“The signing of Tomos of autocephaly of the so-called Orthodox
Church of Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople will deepen the split of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. This is undoubtedly a forced political action, which will definitely
lead to growing confrontation in Ukraine. All this things threaten to turn into
persecution and destroys of the church complexes of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, another human tragedies and pain,” Leonid Slutskiy
Slutsky
Leonid Eduardovich
told journalists.
Earlier, the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople signed the Tomos of autocephaly of the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine
in Istanbul. A prayer service was held before that, the President of Ukraine
Petro Poroshenko, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Chairman
of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy and the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Metropolitan Epiphanius attend it.
Chairman of the Committee
on International Affairs said that the Tomos is “just a paper that has no canonical value,”
which can spur Orthodox Christians on to wrongful divisive activities. “It is
alarming for religious people and those who are concerned for their brethrens.
Poroshenko, Klimkin and Parubiy, with the support of their Western curators, are
not well aware of what they really do with the Ukrainian people and their
faith,” the head of the Committee added.
Leonid Slutskiy
noted the fact that the current leadership of Ukraine only seeks to remain in power by any means. “And anti-constitutional interference in religious affairs
is only a part of the whole plan of the Kiev elite, being in pre-election
throes now,” the parliamentarian concluded.
