When Ukrainians of all Orthodox denominations unite in a local church, then Ukraine will have its own patriarchy. This was stated in an exclusive interview with OBOZREVATEL by a religious scholar and former people’s deputy Viktor Yelensky.

According to the religious scholar, “the state itself will play a special role in this. Many believers in modern countries have followed this path.”

“Now, if you take the Serbs, they were not with the patriarchy either. And only when the Kingdom of Serbs and Croats was formed, and when all the small autocephalies united into a single large church, then they received patriarchy. Bulgarians received patriarchy because the Politburo of the Bulgarian Communist Party was in charge of it,” he said.

Yelensky added that “for Ukraine, as a free and original country, it is very important to have its own large and influential church. And, given the significant event when our Orthodox Church received the Tomos, now it is a matter of time.”