Kiev, March 20, 2026
spzh.eu
Philaret Denisenko, the one-time canonical Metropolitan of Kiev who became the leader of the schismatic movement in Ukraine in the early 1990s, died in Kiev today, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
He was 97 years old.
Denisenko, the “Patriarch” of the schismatic “Kiev Patriarchate,” served as the Metropolitan of Kiev of the Ukrainian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate from 1966 to 1992. However, following the repose of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen of Moscow in 1990, he was passed over for Patriarch in favor of His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II, and Denisenko left the Church to form the “Kiev Patriarchate.”
From 1992 to 1997, he was suspended, then defrocked, then anathematized for his persistence in schism—decisions by the Moscow Patriarchate that were recognized by the entire Church. Nevertheless, the “Kiev Patriarchate” grew considerably under his rule as an alternative to and sometimes violent enemy of the canonical Church.
In 2018, the Patriarchate of Constantinople changed its mind about Denisenko and decided to enter into communion with him and his “Kiev Patriarchate.” The organization agreed to unite with the “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” in the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” project run by Constantinople and the Ukrainian and U.S. governments.
However, as he was again passed over for primate, this time in favor of his protégé Epiphany Dumenko, he soon left the OCU to restart the now much smaller “Kiev Patriarchate,” where he remained until his death today.
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