We welcome the remarks of Metropolitan Epiphany that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is open to all Orthodox believers, and we urge government and church officials to encourage tolerance and respect for religious freedom of members of all religious denominations of their choice
– said Mike Pompeo.
However, the document approving the UOC clause does not mention the tomos provisions on autocephaly, according to which its jurisdiction is limited to the territory of Ukraine, it cannot establish bishops or base paraffin (parishes) abroad. There are other restrictions that make the new structure dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople, who issued the Tomos.