UOC Bishops' Council makes a statement on the meeting with Poroshenko
Bishops of the UOC confirmed their readiness to meet with the President of Ukraine but on the church territory.
The Council of Bishops of the UOC, which took place on November 13 in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, made a statement regarding their meeting with Petro Poroshenko. The text of the statement was published by the Information and Education Department of the UOC.
The document says that Petro Poroshenko initiated a meeting with the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on 13 November 2018 on the premises of the National Center for Business and Cultural Cooperation “Ukrainian House”.
"With the blessing of His Beatitude Onufriy, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, the episcopacy of the UOC met at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on the agreed date," the statement says.
According to the document, an extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod of the UOC was held on the same day, at which it was decided to convene the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“Having discussed the state of church-state relations, public statements made by state leaders, which can be regarded as those being directed against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, taking into account the sentiments and attitudes of the church people and clergy, and also on the assumption that ecclesiastic issues should be discussed in the Church territory, the UOC Bishops' Council decided to meet with the President not in the Ukrainian House, but in the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra,” note the authors of the statement.
The document emphasizes that this decision of the Council was immediately reported to the President, however, the President refused to meet.
“Given these circumstances, the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affirms its readiness to meet with the President of Ukraine, but on the church territory,” the document says.
As the UOJ reported, on 13 November 2018, Petro Poroshenko refused to come to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to meet with the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. After agreeing to have a meeting on the appointed date, the bishops received an order from the head of the Presidential Administration, Igor Rainin, to arrive at the same time (2.00 pm) at the Ukrainian House.
