The position of Tomos on the subordination of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine to the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Ecumenical Patriarchal Throne encroaches on the sovereignty of Ukraine. This was stated by the corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine Dmitry Vlasovich Stepovik on May 28, 2021 in a scientific and legal conclusion about the illegality of the termination of the Kiev Patriarchate as the center of the religious association of the UOC-KP. The head of the legal department of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Neonila Tkachenko, wrote about this on Facebook.

“One that encroaches on the state sovereignty of Ukraine,” the scientist noted the change in the location of the Patriarchal throne from the city of Kiev (Ukraine) to the city of Istanbul (Turkey).

In his work, the academician reminded:

“Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos of granting autocephalous church structure of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine” of January 6, 2019 contains a provision that “Autocephalous Church in Ukraine recognizes the head of the Holy Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne”, which determines its subordination to the Patriarch of Kiev and All Russia Ukraine, which is located in Kiev, and the Ecumenical Patriarch, which is located in Istanbul (Republic of Turkey).

Consequently, the position of Tomos on the subordination of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine to the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Ecumenical Patriarch of the throne encroaches on the sovereignty of Ukraine as such, which loses independence in decision-making of the newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine,”  cites scholar’s words Neonila Tkachenko.