Pavlenko: We’re creating Church for tens of millions unwilling to be in UOC
The former deputy head of Ukraine's AP said about tens of millions of believers who "do not see themselves in the Moscow Church".
Church initiatives of the Ukrainian government have a very simple "message", said former deputy head of the Ukrainian Parliament Rostislav Pavlenko on the Hromadske TV channel.
"Since tens of millions of believers want canonical communication and do not see themselves in the Moscow Church, the task of the state is to create an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Pavlenko said, adding that those who wish to remain in communion with Moscow have such a right and "the state will protect this right".
According to the State Statistics Committee on January 1, 2018, the population in Ukraine is 42 million 386.4 thousand people. At the same time, unofficial sources say that there are barely 38 million Ukrainians.
