Kiev, March 16, 2020
Photo: cerkva.info
“Patriarch” Philaret Denisenko, the head of the schismatic “Kiev Patriarchate” (KP) will visit several Ukrainian communities in America in June, reports the KP website.
“It is planned that the Patriarch will visit Washington, New York and Philadelphia, where he will meet with believers, Ukrainian communities, and political and public figures in the United States,” the statement reads.
More detailed information will be published on the KP website at a later date.
Philaret last visited America in September 2018, as the Patriarchate of Constantinople was planning to rehabilitate his schismatic organization and the schismatic “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” and combine them into the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” to which it would then grant a tomos of autocephaly in January 2019.
At that time, Philaret was in favor of receiving autocephaly from Constantinople, though he has since rejected the semi-autocephaly that was offered and has revived his KP.
The KP head met with former Vice President Joe Biden during his trip, thanking him for his long-term support for Ukraine and awarding him the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir the Great, 2nd Degree.
In his talk given to the Atlantic Council during the same trip, Denisenko focused almost exclusively on politics, painting autocephaly as a means of overcoming Russian President Putin.
He also expressed his thanks to America: “We thank the U.S. for supporting Patriarch Bartholomew’s intention to provide us with a tomos of autocephaly… We hope that the U.S. will help us bring our Church matter to an end.”
