Poroshenko: We care what Church we have, that’s why we have won Tomos
"The Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine" is an instrument of Russia's geopolitical influence, said the former president of Ukraine.
Former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his team won the Tomos because they do care what kind of Church there is in Ukraine. The politician said this in a peculiar video congratulation of Ukrainians on the Day of Unity of Ukraine.
Poroshenko’s video became a kind of response to the New Year’s greetings of Vladimir Zelensky, in which the President in particular said that “there’s no difference near which monument you are waiting for the girl you are in love with.”
Petro Poroshenko called the words of the President “a false prophetic appeal” and stated that the Ukrainians did not accept it.
“Like, what's the difference, the Ukrainian language or Russian?” Poroshenko bitterly addressed the audience, “the Moscow Church or ours”?
The former president expressed confidence that "the majority of Ukrainians are patriots and statesmen who do care".
Poroshenko continued this line in the church sphere: “We care what kind of Church we have and for this reason we secured the Tomos. We understand that the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine is not just a denomination but an instrument of Russia's geopolitical influence. However, citizens are free to choose their path to God, even if some still choose their path through Moscow.”
Poroshenko also believes that his team laid the foundation for the construction of new roads in Ukraine but at the same time said that "the nation is not cemented with asphalt but with shared values."
“We are all one family, with the exception of those who raised weapons against Ukraine,” the MP concluded.
Recall that in 2018, Poroshenko said that the UOC will no longer have “grandstanding”. He later promised that there would be no state-run church in the country. And already in the summer of 2019 he announced that the principle of non-interference of the state in the affairs of the Church, enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, was only a beautiful theory.