The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said he would not give up his intention with regard to Ukraine. Today, September 23, Patriarch Bartholomew, performing the Divine Liturgy in the Church of St.. Foki in Istanbul, proclaimed that he sent a message to all parties that Ukraine would receive autocephaly, because this is her right. In the presence of the representative of the Czech Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch said: "The Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia is the newest Autocephalous Church, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate proclaimed autocephalous in 1998. Now came the turn of Ukraine, which will get the status of autocephaly, which, I hope, for a long time, despite the existing reactions, and this will be because it is her right. This is her right to receive the status of autocephaly, and on the other hand, this right, and indeed the exclusive right of our Ecumenical Patriarchate to grant autocephaly to all the new Orthodox churches, beginning with Russia in the 16th century, and Czech and Slovak, as I said earlier. We are not afraid of threats.

As I said recently, the Ecumenical Patriarchate neither threatens nor is under threat, but is steadily progressing in the fulfillment of the sacred apostolic rules and in the fulfillment and observance of the privileges established by the rules of the Ecumenical Councils. These rules of the Ecumenical Councils and the privileges granted by these Councils of the very first Church of Constantinople, we do not leave them. We respect them, we preserve them, and we will also implement them in the case of Ukraine and other countries ".