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Saturday, March 21, 2026

Patriarch Filaret -- Orthodox Leader who defied Russia

 Patriarch Filaret

has died in Ukraine -- an Orthodox

Christian leader who led establishment

of an independent Ukrainian Church

and had become a symbol of defiance

toward Russia -- Friday at age 97.

In 2001 he declared "this is our

right to an independent Ukrainian

state, free of Russian influence".

He took the name FILARET in 1950

when he became a Monk, teaching

both in Moscow and Kyiv; ordained

a Bishop, later an Archbishop, a

Metropolitan.

He gained the title of

"Hero of Ukraine"; the head of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Epiphanius I

presided over his memorial service

Saturday March 21, 2026 at

St. Michael's Monastery, Kyiv.

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