Washington promised to support Kyiv in the struggle for the right to autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, during a meeting with the US Ambassador on Special Orders on International Religious Freedom, Samuel Braunbek discussed steps to create a Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church.

"President Poroshenko introduced the Brownbek ambassador to the steps that are carried out in the way of creating the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The president thanked the American side for the active support of Ukraine in this process," the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state said in a message published on Tuesday evening.

"In turn, the Ambassador Brownbek assured that the United States will continue to support Ukraine in the struggle to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right to have a single Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church," the report said.

Poroshenko emphasized that religious freedom is an integral part of Ukrainian identity. "We are proud that we have a worthy state of religious freedom in Ukraine, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine on freedom of conscience and religious organizations, as well as a traditionally high level of tolerance that reigns in Ukrainian society," he said.

The president also attracted the attention of the American ambassador "to numerous evidence of terrible violations of human rights and freedoms, in particular religious freedom, in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia." "The interlocutors emphasized the need for a tough response to the systemic persecution in the occupied Donbass and the Crimea of ​​the Ukrainian believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek -Catholic Church, representatives of other religions," the document says.

Recall that last spring, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced his intention to appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople with an appeal to publish Tomos about a single local Orthodox church in Ukraine. The other day, during the Sinaxis (Bishop Cathedral) of the Church of the Constantinople Church in Istanbul, Patriarch Bartholomew said he was assuming the initiative to overcome the Ukrainian schism, "since Russia as responsible for the current painful situation in Ukraine is not able to solve the problem." At the same cathedral it was confirmed that the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarchate could provide autocephaly without any approvals.

"The appointment of the exarchs is a gross violation of the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This decision of the Constantinople Patriarchate contradicts the 2nd rule of the second Ecumenical (Constantinople) Council:" Not being invited, the bishops do not pass outside their field, "the department of external church relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy said, noted there, they noted there. That the appointment of exarchs in Kyiv occurred without the knowledge of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Onufry as the only canonical bishop of the city of Kyiv, and the responsibility for the possible negative consequences of this action will lie on the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

"The response steps from the Moscow Patriarchate will certainly follow" and they will be "extremely gesture", they assured the Russian Orthodox Church .