Video appears online showing Filaret signing his “spiritual testament”

Filaret Denysenko. Photo: UOC KP

A video has surfaced online showing Filaret Denysenko signing his “Spiritual Testament” in the altar of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. The date of the recording is not specified, but judging by the context, it may be October 19, when the UOC-KP announced that the document had been signed.

In the footage, Filaret is seen sitting in a chair, surrounded by “hierarchs” of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Standing close beside him is his “subdeacon,” Mykhailo Denysenko – Filaret’s grandnephew, the son of his niece Inna Denysenko, who serves as his physician.

Filaret holds the testament and a pen in his hands. In the video, Mykhailo Denysenko appears to try to stop him from signing, whispering to the head of the UOC-KP that “they wrote it themselves for you.” He speaks pure Russian, calling the testament zapovet (while the Ukrainian word for testament is zapovit).

One of the “bishops” rebukes Mykhailo: “Misha, don’t do that. You were given this testament a month and a half ago, your mother took it. Misha, don’t cause provocations here.”

Filaret pushed away his grandnephew’s hand and signed the testament. He appeared frail and exhausted.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Filaret had written a “spiritual testament.”

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