Poroshenko signed law on transfer of St Andrew’s Church to Constantinople

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed Bill No. 9208 on the transfer of St Andrew’s Church in Kyiv to Constantinople. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine that cited the information on the Parliament’s website.

“To establish that St. Andrew's Church of the National Reserve St Sophia of Kyiv, which is an outstanding cultural heritage site as an architectural monument of national significance, as a state-owned religious building, shall be passed for free, permanent use to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the purposes of worship, religious ceremonies and processions,” the text of the law says.

The briefing note states that the transfer of St. Andrew's Church to Constantinople is an important step in carrying out work on preparing for the receipt of the Tomos on the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

As reported, in October the Ukrainian Parliament supported in the first reading as a basis and in general Bill No. 9208 on the transfer of St. Andrew's Church to Constantinople. 237 MPs voted in favor of it for the second time (initially 216).

Rostyslav Pavlenko, the adviser to the President of Ukraine, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, said that the reconstruction of the St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv, which was transferred to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, would be sped up.

Pavlenko added that 2020 is the current deadline, but reconstruction can be accelerated.