Filaret: There is compromising material on the OCU leaders

"Patriarch of Kiev and All Rus-Ukraine" Filaret Denisenko. Photo: UA. NEWS

The head of the Kiev Patriarchate Filaret Denisenko said that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been digging up dirt on the OCU leadership. In this, Filaret sees one of the reasons why the majority of the “bishops” did not support his decision to choose independence from Constantinople.

“They were guided by the fact that the power of Poroshenko, which is spread throughout Ukraine, forces these bishops to go this way – by dependence on the Patriarchate of Constantinople. And there are many such respected officials who influence the hierarchs, and the latter, having no spiritual strength to resist, agree, on the one hand. On the other hand, there are compromising materials on one or the other,” the head of the UOC KP accounted for the motives of his former subordinates on the “ZIK” channel.

And once again I remembered how Epiphanius Dumenko, the head of the OCU, confessed in a personal conversation that not everything depends on him. From this statement of his former "bishop", and now the "primate" of the newly created religious organization, Filaret concluded that "there are some forces" that influence the decisions and actions of Epiphany.

The head of the Kiev Patriarchate recalled how the KGB had previously forced the church hierarchs to obey and clarified that everything is different now – the authorities only “recommend” what to do, but the church leadership may not listen to them.

“And in our time, the SBU is doing this. They dig up dirt on each person who interests them. And by doing so they show: “Look, what we have against you. If you don't listen to us, we will show you,” said Filaret.

He compared the decision of the former “hierarchs” of the Kiev Patriarchate to remain in the OCU to the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas, who was one of the 12 apostles before his fall.

“Why we are surprised that all, absolutely all bishops are mine, starting with Epiphany, Eustraty, Agapit, Dimitrii and all the others ... I gave them an education, because I created the Kiev Theological Academy, where they got an education. If I hadn’t created this academy, they wouldn’t have got an education. And they hadn’t had the education, they would not have become priests, and even more so bishops. Because I gave it all to them,” stressed the “Patriarch of Kiev and All Rus-Ukraine”.

Earlier, Filaret has already said that Epiphany is not independent and is governed. “The truth is that he (head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko – Ed.) does not lead, but he is led. And he told me directly: not everything depends on me. If you are a primate, why doesn’t everything depend on you? So, there are some forces that are higher than you and do not want what you want. And therefore, you say: not everything depends on me,” said the head of the UOC KP.

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