Filaret Denysenko

Patriarch Filaret (secular name Mykhailo Antonovych Denysenko; Ukrainian: Михайло Антонович Денисенко; 23 January 1929 – 20 March 2026) was a Ukrainian religious leader, serving as the primate and Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC–KP). The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which he left in 2019, viewed him as the Honorary Patriarch emeritus, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized him as a former Metropolitan of Kyiv. Denysenko was the Metropolitan of Kiev and the Exarch of Ukraine in the Patriarchate of Moscow (1966–1992). After joining the Kyiv Patriarchate, he was defrocked and in 1997 excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 11 October 2018, the Patriarchate of Constantinople reinstated him in church communion. However, while restored to the episcopate, the Ecumenical Patriarchate never recognised him as Patriarch and views him as the former Metropolitan of Kyiv. On 15 December 2018, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate united with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and some members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate (UOC–MP) into the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate thus ceased to exist. On 20 June 2019, however, a conflict between Filaret and the new metropolitan of the OCU, Epiphanius of Kyiv, over details of the unification lead to Filaret declaring continuation of the UOC–KP with himself as the metropolitan. The continued UOC–KP is not currently recognized by any of the major Eastern Orthodox churches, nor the Government of Ukraine.