Photo: AP Photo / Luis M. Alvarez
The United States believe that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew voice of tolerance and dialogue and support the supporters of Ukrainian autocephaly, said state Department spokesman Heather Nauert, reports Interfax-Religion.
“The United States respects the ability of Orthodox religious leaders and believers of Ukraine to follow the path of autocephaly in accordance with their beliefs. We respect the Ecumenical Patriarch as the voice of religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue,” the statement reads H. Neuert published Tuesday on the website of the state Department.
The United States supports Ukraine, which, as expressed by H. Neuert, “outlines his own path and makes its own decisions and associations, free from external interference”.
The spokesman said that the US “strongly supports the freedom of religion, including the freedom of group members to manage their religion in accordance with their beliefs and to freely practice their faith without interference from the government”.
Meanwhile, the question of receiving the Tomos on the establishment of “one national Church” in the Ukraine was raised specifically by President Petro Poroshenko that was regarded by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate and other Orthodox churches as a gross interference of the state in Church Affairs.