Filaret: Talks about my age – speculation, I feel 60 years old

Filaret Denisenko. Photo: Ukrinform

The head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko is convinced that the attempts to expose him as the sick and senile elder are aimed at removing the Kiev Patriarchate from the administration of the Church liquidating it. He spoke about this in an interview with “Segodnya”, commenting on recent statements made by OCU representative Eustratiy Zoria about the illness of the “patriarch”.

Filaret stressed that he feels to be 50-60 years old and his state of health "has been and will be good".

According to him, he really took the medicine, which Zoria spoke of, that allegedly provoked a sharp disability of the “patriarch”, however, “this is just a medicine that was wrong”.

“I took the medicine, it did not help, and I refused it,” explained Denisenko. “The rest is speculation. They want to present me to be sick and senile and, therefore, send me to rest in order to rule the Church as they wish or rather as they are said. All this insinuation about the illness and the old age is for this. Everything is aimed at one goal – to retire Patriarch Philaret, to liquidate the Kiev Patriarchate and the Church, and to rule as they are said.”

Earlier, the “bishop” of the OCU Eustratiy Zoria stated that last autumn, “when it was very important to preserve the unity of the Kiev Patriarchate,” Filaret was found to take certain medication which had a very negative effect on the health of the “patriarch”. According to Zoria, Filaret’s illness has changed him beyond recognition, and this is not the “patriarch” that was before.

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