ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH TRANSFERRED TO CONSTANTINOPLE'S USE
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported on first reading, as a basis and on the whole, draft law No. 9208 regarding transfer of the church of St. Andrew to Constantinople, RBK-Ukraine reports.
The document was supported on the second vote by 237 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada (the first time it was 216).
The text of the law says: "To resolve that the church of St. Andrew of the 'Kiev Sophia National Reserve,' which is an outstanding object of the cultural heritage and a monument of architecture of national significance, as a liturgical structure, which is owned by the state, is transferred for the continual use without charge to the ecumenical patriarchate for conducting worship services and religious rituals, ceremonies, and procedures."
An explanatory note points out that the transfer of the church of St. Andrew to Constantinople is an important step in carrying out the work of preparation for the grant of autocephaly to the Orthodox church in Ukraine.
Rada speaker Andrei Paruby emphasized that the church of St. Andrew remains state property.
As was reported, Poroshenko was going to register in the near future in the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that proposes to transfer the church of St. Andrew to the ecumenical patriarch for continual use. On Wednesday, the head of state introduced the draft of the law into the Rada. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 October 2018)
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