Filaret files lawsuit against Zoria
Filaret Denysenko, head of the Kyiv Patriarchate, has filed a defamation lawsuit against an OCU “archbishop” in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi District Court.
OCU spokesman Yevstratiy Zoria learned of the upcoming court proceedings from a letter he received from the Shevchenkivskyi District Court the previous day, he wrote on Facebook.
According to Zoria, when he was told that “Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko M. A.) had filed a lawsuit against Archbishop Eustratiy (Zoria I. V.) for ‘protection of honor and dignity,’” he recalled a parable about humility that Filaret had often enjoyed telling.
“I share the sentiment expressed in the comments below: ‘This is one of those cases where someone else does something, but you’re the one who feels ashamed.’ However, I cannot remain silent in the face of falsehood simply because I respect someone. Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas [Plato is my friend, but truth is a greater friend],” Filaret’s former close associate and right-hand man concluded.
Earlier, OCU “Archbishop” Yevstratiy Zoria claimed that certain medications had been discovered in Filaret’s possession the previous fall, at a time “when preserving the unity of the Kyiv Patriarchate was critically important.” According to Zoria, taking those medications had severely affected the “patriarch’s” health. Zoria alleged that the illness had changed Filaret beyond recognition and turned him into an ally of Moscow.
