On March 20, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine announced the death of Patriarch Emeritus Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine, who died of the consequences of an exacerbation of chronic illness at the age of 98.
The message states that Filaret departed in God on the 77th year of monasticism and on the 65th year of his bishop's ministry.
Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epiphanius expressed condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. He said that Filaret played an important role in the history of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and Ukraine, in particular in preserving church life during the period of Soviet restrictions and during the formation of the autocephalous church.
According to Epiphanius, Filaret's participation was decisive for the Unification Council on December 15, 2018, in St. Sophia of Kyiv, the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the receipt of the Tomos of autocephaly.
The OCU said that information on the date and procedure for the farewell to the patriarch will be made public separately.
On March 9, the church informed about Filaret's hospitalization and deterioration of his condition, calling on believers to pray.
Filaret (in the world Mykhailo Denysenko) was born on January 23, 1929. Since October 1995, he has headed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, and after the creation of the OCU in December 2018, he received the status of Honorary Patriarch.
In 2014, he called on putin not to provoke a new war in Ukraine.
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