Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine transfers St. Andrew's Church to Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed the law on the transfer of the St. Andrew's Church to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople for perpetual free of charge usage, Ukrinform reports.

A total of 237 Ukrainian lawmakers voted in favor of adoption of the presidential draft law No. 9208 as a basis and on the whole, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The decision on transfer of the St. Andrew's Church will help to accelerate the process of granting the Tomos of Autocephaly - the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the world Orthodox Christianity," the explanatory note says.

Presenting the bill, representative of the President of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Lutsenko noted that the transfer of this particular religious building would have a unique, both practical and symbolic-spiritual significance.

"This will present the exclusive respect of Ukraine to the authority and the role of the Mother Church in the history of the development of the Ukrainian spiritual tradition and will unambiguously contribute to the process of granting the Tomos of Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, i.e., the establishment of an independent (autocephalous) jurisdiction, which will become worthy and equal among other local Orthodox churches of the world Orthodox Christianity," the explanatory note says.