The Dnipro Jewish Community expresses its profound sorrow at the passing of an outstanding spiritual leader of our country – His Holiness Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, whose soul departed from the material world at the age of 98.
For many decades, Patriarch Filaret was a spiritual leader of Ukraine, a founder of the independent Orthodox Church in our country, a man who dedicated his life to the struggle for spiritual renewal, whose contribution to the development of religious life in Ukraine is immeasurable.
Patriarch Filaret was a great friend of the Jews of Ukraine. He was the first Primate of an Orthodox Church of the highest rank to make a historic visit to the Dnipro Jewish Community, meeting with the leaders and congregants of the “Golden Rose” Central Synagogue. During that visit, he spoke very important and warm words, emphasizing the unity of all Ukrainians regardless of ethnic origin or religious affiliation.
In our hearts, the memory of that historic visit in 2017 will forever remain, when the Dnipro Jewish Community was honored to host a representative delegation of the then Kyiv Patriarchate. This event, made possible through Alexander Vladimirovich Petrovsky, became an important milestone in the development of interfaith understanding and harmony for our entire country.
The Dnipro Jewish Community extends its deepest condolences to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the passing of its Honorary Patriarch and shares in its grief. May the soul of this outstanding spiritual leader rest in peace and may he receive a fitting reward for all his good deeds.
