President Petro Poroshenko met with heads and representatives of churches-participants of the Ukrainian Bible Community on occasion of the Year of the Word of God in Ukraine celebrated in 2018.
President Petro Poroshenko met with heads and representatives of churches-participants of the Ukrainian Bible Community on occasion of the Year of the Word of God in Ukraine celebrated in 2018.
The President wrote down the lines in the handwritten Bible the creation of which has already been joined by thousands of Ukrainians. The handwritten Bible was included in the National register of records of Ukraine and nominated for the world record - it is planned that about 30 thousand Christians from all over the country will take part in its creation.
“I am grateful for the initiative, which I am honored to join today. This will also draw attention and probably someone will find his way to God after this event and open the Bible before going to sleep,” Petro Poroshenko said.
The Head of State noted: “The Year of the Word of God will never end. But it is very important for every Ukrainian, and Ukraine is a big Christian nation, to read the Bible. The efforts of the Bible community are aimed at that. Every Ukrainian politician should read the Bible more than once, as many questions will be answered in it”.
The President emphasized that Europe is impossible and incomplete without the Christian Ukraine. “We are going there (to the EU - ed.) not as beggars. We return to the European family of nations. And it is very important where do we go from. We are going away from the Russian yoke, from Russia where the baptist academies are now being closed, Adventists are being banned, our church is being obstructed. Russian occupation troops execute pastors who face martyr's death. We have different ways,” Petro Poroshenko said.
The President thanked the attendees for the prayers for Ukraine, as well as for the support of the creation of the Orthodox Church. "Ukraine is now creating its spiritual foundation, which is no less important than the act of state independence, as it is an act of the spiritual independence of our state," the Head of State emphasized and noted that, by the prayers of all churches, the Lord had sent Ukraine unity in the most difficult challenges.
The President added that the Bible community carried out extensive educational work in many other countries. He thanked the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches for ensuring the unity of the church. The President once again stressed that there would be no state church in Ukraine and there would be no interference in the church activity by the state, especially if it is a foreign state making efforts to undermine unity and destabilize the situation inside the country.
“I am happy that the process of creating our church is accompanied only by faith and love, only by prayer, where we ensure that the doors of the Ukrainian church and all churches are open to the faithful. There will be no coercion. We will treat that with respect. As President, as guarantor of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, I will do my best to protect religious rights and freedoms. And I will do my best to protect Christian values. It is also an extremely important component of our spiritual life," Petro Poroshenko said.