Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed condolences over the death of Filaret, the Patriarch Emeritus of Kyiv and All Russia-Ukraine.
In a statement released on 21 March, Rubio said that the United States “mourns the loss of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret” and expressed sincere condolences to the people of Ukraine and all believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox community.
According to the Secretary of State, Filaret’s life of service played an important role in shaping Ukraine’s spiritual identity at crucial moments in its history.
“His legacy will live on in the strength of Ukraine’s religious and national life,” Rubio stressed.
On 20 March, in a telephone conversation with Metropolitan Epifaniy of the PCU, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed deep condolences on the repose of Patriarch Filaret. “The conversation highlighted the special contribution of the deceased vladyka to the establishment of Ukraine’s spiritual independence, his unwavering support of the Ukrainian people’s struggle against Russian aggression,” the church said in a statement about the conversation.
At noon on 20 March, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine reported that Patriarch Filaret had died. In the evening of 20 March in St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kiev began the farewell to the deceased honorary patriarch of Kiev and all Russia-Ukraine Filaret. According to the website of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, until Sunday morning, 22 March, the Gospel will be read over the coffin and requiem prayers will be performed.
On 9 March, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine urged its faithful to pray for Patriarch Filaret’s health, reporting his hospitalisation and deteriorating health.
Ukrainian Orthodox bishop Filaret (in the world Mikhail Denisenko) was born on 23 January 1929. For many years, since October 1995, he headed 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, Philaret, the Patriarch Emeritus of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU), called for a unification council of the “three branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the Moscow Patriarchate,) the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate.