Filaret claims to be the head of SLC and take Lavras from the Church

Head of the UOC KP Filaret (Denisenko)

Filaret stressed that he was going to run for the head of the SLC, "because it is necessary to complete the difficult task of uniting the Church", and that "in the name of the unity of the Church" he is ready to forget everything that "was done to him" and that "was said about him in the Moscow Patriarchate". 

He also explained that, in his opinion, the state should hand over the Kiev-Pechersk and Pochaev Lavras to "its Church": "You want to ask: who will the Kiev-Pechersk and Pochaev Lavras belong to? The answer is: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is the property of the state. And it has the right to hand over these Ukrainian shrines. To whom? The Russian Church represented by the same exarchate or its Church? Naturally, to the Ukrainian one. There is no other option. Everything will be only by law."

At the same time, the head of the Kiev Patriarchate claims not only to the Lavras but also to the name of the UOC.

Denisenko also takes all the credit for the large-scale exchange of prisoners of war, which took place at the end of last year. "We came up with this initiative. As a result, the movement began. All the nuances involved secular negotiators, but they were under religious influence. Therefore, they achieved the result," he said.

In conclusion, Filaret shares his predictions that Ukraine will win the war with Russia, Ukraine will join the European Union, and if Putin decides to use nuclear weapons, "nothing terrible" will happen.

"Nothing terrible will happen. Even if Putin decides to use nuclear weapons somewhere, move on the Donbass, etc., he will bring his end closer," Filaret says.

According to him, "Athonite elders have long said that there will be a war between Russia and Ukraine, and that Ukraine will win. And that Ukraine will join the European Union," and "the Ukrainian Church will take the lead in Orthodoxy."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote why Filaret is the main enemy of Ukrainian autocephaly.

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