Funeral ceremony of Patriarch Filaret concludes in Kyiv
The farewell ceremony and funeral of the Honorary Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine, Filaret, concluded in Kyiv.
According to Ukrinform, Radio Svoboda reported on the event.
The patriarch's coffin was placed in the crypt of the St. Volodymyr's Cathedral according to his spiritual will.
Earlier, on the morning of March 22, Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine led a memorial service at the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. Hundreds of people attended to pay their respects.
Afterwards, a funeral procession carrying Patriarch Filaret’s body moved from the monastery through Sophia Square to St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. Thousands of clergy and laypeople participated in the procession.
The funeral service for Patriarch Filaret has concluded in Kyiv / Photo: Kyrylo Chubotin, Ukrinform
As Ukrinform reported, Honorary Patriarch Filaret (born Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine passed away at the age of 97.
He was born on January 23, 1929. From October 1995, he led the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate for many years. In December 2018, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received a tomos from the Ecumenical Patriarch, named Filaret its Honorary Patriarch.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, and Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Andriy Hnatov attended the farewell.