Filaret, Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate, Has Died at 97

Filaret, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, has died—this was announced by Metropolitan Epiphaniy, primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. He was 97.

Filaret led the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate from 1995 until December 2018. It was this structure that became the foundation for the formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after it received the Tomos from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) was born in Donbas into a miner’s family and built a rapid career within the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the Soviet period, he served both in Ukraine and abroad, headed the Kyiv see, and was among the most influential hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1990, Filaret was considered one of the leading contenders for the position of Patriarch of Moscow but lost to Alexy (Ridiger). After that, his relations with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church sharply deteriorated.

Amid the collapse of the Soviet Union, he began promoting the idea of an independent Ukrainian church and in 1992 became the initiator of the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, which he led from 1995. For this, the Russian Orthodox Church defrocked him. From that point, a confrontation began between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (which remained in canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church until 2022) and the Kyiv Patriarchate.

The Kyiv Patriarchate was not recognized by global Orthodoxy as a canonical church, weakening its position despite support from the authorities during Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency and after 2014.

In 2018, the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian authorities, with US backing, secured agreement from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant a Tomos establishing an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was intended to ensure its recognition in the Orthodox world. To date, some local churches have recognized the OCU, while others have not.

The structure of the Kyiv Patriarchate became the basis for the creation of the OCU. At the same time, the project’s initiators and then-president Petro Poroshenko sought to draw part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s hierarchy into the new body and therefore moved Filaret away from a leading role. Epiphaniy (Dumenko), a representative of the Kyiv Patriarchate, became primate of the OCU, while Filaret was given the status of “honorary patriarch” without real authority.

He did not accept this arrangement.

In 2019, Filaret accused Epiphaniy of violating agreements on church governance and declared the restoration of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

This was followed by an acute conflict between the OCU and the Kyiv Patriarchate led by Filaret, marked by mutual accusations. Filaret argued that the OCU was fully dependent on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, while the OCU imposed “sanctions” against him.

The dispute remained unresolved until the end of his life. In his spiritual testament, Filaret forbade clergy of the OCU from conducting his funeral service.