Patriarch Filaret, champion of Ukrainian church independence, dies at 97
Patriarch Filaret, who led the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate for decades, died at age 97, Metropolitan Epifaniy announced on Friday.
"Today, there is deep sadness and regret in my heart, as in the hearts of many Ukrainians, because today the earthly journey of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret has ended... We will always remember the instructions of Patriarch Filaret about the importance of maintaining the unity of the Ukrainian Church around the Kiyiv Throne. We will also remember and fulfill his lessons and instructions about the importance of conciliarity, about humility before the will of God and the will of the fullness of the Church, about devoted service to God, the Church of Christ, and the Ukrainian people," he wrote.
Filaret — baptized Mykhailo Denysenko — took monastic vows at age 21 and dedicated his life to the Church. He played a central role in the push for Ukrainian church independence in the 1990s–2010s.
In recent years the Orthodox Church of Ukraine regarded him as honorary patriarch, while the revived Kyiv Patriarchate he led after 2018 continued to view him as its head.
Born January 23, 1929, in Blahodatne village, Donetsk Oblast, he graduated from Moscow Theological Academy in 1952 with a candidate of theology degree. He was elected bishop in 1962, served as exarch in Central Europe and rector of Moscow Theological schools, then became metropolitan of Kyiv in 1966.
After Ukraine’s independence, he led efforts to separate the Ukrainian church from Moscow’s jurisdiction, resulting in his removal by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992, loss of clerical rank and anathema.
He co-founded the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and remained its leader.
The body lacked recognition from most Orthodox churches until Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew revived the Kyiv Metropolis in 2018–2019 and granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Filaret initially supported the new church and Epifaniy’s election as primate but later rejected the Tomos and declared the Kyiv Patriarchate restored, causing a split. Most bishops and parishes joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.