Filaret (Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko) – Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) (1995–2018).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on January 23, 1929, in the village of Blagodatne, Amvrosiivka District, Donetsk Oblast.
In 1946, he enrolled in the Odessa Theological Seminary. He also graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in 1952.
A Career as a Clergyman
On January 1, 1950, he took monastic vows and was given the name Filaret. Later that same year, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and the following year, in 1951, he was ordained a hieromonk.
In 1953, he began teaching at the Moscow Theological Academy. Three years later, he was appointed inspector of the Saratov Theological Seminary and, at the same time, was ordained as an igumen.
In 1957, Filaret assumed the position of inspector at the Kyiv Theological Seminary. The following year, he became an archimandrite and also took over as rector of the institution.
In 1960, he was appointed administrator of the Ukrainian Exarchate and became rector of St. Vladimir’s Cathedral.
From 1961 to 1962, he served as rector of the Russian Orthodox Church’s mission under the Patriarchate of Alexandria. He was subsequently ordained Bishop of Luzhsk, became vicar of the Leningrad Diocese, and head of the Riga Diocese.
From June to October 1962, he served as Exarch of Central Europe. He was subsequently appointed Bishop of Vienna and Austria, and in 1964 became Bishop of Dmitrov, Vicar of the Moscow Diocese, as well as Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.
In the spring of 1966, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. At the same time, he was appointed Exarch of Ukraine, became Archbishop of Kyiv and Galicia, and became a permanent member of the Holy Synod.
Two years later, Filaret was ordained a metropolitan.
In the spring of 1990, following the death of Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia, he was elected locum tenens of the patriarchal see. In June of that same year, he presided over the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In October, Filaret became the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), receiving the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, heinitiated an All-Ukrainian Local Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, at which the decision to grant it full autocephaly was endorsed. The Russian Orthodox Church refused to grant independence to the Ukrainian Church, and shortly thereafter, another Metropolitan of Kyiv was elected in Kharkiv. Filaret called these actions uncanonical and illegal.
In 1992, a unification council was held, at which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate was established. It was headed by Metropolitan Mstislav (Skrypnyk), who was granted the title of Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine. After his death in 1995, Filaret was elected patriarch.
In 2018, when the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was established with the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Filaret was granted the title of honorary patriarch. Epiphanius (Dumenko) became the new primate, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
In January 2019, Filaret was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Scandals
In June 2019, Filaret announced the resumption of activities by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and began ordaining new bishops. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine regarded these actions as unauthorized and contrary to its charter.
A few weeks later, Filaret gave an interview to the Russian propaganda channel “Rossiya 24,” in which he stated that he would not have agreed to the terms of the tomos granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, if it meant he would lose his leadership role in the church’s administration. He also accused former President Petro Poroshenko and Metropolitan Epiphanius of deceiving him.
Subsequently, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine decided to prohibit Filaret from performing any ordinations—that is, the ordination of clergy—and also expelled him from the Holy Synod. Despite this, he continues to conduct services at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv, and on the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, he is still referred to as the Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine.
