Filaret Denysenko buried at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral
The burial of the head of the UOC-KP and the “honorary patriarch” of the OCU has been completed in Kyiv. According to his will, his body was laid to rest in the crypt of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral.
On March 22, 2026, the funeral ceremony for Filaret Denysenko concluded in Kyiv. In accordance with his spiritual testament, his body was placed in the crypt of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. However, contrary to that same will, the funeral service was conducted by representatives of the OCU rather than the UOC-KP.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the mourning events began in the morning at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, where a memorial Divine Liturgy was celebrated. The service was led by OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko, concelebrating with the “episcopate” of his structure. Hundreds of people came to bid farewell to the deceased, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Denysenko was a figure “without whom it is impossible to imagine Ukrainian independence.”
After the Liturgy, the procession moved from the monastery to St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. The route passed through Sophia Square – the site of the 2018 “unification council.”
During the farewell, OCU spokesperson Yevstratiy Zoria delivered remarks, stating that the cause of the “autocephalous Church,” to which Denysenko had devoted his life, “has not died and will not die,” and that Ukrainians are now “free from the Moscow yoke.” For his part, Serhii Dumenko, in his homily, referred to a “prophecy” of Filaret, who, while in hospital, had said he would be at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral on Sunday. The burial concluded around midday on the cathedral grounds, which had served as Filaret’s second residence for more than 60 years.
As previously reported, Filaret Denysenko died on March 20, 2026, at the age of 97. Since 1995, he had led the UOC-KP, and after the creation of the OCU in 2018, he was granted the title of “honorary patriarch” within that structure.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the newly elected “patriarch” of the UOC-KP, representatives of the OCU had seized the body of Patriarch Filaret.
