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Ukraine’s President Is Positive about Establishment of a National Church and Asks for Ecumenical Patriarch’s Blessing
29-07-2008
28.07.2008, [15:03] // Inter-Christian relations // Kyiv-On 26 July 2008, at Sophia's Square in Kyiv, celebratory events were held for the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus with the participation of the Universal Patriarch Bartholomew I, Ukraine's President, delegations of local Orthodox Churches, representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the Roman Catholic Church.
Ukraine's President, Victor Yushchenko, greeted the Ukrainian nation for the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Ukraine-Rus.
"This is a festival of Christianity and European Civilization. This is a festival of the universal Christian Community and Orthodoxy. This is a festival of Ukraine and all its Christian Churches. This is a festival of our thousand-year old nation. Today, this festival comes back home," said Victor Yushchenko.
The president reminded the audience of the history of Christianity in the Ukrainian land and its role in the development of the state, education, and culture. "The fate of the Kyivan Metropolitanate resembles the whole of our fate. Its prosperity in Kyiv, its way to Halych, its return to the capital with the Cossack freedom, its preaching has not faded away in time. It was transformed into the genetic desire of the people to be free and to have their own state and Church," said Victor Yushchenko.
"I believe that with wisdom and patience we will fulfill the dream. I trust that any divisions of the Ukrainian believers are not lasting. I trust that the national local Church will be established in Ukraine as God's gift, as the historic truth and justice," stated Ukraine's president at the Holy Sophia's Square.
As the president addressed the Universal Patriarch Bartholomew I he asked for his blessing. "I believe and ask for Your blessing, Your All-Holiness. For the dream. For the truth. For hope. For our state. For Ukraine," said Victor Yushchenko.
At the same time, he assured that the Ukrainian state does not interfere in the affairs of the Churches and treats each of them equally. "Undoubtedly, the Ukrainian state does not interfere and is beyond any inter-confessional disputes, as it shows equal respect to each Church, each religion, and each believer. However, we will always support the unity of Ukrainian Christianity and the closest possible dialogue between cultures and confessions," said the president.
