Farewell ceremony and funeral of UOC-KP head held in Kyiv

Mourning events dedicated to the burial of the head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko have ended in the Ukrainian capital. The hierarch’s body was laid to rest in the crypt of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.

According to Radio Svoboda, the ceremony, led by the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko, began on the morning of March 22 at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. After that, the funeral procession proceeded from the monastery through St. Sophia Square to the final resting place in St. Vladimir’s Cathedral.

A crypt was built in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral, into which the coffin with the body of the head of the UOC-KP was lowered. After that, the grave was covered with earth and the funeral service for Filaret Denisenko was over.

It is also worth noting that no hierarch of the UOC-KP took part in Filaret’s funeral service, except for Andriy Matsurak, who was close to Denisenko in the last years of his life. Marutsak, in turn, was «elevated to episcopal dignity» by the head of the UOC-KP after the split with the OCU. The OCU itself did not recognize Marutsak’s «episcopal ordination».

Earlier, we reported that a sharp conflict broke out between the OCU and the UOC-KP over the right to conduct the burial of the deceased Filaret Denisenko. Representatives of the UOC-KP accused their opponents of «raiding» the body and violating the last will of the late head of the Kyiv Patriarchate, according to which he was to be buried in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.