Today, March 20, the body of the deceased His Holiness Patriarch Filaret will be brought to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv in the evening, and the farewell ceremony will begin, UNN reports with reference to the OCU.
Details
As reported by the OCU, the farewell of the faithful to His Holiness is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM. The farewell will last throughout the evening of March 20 and all day on March 21.
The funeral service and burial will take place on Sunday, March 22.
Recall
Patriarch Filaret, who headed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, died at the age of 98 after a long ministry.
As reported by UNN, in March, 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 with his name that the struggle for a separate status of the Ukrainian church and its independence from Moscow was associated for a long time.
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 has repeatedly become 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.