. According to him, the granting of the Tomos became possible only after the Ukrainian side gave guarantees of fulfillment of three key conditions, the main of which was the prevention of religious hatred and seizures of churches.

Pavlenko said that work in this direction began on Poroshenko’s instructions at the end of 2014. Initially, in 2015, a scenario was considered in which the UOC-KP and the UAOC were to unite, after which the new structure could “receive recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarch and negotiate as equals with the UOC-MP on further unification.” However, according to the MP, this plan was not realized.

A new stage of negotiations began in 2016. According to Pavlenko, the Ecumenical Patriarch took the refusal of the Russian Orthodox Church and a number of other churches to participate in the Cretan Council as a personal attack, which significantly revitalized the dialogue with Ukraine. As a signal of Ukraine’s support for this idea, the authorities organized an official appeal by the Verkhovna Rada to Phanar.

At the final stage of the negotiations, Patriarch Bartholomew put forward three main conditions. “If we decide to grant the Tomos, it will be only if we understand: first, it will contribute to the good of the Ukrainian people; second, it will not give rise to a real religious war… And third, it will be the path of unification,” Pavlenko quoted the Patriarch as saying.

Petro Poroshenko assured the Patriarchate of Constantinople that these conditions would be met. Pavlenko emphasized that after receiving the Tomos, “the state was supposed to support this process, not leave it to chance.” He also categorically denied rumors of a financial payment for the Tomos, saying that Poroshenko did not pay anything, but only supplied the Phanar with sweets of his own production.

Earlier, American writer, journalist and former intelligence officer John Chris Kiriakou spoke about the details of the creation of the OCU. According to his information, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople agreed to create the OCU at the request of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Moreover, the head of the Phanar received a reward of $20 million for this case, of which only $15 million was received by him.