Expert: Invitation of Phanar head to Ukraine violates State’s Constitution

Yuri Reshetnikov. Photo: UNIAN

Yuri Reshetnikov, a specialist in the field of state-church relations, commenting for the UOJ on the meeting between the head of the President's Office Andrey Yermak and Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon regarding the upcoming visit of the head of the Phanar to Ukraine, said that the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew by the state authorities violated the Constitution of Ukraine.

“To what extent does the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew correlate with Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which speaks of the separation of the Church from the state? It doesn't correlate in any way. I can still understand if the Pope was invited, who, in addition to the head of the Catholic Church, is the head of the Vatican state, which has an international diplomatic status, in this case, he (Patriarch Bartholomew - Ed.) does not have such a status, he is one of a thousand religious leaders of the greater or smaller scale. Therefore, the question arises, why exactly he and not hundreds of other religious leaders?” said the expert.

According to Yuri Reshetnikov, the presence of the representative of the OCU Eustratiy Zoria at the meeting with the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and Metropolitan Emmanuel suggests that the current government continues to follow the path of its predecessors.

“If Eustratiy (Zoria – Ed.) was there, it is obvious that he was invited there by the head of the President's Office or his staff. If we are talking about independence (of the OCU – Ed.) from Constantinople, there is no such independence, just look at the Tomos. In 2019, 73 percent of Ukrainian citizens absolutely clearly stated their rejection, including attempts to create a quasi-state church. If the current government continues attempts to create a quasi-state church, which the previous authorities undertook, it will come to the same results that the previous power came to in the 2019 elections. Such processes do not pass without leaving a trace for the entire Ukrainian society,” he added.

As the UOJ previously reported, the head of the OP could meet with the Phanar hierarch only as a parishioner.

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