Patriarch Filaret, who headed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, died at the age of 98 after a long service, the head of the OCU Metropolitan Epiphanius announced on Friday, March 20, UNN reports.
Today, there is deep sorrow and regret in my heart, as in the hearts of many Ukrainians, because today the earthly journey of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret has ended.
"I call on the all-Ukrainian flock to offer heartfelt prayers for the repose of the soul of the newly departed Patriarch Filaret, who passed away to the Lord today. Let us ask the Almighty to receive him into His Heavenly Kingdom. Heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased hierarch!" - noted the head of the OCU.
Epiphanius indicated that "we will always remember Patriarch Filaret's instructions on the importance of maintaining the unity of the Ukrainian Church around the Kyiv Throne." "We will also remember and follow his lessons and instructions on the importance of conciliarity, humility before God's will and the will of the fullness of the Church, and dedicated service to God, the Church of Christ, and the Ukrainian people," he noted.
The heart of Patriarch Filaret stopped at the age of 98. But prayer and memory of him will remain in the local autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church forever. May the memory of the newly departed Patriarch be bright and eternal, and may his soul rejoice in heaven at the fruits that his good work here on earth has given and will give! The Kingdom of Heaven, eternal memory and eternal rest to the departed Patriarch Filaret!
Recall
Earlier, Patriarch Filaret was hospitalized due to an exacerbation of chronic ailments.
For reference
Filaret is one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and his church activity spans several decades. For many years, Filaret headed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate and remained its key spiritual and administrative leader. It was his name that for a long time was associated with the struggle for a separate status of the Ukrainian church and its independence from Moscow.
After the Unification Council and the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the new church structure received a tomos of autocephaly from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. After that, Filaret received the title of Honorary Patriarch.
At the same time, his role in church life after the creation of the OCU repeatedly became the subject of separate discussions and public disputes, but in the public space he is still associated with the long history of the Kyivan Patriarchate and the process of establishing an independent Ukrainian church.