Tomos definitely will not arrive by the Day of Rus Baptism, – UOC DECR

Deputy Head of the DECR UOC Protopriest Nikolai Danilevich

The Tomos won’t have been granted by July 28, said the deputy head of the DECR UOC, Protopriest Nikolai Danilevich, in an interview with the outlet Strana.ua.

"Last week there was a Synod in Constantinople and no decisions were made on this subject," Father Nikolai said. That is, on July 28, there will be no Tomos for sure despite the hot air from our state men."

According to the representative of the UOC, rumors of the Tomos being granted in July are launched on purpose.

"All these statements (about granting the Tomos to Ukraine) are untrue," Father Nikolai stated. "They already told us that it will be in the bag on May 28 or at the end of June, or they will come to hand it on July 28." So what? Both May 28 and June are gone, July 28 is round the corner, and it is obvious that in August it will be the same. In August, we will be told everything is transferred to September. Let all those who talk about it do not deceive people and do not generate high expectations with them. They are all forced to speak to save their game face, or rather put on a good front."

The deputy head of the UOC DECR stressed that representatives of the Local Churches will arrive to celebrate the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus in Kiev at the invitation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to Father Nikolai, the delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, headed by Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, will also come.

The protopriest noted that His Grace Emmanuel is a moderate and sober-minded hierarch, so special news on the Tomos should not be expected.

Earlier Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andrey Parubiy said the Tomos arrival may be postponed for the fall. 

In mid-April, Poroshenko addressed Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to grant a tomos on autocephaly to the Church in Ukraine and announced the creation of a Single Local Church. The Verkhovna Rada supported the President's petition.

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