Editing Filaret Denysenko (section)

==Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church==
In 1961, Filaret served in the mission of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]]. In January 1962 Filaret was elected [[vicar]] Bishop of the [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] [[Eparchy]] and, in February, was ordained [[bishop]] in Leningrad by [[Patriarch Pimen I|Metropolitan Pimen]] (later [[Moscow Patriarch]]) and other bishops. Filaret was appointed to several diplomatic missions of the Russian Orthodox Church and from 1962 to 1964 served as [[Diocese of Vienna and Austria|ROC Bishop of Vienna and Austria]].<ref name=finallyaref/> In 1964 he returned to [[Moscow]] as the Bishop of [[Dmitrov]] and rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.

In 1966, he became [[archbishop]] of [[Kyiv]] and [[Halych]], thus becoming one of the most influential [[hierarch]]s in the Russian Orthodox Church, where the office of the Kyiv Metropolitan is highly regarded. At that time he also became a permanent member of the [[Holy Synod#The Russian Holy Synod|Holy Synod]], the highest collegiate body of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has the responsibility of electing the [[Moscow Patriarch]]. In 1968 Filaret became Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Losiev|first1=Ihor|title=Filaret: A Statehood-oriented Patriarch|url=http://ukrainianweek.com/Society/64554|newspaper=The Ukrainian Week|edition=International|publisher=Ukrainian Week LLC|date=2012-11-08|access-date=2016-11-22|quote=Held several top offices in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1960-1990, including Exarch of Central Europe, Bishop of Vienna and Austria, Rector of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy and Seminary, Exarch of Ukraine, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia (since 1968)}}</ref>

As late as October 1989, Filaret was still saying, "The [[Uniates]] will never be legalized in our country."<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB'', (1999). Page 503.</ref>

On May 3, 1990, [[Patriarch Pimen I of Moscow|Patriarch Pimen of Moscow]] died and, the same day, Filaret became the [[Locum|locum tenens]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Filaret was not elected Patriarch of Moscow.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&q=locum+tenens+filaret&pg=PA173|title=Historical Dictionary of Ukraine|author1=[[Ivan Katchanovski]]|last2=Kohut|first2=Zenon E.|last3=Nebesio|first3=Bohdan Y.|last4=Yurkevich|first4=Myroslav|date=2013-07-11|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7847-1|page=173|language=en|chapter=FILARET DENYSHENKO (SECULAR NAME: MYKHAILO; b. 23 JANUARY 1929)}}</ref> Retrospectively, in 2019, Filaret declared "it was not by chance that I was not elected. The Lord prepared me for Ukraine"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news24ua.com/putin-zhaleet-chto-patriarhom-rpc-vybrali-ne-menya-filaret-rasskazal-taynu|title=Путин жалеет, что патриархом РПЦ выбрали не меня. Филарет рассказал "тайну" {{!}} НОВОСТИ СОБЫТИЯ ЛЮДИ|date=8 January 2019|website=news24ua.com|access-date=2019-01-09}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Телеканал Прямий|title=Інтерв'ю з почесним патріархом Філаретом на ПРЯМОМУ каналі|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca5Eddl-cvs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ca5Eddl-cvs| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2019-01-10}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On 27 October 1990, in a ceremony at [[Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kyiv|St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv]], the newly elected [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Patriarch Alexei II]] handed to Metropolitan Filaret a ''[[Tomos (Eastern Orthodox Church)|tomos]]'' granting "independence in self government" (the tomos did not use either of the words [[Autonomy (Eastern Christianity)|"autonomy"]] or "[[autocephaly]]") to Metropolitan Filaret, and enthroned Filaret, heretofore "Metropolitan of Kyiv", as "Metropolitan of Kyiv and All-Ukraine".<ref name=finallyaref/>

In 1992, the Russian Orthodox priest and [[Soviet dissident]] Fr. [[Gleb Yakunin]] accused Exarch Filaret of having been an informer for the [[KGB]]. Father Gleb stated that he had seen KGB files which listed Exarch Filaret's codename as ''Antonov''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0428/28191.html|title=The KGB's Agents in Cassocks|last=Uzzell|first=Lawrence A.|date=1992-04-28|work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|access-date=2019-11-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191113081601/https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0428/28191.html|archive-date=2019-11-13|issn=0882-7729}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-05-07-1992128134-story.html|title=Covering Up the Kremlin's Agents in Cassocks|last=Uzzell |first=Lawrence A. |date=1992-05-07 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191113082419/https://www.tribpub.com/gdpr/baltimoresun.com/|archive-date=2019-11-13|access-date=2019-11-13}}</ref> The fact of cooperation with KGB was mentioned by [[people's deputies of Ukraine]] on 20 January 1992 when they came out with an official statement.<ref>[[Oleksandr Drabynko]]. 
"[https://web.archive.org/web/20240103204141/https://pereyaslav-eparchia.kiev.ua/arkhierej/statti-ta-rozdumy/395-aleksandr-drabinko-pravoslavie-v-posttotalitarnoj-ukraine-vekhi-istorii Православие в посттоталитарной Украине (вехи истории)]". pereyaslav-eparchia.kiev.ua (archived). 1 March 2015</ref> According to internal KGB documents, tasks the KGB assigned Filaret as an agent included promoting Soviet positions and candidates in the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Christian Peace Conference (CPC) and other international bodies, and, by the 1980s, backing the Soviet authorities' attempts to prevent the long-suppressed Ukrainian Catholic Church (disparagingly called 'Uniates') from regaining an open existence, and backing state attempts to prevent religious believers demanding their rights as glasnost and perestroika opened up the sphere of public debate.<ref>The Antonov Files: Patriarch Filaret and the KGB https://www.academia.edu/37256947/The_Antonov_Files_Patriarch_Filaret_and_the_KGB</ref> In 2018, Filaret declared in an interview with [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Liberty]] that he, like all bishops under [[Warsaw Pact|communism]], had to have contacts with the KGB.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2018/12/23/7202101/|title=Філарет розповів про вплив КДБ на церкву часів СРСР і погрози розстрілом|date=23 December 2018|website=www.pravda.com.ua|access-date=2018-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://spzh.news/ru/news/58610-filaret-rasskazal-o-svojem-sotrudnichestve-s-kgb|title=Филарет рассказал о своем сотрудничестве с КГБ|date=23 December 2018|website=spzh.news|language=RU|access-date=2018-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29671187.html|script-title=uk:"Виймає пістолет і каже: ми можемо вас розстріляти" – Філарет розповів про співпрацю церкви і КДБ|date=23 December 2018|website=Радіо Свобода|language=uk|access-date=2018-12-23 |last1=Свобода |first1=Радіо }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Citation|last=Радіо Свобода|title=Якби я не поступився, томосу не було б – Філарет|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xLkhcCl-tA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/8xLkhcCl-tA| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-12-23}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2019, he declared every bishop of the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Moscow Patriarchate]] had to have contact with the KGB, even when it came to appoint a bishop. He added that he had been trained by the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] and [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Patriarch Alexy]] by the KGB.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/society/10415307-unlike-kgb-sbu-doesn-t-tell-church-what-to-do-filaret.html|title=Unlike KGB, SBU doesn't tell church what to do – Filaret|date=21 January 2019|website=www.unian.info|language=en|access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref><ref name=":82">{{Cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/ocu/74385/|title=Ukrainian Church split by Moscow and KGB, Honorary Patriarch Filaret says|date=21 January 2019|website=risu.org.ua|access-date=2019-01-22}}</ref><ref name="ru.tsn.ua">{{Cite web|url=https://ru.tsn.ua/interview/ukrainskuyu-cerkov-raskololi-moskva-i-kgb-1283118.html|script-title=ru:Украинскую церковь раскололи Москва и КГБ|date=2019-01-20|website=ТСН.ua|language=ru|access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref>