UOC hierarch: Agreement with Phanar has neither church nor secular value

Chairman of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the UOC Archbishop Clement (Vecheria) of Nezhin and Priluki

“The agreement on cooperation and interaction between Ukraine and the Ecumenical Constantinople Patriarchate” has no significance from the point of view of church canons, Archbishop Clement (Vecheria) of Nezhin and Priluki told RIA Novosti.

“This agreement shows there is no trust between them. Despite various statements, they do not trust each other, so they come up with various signatures in order to secure what they are striving for. This document has no value both from the point of view of ecclesiastic canons and secular law,” Vladyka explained.

As the UOJ reported, the “Agreement on cooperation and interaction between Ukraine and the Ecumenical Constantinople Patriarchate” was signed by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew following their meeting in Istanbul on 3 November. The press service of the President reported that the agreement on cooperation between Ukraine and Constantinople is an agreement on the establishment of an independent Ukrainian Church. The text of the agreement is not published either by Kiev or by Constantinople.

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