Filaret: Poroshenko’s functionaries kick me out into the street

Petro Poroshenko, Epiphany Dumenko and Filaret Denisenko. Photo: bbc.com

The head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko said that officials of ex-President Petro Poroshenko, together with representatives of the OCU, is trying to destroy the "Kiev Patriarchate" and him personally.

Addressing the parishioners of St. Vladimir Cathedral after the "liturgy", Filaret said that Epiphany Dumenko and the "Synod" of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "had created a commission to liquidate the Kiev Patriarchate and to destroy Patriarch Filaret".

According to him, former officials of President Poroshenko assist the new head of the OCU in the liquidation of the UOC-KP by having resolved to withdraw the UOC-KP from registration.

“This means that I will no longer serve in St. Vladimir Cathedral but Epiphany will do,” Filaret explained. “Besides, all property and all finances of the Kiev Patriarchate are taken from me, and I am thrown into the street.”

This situation compelled the head of the Kiev Patriarchate to appeal to the parishioners with a request to protect both the “Kiev Patriarchate” and him personally: “I appeal to you. I have served you for 53 years in the Cathedral, did not miss a single liturgy, not a single ministry. Therefore, I ask you to protect, first of all, the Kiev Patriarchy and me as a patriarch.”

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that all the temples and monasteries of Ukraine, which used to belong to the UOC-KP, are claimed to be the property of the OCU now.

Read also