Patriarch Kirill will sit on the dock in The Hague together with Putin - Poroshenko

Petro Poroshenko said this on the air of the Priamyi TV channel.

Poroshenko also noted that it is now necessary to ensure the implementation of the law on renaming churches, which is currently blocked by the Constitutional Court. The fifth President believes that believers should understand that relations with the church of the aggressor state are toxic.

“This is our second front, the fight for our identity and for our future. And it is by no means less important. Because Putin's goal was to undermine the country from the inside, destabilize and undermine our unity. The tool used by Putin is the 'fifth column' inside the country. And in the political sphere, and, of course, in the church one,” Poroshenko believes.

Petro Poroshenko also reminded that the activity of Russian agents through the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine was aimed at destroying our state from within, and there should be responsibility for this.

“The church of the aggressor country cannot win in the fight for the Ukrainian soul. I had no other choice than to fight for the independence of the Ukrainian church, for autocephaly, and for Tomos from the first days of my presidency,” Poroshenko emphasized.

He also recalled that Russian agents tried to prevent the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU): “but despite the intense pressure, the Ukrainians received Tomos, and our church was created.”

“In 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of the previous convocation passed and I signed the law on renaming churches. The church, which is governed from abroad, from the country of the aggressor, must inform and present this fact to the faithful. International norms, international law, and human rights - everything was taken into account,” Poroshenko reminded.

He reminded that in just one year, more than 600 parishes were transferred from parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

“And they were scared. Therefore, in 2019, unfortunately, and I have to state this, with the very powerful assistance of the previous leadership of Ukraine's Security Service, the transition of parishes was completely blocked. Already in January 2019, a constitutional submission by deputies of the "fifth column" of Moscow was submitted to the Constitutional Court. This submission blocked the application of this law for almost four years,” Poroshenko emphasizes.

“Today, I want to thank Ukraine's Security Service for the work that has finally begun - the heads of regional departments who covered saboteurs in Russian churches were dismissed. And finally, yesterday, the issue of considering the constitutionality of the law on naming churches was on the agenda of the Constitutional Court,” Poroshenko said. 

“We expect that the Constitutional Court will consider and make a decision by the end of the year. That the government will make a decision on the naming of churches with a mandatory mention of belonging to Russia. That the Moscow Patriarchate will finally make a decision on full independence and autocephaly from Moscow and recognize Tomos, which was given to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. And that it will begin real negotiations on the merger of churches within the single Orthodox Church of Ukraine for those who were not tainted by cooperation with the aggressor country,” Poroshenko explains.

“We do not fight against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate - we fight for Ukraine. The struggle for Ukraine in the conditions of the war provides for the unity of Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian people. No one has doubts about the correctness of the actions that our team took at one time regarding the development of the Army. Regarding the development of the spiritual basis of the country, including the language, regarding the creation of the Orthodox Church. Army, Language, Faith, EU, and NATO - Ukraine. And this is exactly what must be continued at the front, inside the country, among the church,” Petro Poroshenko believes.

“It must be very toxic - when you go to the church of the aggressor country and pray either for Putin or for Kirill. They are criminals. They are criminals both in civil terms, war criminals who should be behind bars in The Hague - and the whole Orthodox world does not communicate with them now. And I very much hope that Kirill will sit behind bars next to Putin as a criminal on the dock in The Hague. And all Ukrainians need to think whether they can afford to have at least something to do with these criminals,” Petro Poroshenko sums up.