The US State Department officially supported the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church.

The US State Department announced the official position of Washington on granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. On department site a statement was released by the department spokesman Heather Neuert, which states that the United States respects the right of Orthodox religious leaders and believers in Ukraine to follow the path of autocephaly according to their convictions.

A spokesman for the US State Department Heather Neuert. Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in the USA / Facebook

Neuert said that the United States considers the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to be the voice of religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue and support the supporters of Ukrainian autocephaly.

“The United States strongly supports religious freedom, including the freedom of members of religious groups to govern their religious practices in accordance with their own beliefs and without government interference,” Nauert said in a statement.

Photo: US Department of State

“The State Department also took this opportunity to emphasize that the United States has consistently supported Ukraine and its territorial integrity in the face of the threat of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the Russian occupation of Crimea,” the official Facebook page says Embassy of Ukraine in the USA.

“We support Ukraine as it forges its own path and makes its own decisions, free from external interference,” the statement emphasizes.

Recall that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I sent two exarchs (governors) to Kiev in preparation for the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian church. Archbishop Daniel of Pamphylia from the USA and Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton from Canada were appointed personal representatives of the Patriarch.

St. Michael's Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate. Photo: Depositphotos

In a message to the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, on the day of the celebration of the 1030 anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus, the Patriarch confirmed his decision to provide the Ukrainian Church with a tomos (decree) about autocephaly.

The Russian Orthodox Church previously expressed strong protest in connection with the appointment of the Exarchs of Constantinople, calling it “an invasion of its canonical territory,” and threatened to break inter-church communication.

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