Our church goes with faith and love - President during the thanksgiving service in the Manyava Skete

In the framework of the working visit to Ivano-Frankivsk region, President Petro Poroshenko visited the Manyava Skete and took part in the thanksgiving service for the Tomos of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy carried out the prayer with participation of Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk and Galicia Ioasaf.

Greeting the faithful, holy fathers and military chaplains who convened for the divine service, the President drew attention to the number of those present. "Thousands of people are here today, in the Manyava Skete," he noted, adding that all those people came to thank God for the prayers they heard and the spiritual independence that Ukraine has gained.

"It is very important that the Lord heard us and it became possible only when millions of Ukrainians prayed for this and believed that there was nothing more important than having their own state and their own church," Petro Poroshenko underlined and recalled the path to independence Ukrainian church has covered.

"After that (receiving the Tomos of autocephaly - ed.), 320 parishes have already joined our church. Parishes and communities. And it is very important that nobody is forcing anyone," the Head of State stressed.

"Moscow counted on the beginning of bloodshed, seizure of monasteries ... It did not happen. Because our church goes with faith and love," Petro Poroshenko said, noting that Ukrainians do not understand how a church subordinate to another state and praying for its army can exist in the country.

The President once again thanked everyone who joined the process of obtaining the Tomos for their wisdom, sacrifice. He also noted Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk Andriy. "I am glad that each bishop makes efforts for the united church to succeed. Because we have not completed the process of creating a church, we are only at the beginning of this path," Petro Poroshenko said.

He also thanked the attendees, noting that both church hierarchs and the local church of Ukraine need their support and prayers. "That's why we are here today. We care about the fate of the state, the fate of the church," the Head of State added.

Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epifaniy congratulated everybody on the opportunity to gather in such an ancient place as the Manyava Skete and thank the Lord for "the graces and blessings" that have taken place in recent months.

“Our church efforts were not enough, so today we are also grateful to President of Ukraine Petro Oleksiyovych who joined these historical events and thanks to our joint efforts, efforts of the church and the state, we have got a long-awaited document called the Tomos," he emphasized.

"Today, we celebrate this spiritual victory, but during the prayer, we ask God to protect our country. We pray for the Lord to give us a fair peace in the future, for we can get another peace, but we do not want peace in captivity. We want to live in our state, in which love, peace and harmony will prevail,” Metropolitan Epifaniy said.