Memory of Patriarch Filaret
Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili shared his memories of the late Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine Filaret, who passed away after a serious illness. He was hospitalized on March 9 due to deteriorating health, and his funeral took place on March 22, 2026, at the Vladimir Cathedral, where he served for half a century.
Saakashvili, who attended Filaret's services in this cathedral as far back as the 1980s, noted key milestones in the Patriarch's biography. He recalled that Filaret's proclamation of independence from the Moscow Patriarchate led to a significant exodus of parishioners from the Vladimir Cathedral to the Lavra, which remained under Moscow's control.
“After Filaret announced autocephaly, the number of parishioners in the Vladimir Cathedral sharply declined. People massively left for the Lavra, which maintained its ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. From a purely pragmatic perspective, this was a losing step, but Filaret did not think in mercantile categories.”
— Mikheil Saakashvili
Filaret remained the only hierarch from the Soviet era to publicly acknowledge cooperation with the KGB. He also supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine and spoke with Georgian volunteers. Saakashvili relays the following words:
“He said that everyone was involved in this. It was a very important revelation. We were friends. After my speech in New York at the UN Assembly, he called me, and we discussed his speech for a long time.”
— Mikheil Saakashvili
The Patriarch lived to see the time when believers began to return in large numbers to the autocephalous Ukrainian church. He became a noble and tenacious figure; it is symbolic that during the same days, the Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, passed away, someone whom Filaret had once taught in seminary. “With him, an entire era has passed,” Saakashvili concluded. It is important for the Russian-speaking audience to understand that Filaret's activities became one of the key factors of religious self-determination in Ukraine during the post-Soviet period.
Legacy of Patriarch Filaret
The passing of Patriarch Filaret is a significant event for the Orthodox community in Ukraine as he played a central role in the establishment of an independent church. His activities and unwavering position on the matter of autocephaly laid the groundwork for the restoration of Orthodox traditions in the country, which influenced Ukraine's religious and cultural identity.
Interestingly, his legacy resonates with processes in Georgia, where changes in religious life are also occurring, underscoring the importance of his personality in the regional historical context. These parallels demonstrate how closely intertwined the fates of Orthodox churches in the post-Soviet space are.
Memories of Patriarch Filaret highlight his significance for Ukrainian church independence. Interestingly, during the same period, Patriarch Ilia II also passed away, which reflected a transitional stage for both nations. For more details on the reactions of Ukrainian politicians to Filaret's loss, you can read our article about his death, where opinions and comments on his legacy and influence on modern Ukraine are collected. Read more.