Demonstrated by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko choice in favor of not recognized by the international Orthodox-Kyiv Patriarchate is more important to him in person than To the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), which relies on the support of the people, not state power, and will not change his calling, said Tuesday Last news Deputy head of the Department for external Church relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov.

On Tuesday, when the Slavic peoples celebrate the baptism of Russia, Poroshenko visited the Liturgy In the Vladimir Cathedral, the main Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, which served as the head of the UOC-KP, Patriarch Filaret. For its part, the Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Onufry, the head of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, on this Day, led the service in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the participation of commissioners Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian and other Slavic Orthodox Churches. On the eve of the feast of the Baptism of Russia Patriarch Kirill appealed to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine with letters, where he tried to convince them "to use all his efforts To stop the bloodshed" and said the parties to the conflict must " scrupulously not to violate the Minsk consensus ".

"The main thing for the Church - not to change his vocation. And go for it or not those or other powerful - much more important For them, " said Balashov.

according to his statement, to attend the services of one or another faith is a personal matter." If to speak about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - in the future, as before, will be based not on force of state power, And on the support of faithful people, whose commitment to the canonical Church demonstrated, for example, held in Kiev crowded procession, " said the Commissioner of the Moscow Patriarchate.

now in Ukraine there are several Churches of the Orthodox rite is recognized by all the local Orthodox churches of the UOC-MP And the UOC-Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

in 1992, Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko), who occupied Kiev before the pulpit, And after the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Pimen in 1990 was elected Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal throne, not content provided by the Ukrainian Church independence and autonomy in the management of the Moscow Patriarchate, first asked in a persistent form For her autocephaly, But, not having received no consent, created and legally registered so-called Kiev Patriarchate. None of the canonical local Orthodox Churches, its legality is not recognized.

UAOC - canonical unrecognized Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora in the European Union and America.

The Kyivan Patriarchate and the UAOC, with the assistance of the political authorities for more than 2 decades, demand the recognition of their legitimacy.

sections: Politics