During a meeting with the exarchs (ambassadors) of Constantinople, which took place in Kyiv on 28 August, President Zelensky said that Ukraine needs its own patriarchate, LB.ua reports.
"I said that our people, Ukrainians, would understand if our status was elevated to the patriarchate. The exarchs accepted the information and will convey it to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, they will consult," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, answering a question on Friday evening, while talking to journalists in Kyiv.
According to him, the exarchs have a possible vision of an action plan for the elevation of the Ukrainian Metropolis to the patriarchate, but it must be discussed [primarily in Constantinople].
"They are in contact with Viktor Yelenskyy on this issue. They should return with concrete proposals," he added.
Ukraine received the Tomos of autocephaly in 2019, following the Unification Council held in December 2018. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was created then, now has the status of a metropolis. According to the canons, elevation to the patriarchate is possible only within the framework of the existing Tomos (i.e., the granting of another one is excluded).
It is also assumed that the patriarchate can be granted only to "the entirety of Ukrainian Orthodoxy", meaning that all Orthodox denominations must unite for this to happen. Formally, the dialogue between the OCU and the UOC (formerly the MP) is ongoing, but at this stage, there is no question of unification, even partial unification.
Moreover, it is made impossible by the severance of canonical communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople by the Russian Orthodox Church. This happened back in 2018, and the UOC-MP, as part of the ROC, supported this decision.
And in May 2022, at its Council, declaring an alleged break with the ROC, it reaffirmed it.
"We, as a state, will not exert any influence or pressure," Zelenskyy stressed, commenting on the churches' possible participation in the dialogue.