Filaret willed that we, specifically, should bury him – OCU spokesman

Yevstratiy Zoria. Photo: Ukrinform

On April 1, 2026, OCU spokesman Yevstratiy Zoria held a press conference devoted to relations with the UOC-KP after Filaret’s death. During it, he claimed that Filaret’s funeral service in the OCU had been conducted in accordance with the late patriarch’s own wishes.

“It was the patriarch’s own will – and we know that,” Zoria said, without specifying the source of that information. He called statements by UOC-KP “hierarchs” that Filaret’s body had been seized by OCU representatives “absolute speculation and, moreover, disrespect toward the family of the late Patriarch Filaret.”

Responding to a question about Filaret’s testament, which states that he wished to be buried specifically by the UOC-KP rather than the OCU, Zoria said that it “does not constitute the patriarch’s will.” Despite the existence of video footage showing Filaret signing the document, the OCU spokesman insisted that he “gave no consent whatsoever to this document” and that “it is simply a piece of paper with no legal or other consequences.”

According to Zoria, the document was written by other people, and Filaret never read it.

As previously reported, Filaret had written a “spiritual testament” in which he forbade OCU representatives from conducting his funeral service.

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