Philaret

Patriarch Filaret (secular name Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko; ; 23 January 1929– 20 March 2026) was a Ukrainian religious leader, serving as the primate and Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC–KP). The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which he left in 2019, viewed him as the Honorary Patriarch emeritus, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized him as a former Metropolitan of Kyiv.

Denysenko was the Metropolitan of Kiev and the Exarch of Ukraine in the Patriarchate of Moscow (1966–1992). After joining the Kyiv Patriarchate, he was defrocked and in 1997 excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 11 October 2018, the Patriarchate of Constantinople reinstated him in church communion. However, while restored to the episcopate, the Ecumenical Patriarchate never recognised him as Patriarch and views him as the former Metropolitan of Kyiv. On 15 December 2018, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate united with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and some members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate (UOC–MP) into the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate thus ceased to exist. On 20 June 2019, however, a conflict between Filaret and the new metropolitan of the OCU, Epiphanius of Kyiv, over details of the unification lead to Filaret declaring continuation of the UOC–KP with himself as the metropolitan. The continued UOC–KP is not currently recognized by any of the major Eastern Orthodox churches, nor the Government of Ukraine.

Early years Mykhailo Denysenko was born on 23 January 1929, As a teenager, Mykhailo was greatly affected by his father's death on the frontline in 1943, which contributed to his turn to religion. Starting from 1946,

In 1966, he became archbishop of Kyiv and Halych. At that time he also became a permanent member of the Holy Synod, the highest collegiate body of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has the responsibility of electing the Moscow Patriarch.

As the new head of Ukrainian Exarchate, Filaret inherited a church, which had been severely damaged by Nikita Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign. In order to revive spiritual life in Ukrainian lands and restore the local church autonomy, he promoted the causes of religious education and publication of prayer books in Ukrainian language before his leadership in Moscow. As a result of Filaret's initiatives, the exarchate started publishing a magazine and religious books in Ukrainian. Ukrainian language was used by the metropolitan in his Christmas and Easter addresses, and priests also received education in Ukrainian. Filaret explained the necessity of Ukrainian-language religious publications with the need to reduce the risk of local faithful in Galicia and Transcarpathia being alienated from the Russian Orthodox Church and rejoining the Greek Catholics. As late as October 1989, Filaret was still saying, "The Uniates will never be legalized in our country."

On 3 May 1990, Patriarch Pimen of Moscow died and, the same day, Filaret became the locum tenens of the Russian Orthodox Church. Filaret lost the election to the post of Patriarch of Moscow receiving less votes than his competitors, Rostov and Novocherkassk metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan and Leningrad and Novgorod metropolitan Alexey Ridiger, the eventual winner. Retrospectively, in 2019, Filaret declared "it was not by chance that I was not elected. The Lord prepared me for Ukraine".

In July 1990, Filaret was elected head of the newly established Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as part of ROC. The fact of cooperation with KGB was mentioned by people's deputies of Ukraine on 20 January 1992 when they came out with an official statement. According to internal KGB documents, tasks the KGB assigned Filaret as an agent included promoting Soviet positions and candidates in the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Christian Peace Conference (CPC) and other international bodies, and, by the 1980s, backing the Soviet authorities' attempts to prevent the long-suppressed Ukrainian Catholic Church (disparagingly called 'Uniates') from regaining an open existence, and backing state attempts to prevent religious believers demanding their rights as glasnost and perestroika opened up the sphere of public debate. In 2018, Filaret declared in an interview with Radio Liberty that he, like all bishops under communism, had to have contacts with the KGB. In 2019, he declared every bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate had to have contact with the KGB, even when it came to appoint a bishop. He added that he had been trained by the Politburo and Patriarch Alexy by the KGB.

Creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv, which became the seat of UOC-KP after 1992 Following Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991, a national sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held from 1–3 November.

In March–April 1992, the Hierarchical Council of the Russian Orthodox Church met with a single agenda item: to consider the resolution passed by the UOC Sobor four months earlier. Although the issue itself was not discussed, Filaret was asked to resign.

Suspension and anathemization Shortly thereafter, the Russian Orthodox Church, unable to prevent the creation of what it, and all other orthodox churches within the global communion at the time, viewed as a "schismatic church" in independent Ukraine, helped to organize a rival synod which was held in Kharkiv in May 1992. These bishops elected a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Bishop Volodymyr (Sabodan), Metropolitan of Kyiv, and received recognition from Moscow as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). The bishops loyal to Metropolitan Filaret and a similar group from the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (another recently revived church in Ukraine) organized a unifying sobor which was held on 25 June 1992. The delegates agreed to form a combined church named the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) under the patriarch they elected, Patriarch Mstyslav.

Filaret was defrocked by the Russian Orthodox Church on 11 July 1992. The UOC-KP was not recognized by other Orthodox churches and was considered schismatic.

Filaret was then anathemized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997. Filaret was also accused by the ROC of having a wife and three children, but it was "never proved".

Leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

After the death of Patriarch Mstyslav in 1993, the church was headed by Patriarch Volodymyr, and in July 1995, upon the death of Volodymyr, Filaret was elected head of the UOC-KP by a vote of 160–5.

On 11 October 2018, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople announced that Filaret Denisenko, along with the Primate of UAOC, had been "restored to communion with the Church." The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also abolished the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction over the diocese of Kyiv and hence all the bishops concerned were viewed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as being under its jurisdiction.

On 20 October 2018, the UOC-KP changed the title of its head, to "His Holiness and Beatitude (name), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Kyiv – Mother of the Rus Cities and of Galicia, Patriarch of All Rus-Ukraine, Holy Archimandrite of the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochaev Lavras". The abridged form is "His Holiness (name), Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine" and the form for interchurch relations "Archbishop, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine". The fact the full title and the version for interchurch relations mention the titles of "archbishop" and "metropolitan" and not the title of "patriarch", but that the abridged form mentioned only the title of "patriarch" has been confusing for some.

Amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Filaret expressed in May 2022 his confidence that Ukraine would defeat Russia "because God is with Ukraine, not with Russia. God is with the truth, not with lies”, adding that this victory would also be a victory for Europe and all peaceful nations. He attacked the comments made by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, calling him a liar, and questioned Pope Francis’s statements in which he suggested that Ukraine had provoked Russia.

In the OCU

On 15 December 2018, the hierarchs of the UAOC decided to dissolve the UAOC, and the hierarchs of the UOC-KP decided to dissolve the UOC-KP. This was done because on the same day the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate, and some members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) were going to merge to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) after a unification council. Filaret was given the title of the "honorary patriarch" of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Volodymyr Burega, Professor and Vice-Rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, explains this title this way: "in December , no one wanted to aggravate relationships with Patriarch Filaret, since holding the council and receiving the Tomos were at stake. That is why the council, which took place on 15 December, did not clarify the new status of Patriarch Filaret. After the unification council of the OCU, they stated that Filaret was henceforth "honorary patriarch", but what this phrase meant was difficult to understand. Indeed, such status is not stipulated in the Charter of the OCU, adopted on 15 December."

On 18 December 2018, Filaret's 90th birthday, 23 January 2019, was voted by the Ukrainian parliament as a day of national celebration for the year 2019.

On 16 January 2019, Filaret asked to be commemorated before Epiphanius, the primate of the OCU, during Divine Liturgies. He signed the document asking for it with "Filaret, Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine". On 20 January 2019, Filaret declared in an interview when asked about his role in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine: "I am a patriarch, I have been and I remain a patriarch. Today, the Head of the Local Church is Metropolitan Epifaniy, but I do not refuse to participate in the development of the Ukrainian Church. I am an unrecognized patriarch for world Orthodoxy, but for Ukraine I am a patriarch and I remain a patriarch".

In an interview published by BBC Ukraine on 1 March 2019, Epiphanius of Kyiv explained the situation around Filaret as follows:

Conflict

A conflict erupted between Filaret and Epiphanius because of disagreements concerning the model of governance, the management of the diaspora, the name and the statute of the OCU. According to Filaret, the agreement reached at the unification council was as follows: "the primate is responsible for the external representation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), and the patriarch is responsible for the internal church life in Ukraine, but in cooperation with the primate. The primate shall do nothing in the church without the consent of the patriarch. The patriarch chairs the meetings of the Holy Synod and the UOC meetings for the sake of preserving unity, its growth, and affirmation." Filaret considers this agreement has not been fulfilled.

In November 2025, OCU's press service reported that a meeting between Filaret and Epiphanius had taken place in the metropolitan's residence, during which the patriarch received a letter of gratitude, and both church leaders took part in a common prayer for Ukraine's victory over Russia.

Political views

In March 2014, Filaret publicly opposed the annexation of Crimea by Russia. On 5 September 2014, amidst the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Filaret held a service to consecrate a memorial cross to the Heavenly Hundred. Filaret declared during his service that in the Orthodox church had appeared "among the rulers of this world [...] a real new Cain" who "calls himself a brother to the Ukrainian people, but in fact according to his deeds [...] really became the new Cain, shedding the brotherly blood and entangling the whole world with lies" and that "Satan went into him, as into Judas Iscariot". The statement was published on the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate in English, Russian and Ukrainian. Publications such as Church Times, Cogwriter, and Ecumenical News identified Filaret's "new Cain" with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Filaret said that the local population in Donbas "must pay for their guilt [in rejecting Kyiv's authority] through suffering and blood".

In March 2020, during a TV interview, Filaret called the COVID-19 pandemic a "divine punishment" for same-sex marriage. He was later sued by Kyiv-based LGBT-rights group InSight for his remarks. Early September 2020, it was announced that Filaret himself had been tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to hospital.

In an interview released in March 2020 to the Ukraine Channel 4, he declared that the Holy Eucharist could be administrated from one spoon, because it is impossible to get viruses from the gloriously resurrected Body of Jesus Christ God.

In February 2024, Filaret issued awards for Ukrainian service members, one of them being Viktor Pylypenko. When Filaret was informed that Pylypenko is gay, he cancelled his recognition, sparking condemnation from other soldiers.

Death and burial During the last months of his life, the metropolitan was hospitalized several times. On 20 March 2026, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv announced that Filaret had died earlier that day. He was 97. He was succeeded by Archbishop Nykodym of Sumy and Okhtyrka (formerly Volodymyr Kobzar) on 21 March.

On 22 March 2026, Filaret's coffin was placed in Kyiv's St. Michael's Cathedral, with hundreds of people gathering to bid farewell to the deceased. A funeral procession then followed through the streets of the city, ending in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, where the burial ceremony took place.

State awards Ukraine (2009) Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 1st (2008), 2nd (2006), 3rd (2004), 4th (2001) and 5th (1999) Cl.

USSR Order of Friendship of Peoples (1979)

List of bishop ordinations The full list of Filaret's bishop ordinations until 2010 is as follows:

As a supporting archiereus

Vladimir (Kotlyarov) on 30 December 1962 as Bishop of Zvenigorod Antonius (Vakaryk) on 12 February 1965 as Bishop of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh Boris (Skvortsov) on 21 February 1965 as Bishop of Ryazan and Kasimov Melchizedek (Lebedev) on 17 June 1965 as Bishop of Vologda and Velikiy Ustyug Philaret (Vakhromeyev) on 24 October 1965 as Bishop of Tikhvin Joanathan (Kopylovych) on 28 November 1965 as Bishop of Tegel John (Snychov) on 12 December 1965 as Bishop of Syzran Juvenal (Poyarkov) on 26 December 1965 as Bishop of Zaraisk Irenaeus (Susemihl) on 30 January 1966 as Bishop of Munich Dionysius (Lukin) on 20 March 1966 as Bishop of Rotterdam Volodymyr (Sabodan) on 9 July 1966 as Bishop of Zvenigorod Hermogenes (Orekhov) on 25 November 1966 as Bishop of Podolsk Theodosius (Dykun) on 4 June 1967 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Sabbas (Babynets) on 30 March 1969 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Macarius (Svystun) on 7 June 1970 as Bishop of Uman Maximus (Krokha) on 26 March 1972 as Bishop of Argentina and South America Victorinus (Belyaev) on 3 June 1973 as Bishop of Perm and Solikamsk Platon (Udovenko) on 16 December 1973 as Bishop of Argentina and South America Job (Tivonyuk) on 3 January 1975 as Bishop of Zaraisk Kirill (Gundyayev) on 14 March 1976 as Bishop of Vyborg Gleb (Smirnov) on 9 May 1976 as Bishop of Oryol and Bryansk Valentine (Mishchuk) on 25 July 1976 as Bishop of Ufa and Sterlitamak Nicanor (Yukhymyuk) on 30 November 1979 as Bishop of Podolsk

As a leading archiereus

Nicholas (Bychkovsky) on 28 July 1971 as Bishop of Kursk and Belgorod Barlaam (Ilyuschenko) on 22 October 1972 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Agathangelos (Savvin) on 16 November 1975 as Bishop of Vinnytsia and Bratslav Sebastian (Pylypchuk) on 16 October 1978 as Bishop of Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv Ioann (Bodnarchuk) on 23 October 1978 as Bishop of Zhytomyr and Ovruch Lazar (Shvets) on 18 April 1980 as Bishop of Argentina and South America Antonius (Moskalenko) on 13 October 1986 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Palladius (Shyman) on 8 February 1987 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Marcus (Petrovtsy) on 28 July 1988 as Bishop of Kremenets Joannicius (Kobzyev) on 13 December 1988 as Bishop of Slovyansk Joanathan (Yeletskikh) on 22 April 1989 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Euthymius (Shutak) on 28 July 1989 as Bishop of Mukachevo and Uzhhorod Basilius (Vasyltsev) on 1 October 1989 as Bishop of Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv Bartholomeus (Vashchuk) on 24 February 1990 as Bishop of Volhynia and Rivne Niphont (Solodukha) on 31 March 1990 as Bishop of Khmelnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi Andrew (Horak) on 18 April 1990 as Bishop of Lviv and Drohobych Gleb (Savin) on 2 August 1990 as Bishop of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia Basilius (Zlatolinsky) on 2 December 1990 as Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea Onuphrius (Berezovsky) on 9 December 1990 as Bishop of Chernivtsi and Bucovina Jacob (Panchuk) on 14 December 1990 as Bishop of Pochaiv Sergius (Hensytsky) on 17 February 1991 as Bishop of Kremenets Hilarion (Shukalo) on 29 September 1991 as Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia Alypius (Pohribnyak) on 6 October 1991 as Bishop of Donetsk and Luhansk Spyrydon (Babskyi) on 7 June 1992 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Barsanuphius (Mazurak) on 8 June 1992 as Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia Antonius (Masendych) on 9 September 1992 as Bishop of Pereyaslav and Sicheslav Volodymyr (Romaniuk) on 10 September 1992 as Bishop of Bila Tserkva Sophronius (Vlasov) on 15 September 1992 as Bishop of Vinnytsia and Bratslav Roman (Blashchuk) on 16 September 1992 as Bishop of Rivne and Ostroh Seraphim (Verzun) on 25 September 1992 as Bishop of Zhytomyr and Ovruch Nestor (Kulish) on 15 November 1992 as Bishop of Cherkasy and Chyhyryn Polycarp (Huts) on 10 April 1993 as Bishop of Donetsk and Luhansk Alexius (Tsaruk) on 7 July 1993 as Bishop of Mykolaiv Volodymyr (Ladyka) on 13 March 1993 as Bishop of Vinnytsia and Bratslav Alexander (Reshetnyak) on 16 January 1994 as Bishop of Bila Tserkva Daniel (Chokalyuk) on 23 January 1994 as Bishop of Vyshhorod Hadrian (Staryna) on 6 February 1994 as Bishop of Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk Izyaslav (Karha) on 11 September 1994 as Bishop of Nikopol Theodosius (Petsyna) on 4 December 1994 as Bishop of Drohobych and Sambir Barlaam (Pylypyshyn) on 14 December 1994 as Bishop of Chernihiv and Sumy Joasaph (Shibayev) on 19 February 1995 as Bishop of Belgorod and Oboyan Baruch (Tischenkov) on 23 February 1994 as Bishop of Tobolsk and Yeniseysk Job (Pavlyshyn) on 11 May 1995 as Bishop of Kremenets and Zbarazh Gregorius (Kachan) on 10 October 1995 as Bishop of Melitopol Gerontius (Khovansky) on 24 March 1996 as Bishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka Ioann (Zinovyev) on 18 July 1996 as Bishop of Donetsk and Luhansk Antonius (Makhota) on 21 July 1996 as Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea Volodymyr (Polishchuk) on 23 February 1997 as Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia Joasaph (Vasylykiv) on 6 April 1997 as Bishop of Donetsk and Luhansk Pancratius (Tarnavsky) on 27 July 1997 as Bishop of Vinnytsia and Bratslav Christophorus (Sitas) on 2 October 1997 as Bishop of Surozh Nikon (Kalember) on 12 October 1997 as Bishop of Kitsman and Zastavna Damian (Zamarayev) on 19 October 1997 as Bishop of Kherson and Taurida Peter (Petrus) on 30 October 1997 as Bishop of Lviv and Yavoriv Yuriy Yurchyk on 14 May 1999 as George, Bishop of Donetsk and Luhansk Timotheus (Koutalianos) on 26 March 2000 as Bishop of Korsun Demetrius (Rudyuk) on 16 July 2000 as Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Clemence (Kushch) on 23 July 2000 as Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea Michael (Zinkevych) on 22 October 2000 as Bishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka Flavian (Pasichnyk) on 5 November 2000 as Bishop of Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv Paisius (Dmokhovsky) on 30 September 2001 as Bishop of Odesa and Balta Stephan (Bilyak) on 19 May 2002 as Bishop of Boryspil Eusebius (Politylo) on 7 July 2002 as Bishop of Poltava and Kremenchuk Sergius (Horobtsov) on 14 December 2002 as Bishop of Slovyansk Vsevolod (Matviyevsky) on 28 March 2003 as Bishop of Luhansk and Starobilsk Ioann (Yaremenko) on 30 March 2003 as Bishop of Cherkasy and Chyhyryn Cyril (Mykhailyuk) on 3 August 2003 as Bishop of Uzhhorod and Zakarpattia Methodius (Sribnyak) on 6 June 2004 as Bishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka Theodosius (Paikush) on 28 July 2004 as Bishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn Chrysostom (Bakomitros) on 14 May 2005 as Bishop of Chersonesus Philaret (Pancu) on 31 July 2005 as Bishop of Făleşti and Eastern Moldova Onuphrius (Khavruk) on 30 October 2005 as Bishop of Derman Michael (Bondarchuk) on 1 January 2006 as Bishop of Poltava and Kremenchuk Nestor (Pysyk) on 5 March 2006 as Bishop of Ternopil and Buchach Theodore (Bubnyuk) on 12 November 2006 as Bishop of Poltava and Kremenchuk Sebastian (Voznyak) on 14 December 2006 as Bishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn Matheus (Shevchuk) on 17 December 2006 as Bishop of Drohobych and Sambir Hilarion (Protsyk) on 14 May 2008 as Bishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn Eustratius (Zorya) on 25 May 2008 as Bishop of Vasylkiv Peter (Moskalyov) on 13 December 2008 as Bishop of Valuiky Marcus (Levkiv) on 1 February 2009 as Bishop of Kirovohrad and Holovanivsk Paul (Kravchuk) on 30 March 2009 as Bishop of Ternopil and Terebovlia Epiphanius (Dumenko) on 15 November 2009 as Bishop of Vyshhorod Simeon (Zinkevych) on 21 November 2009 as Bishop of Dnipropetrovsk and Pavlohrad Tycho (Petranyuk) on 22 November 2009 as Bishop of Luhansk and Starobilsk