Epiphanius, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU), said the church had no ties to the country’s former president, Petro Poroshenko. The relevant statement was published on the OCU website.
According to the cleric, the opponents want to discredit and undermine the trust of the parishioners with such “false gossip”, by imposing “the image of the Petro Poroshenko church” on the OCU.
“Neither Petro Poroshenko nor any other politician, whether representing the government or the opposition, plays any exceptional role in the life of the OCU, which will give anyone reason to associate our local church with these names in such a context”, — said the primate of the OCU.
Metropolitan Epiphanius stressed that no political force or political leader will have an “exclusive or even more controlling role” in the OCU.
April 7 Poroshenko with his wife Marina visit The liturgy held by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the main cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on the occasion of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.