"We do expect that this tangled problem in Ukraine will be resolved positively. The Georgian Orthodox Church also went a very complicated way to receive Autocephaly," Georgian Patriarch Ilia II during a meeting with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy
On October 5, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy met with Ilia II, His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia.
A.Parubiy urged His Holiness Patriarch Ilia to support the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to grant the Unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church the Tomos of Autocephaly.
"The Ukrainian Parliament, the President of Ukraine, all the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, part of the archbishops of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine appealed to the His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I with the request to provide the Unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Tomos, because it’s longing of the majority of Orthodox Ukrainians, this is the key to the unity of our Church, it is the guarantee of the unity of our people," said Andriy Parubiy.
The Chairman told the Holy Patriarch about the military aggression that the Russian Federation has been waging against Ukraine.
Patriarch Ilia II stressed that the Georgian Church had been day by day fervently praying for peace and unity in fraternal Ukraine.
"We expect that this complex problem in Ukraine will be solved favourably. The Georgian Orthodox Church also went a very long and difficult pathway to its Autocephaly," summed he up.