Kyiv Patriarchate elects new patriarch of Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Archbishop Nykodym

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate has been elected: Archbishop Nykodym (born Volodymyr Kobzar), serving as Archbishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka.

Archbishop Nykodym announced the election on his Facebook page, sharing a video of the election process, Ukrinform reports.

"The act of electing the Patriarch of Kyiv and all Rus-Ukraine, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate, was proclaimed at an extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate," the announcement read.

Nykodym also published a joint statement signed by the bishops of the UOC–KP: "On behalf of the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate, Archbishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka Nykodym has been elected and anointed Patriarch of Kyiv and all Rus-Ukraine."

The statement recalled that on March 20, 2026, the world learned the tragic news of the passing of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret other ecclesiastical structures.

Previously, Ukrinform reported that Patriarch Filaret (born Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko), a retired hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, passed away at the age of 97.

On March 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena attended the farewell ceremony for Patriarch Filaret at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv. Also present were the Ruslan Stefanchuk, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Oleksandr Syrskyi, and Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Andrii Hnatov.

The farewell at St. Michael's Cathedral will continue until March 22.

Photo: Archbishop Nykodym Kobzar