The funeral service for Patriarch Filaret has concluded in Kyiv
22 March 17:45
The funeral ceremony for Filaret, the Honorary Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine, has concluded in Kyiv. The coffin containing the patriarch’s remains was placed in the crypt of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral, in accordance with the church leader’s last will and testament.
This was reported by Radio Liberty, as relayed by "Komersant Ukrainian".
On the morning of March 22, a memorial Liturgy was held at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, led by the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects.
Afterward, a funeral procession carrying Patriarch Filaret’s body set out from the monastery, passing through St. Sophia Square to St. Vladimir’s Cathedral. Thousands of clergy and laypeople participated in the procession.
At noon on March 20, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine announced that Patriarch Filaret had died.
Ukrainian Orthodox Archbishop Filaret (born Mykhailo Denysenko) was born on January 23, 1929. For many years, beginning in October 1995, he led the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate. In December 2018, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received a tomos from the Ecumenical Patriarch, named Filaret its Honorary Patriarch.
In June 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Filaret, Honorary Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Filaret called for a unification council of the “three branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
