Yushchenko Not to Make Preferences for Any Orthodox Church
Newly-elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said today that he will not give preference to any one Orthodox Church in Ukraine during a conference
Newly-elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, whose inauguration on Sunday marked the end of weeks of political turmoil in Ukraine, said today that he will not give preference to any one Orthodox Church in Ukraine during a conference with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.
"We are perfectly aware of the current situation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with several denominations present in Ukraine. These denominations have a long history of interrelations, which was extremely complicated, at times," said the president, as reported by the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti.
"I am a religious man, and I shall never say to my supporters which church they are to attend," he added.
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Yushchenko said it was his desire to see Ukrainians united in the bosom of the Orthodox Church, so as to promote "understanding, piety and mutual confidence".
Alexy II, who congratulated Yushchenko on his victory last Friday, told the new-elected president during the meeting that he hoped for ecclesiastical affairs to improve during his presidency and for Ukraine to regain unity.
“We hope Church affairs will take a better turn with your contribution,” the Patriarch stated. “The present-day Church schism emerged early in the 1990s. It was triggered off by the previous [Ukrainian] regime, and was at its worst at that time. This schism has a bad effect on the community.”
“Many people may be at a loss to see which parish belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate and which to the Kiev, but the nation has been divided, all the same,” Alexy II pointed out.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, which is parallel to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, officially registered early in the 1990s. Since its registration, sources say it has not received recognition from any of the world's Local Orthodox Churches to this day.
According to the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS), Yushchenko also stated during the conference that he would visit all confessions and all major Orthodox holidays as part of a Ukrainian tradition.
“There has been a tradition in Ukraine since 2000: the president and the prime minister visit all confessions starting midnight on all major Orthodox holidays, thus showing their tolerance towards religious life,” Yushchenko stated. “This will be the basis of my policy.”
Of the some 13,500 parishes between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kiev Patriarchate has roughly 3,000, roughly 22 percent.
