Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew assured that by giving autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church, he first of all was guided by the motives of ecclesiological and canonical truth and not by lucrative impulses. He said this in an interview with the Serbian media outlet Politika.
“Ukraine has got its autocephaly. Neither the Ecumenical Patriarchate nor the Patriarchate can add anything more. There was no mercenary motive or hidden benefit. We simply fulfilled our duty to the Church,” he said.
“Every day I call on the grace and mercy of God in our lives and in the life of our Church. Therefore, accusations of ambition or interference of the authorities have not come true,” added Bartholomew I.
Patriarch Bartholomew also said that no statesman had any influence on his decision to grant the Tomos.
“There was no pressure from specific countries when requesting Ukrainian autocephaly. I must, however, assure you that a large number of state leaders have greeted the Ecumenical Patriarchate with this decision. Some of them were letters, while others were public statements. When a state welcomes the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, it does not mean that it influenced this decision. Our Church acts free from external influences and pressures of world powers,” Patriarch Bartholomew said.