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27.06.2007, [15:05] // Church-state relations // RISU.ORG.UA

Turkey – On 26 June 2007 as part of an official visit to Turkey, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in Istanbul. Among the topics discussed were the formation of a single Orthodox church in Ukraine.

At the beginning of the meeting, the patriarch said he is praying for Ukraine’s unity. He expressed hope that after the upcoming parliamentary elections, the situation in Ukraine will stabilize. Patriarch Bartholomew told the president of his blessing for the whole Ukrainian nation.

In his turn, when discussing the political situation in Ukraine, Yushchenko said that Ukraine “has taken up the right path, which more and more people support.”

The patriarch and the president discussed the development of religions and the process of formation of a single national church in Ukraine. They also discussed the issue of the spiritual upbringing of youth on the basis of Christian ethics.

At the end, Yushchenko and Patriarch Bartholomew exchanged gifts.

As RISU reported earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew I was one of the first to greet Yushchenko on his victory in the December 2004 presidential election and gave him a patriarchal blessing.

“We have expressed repeatedly our concerns about the unacceptable disunity within Orthodoxy in Ukraine,” wrote the patriarch of Constantinople in his greeting. Also he “expressed [his] readiness to assist to ameliorate this painful situation. “ Since early 2005, Yushchenko and his representatives have repeatedly met with Patriarch Bartholomew and hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the issue of a single national Orthodox church in Ukraine has always dominated the discussion.

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