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The leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which at the beginning of the year blamed homosexual marriages for the onset of the pandemic, contracted coronavirus, as confirmed by local religious authorities.
In a statement released on social media, the Church reported that the patriarch Filaret, 91, is hospitalized after developing pneumonia. On Tuesday, the institution said the religious leader’s health is “stable” and he remains under treatment. “We report that during the planned tests, His Holiness the patriarch Filaret from Kiev has tested positive for COVID-19. Now His Holiness the bishop is receiving treatment in a hospital.
“We ask that you continue to pray for His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, so that the Almighty and Merciful Lord heal the Patriarch,” says the statement from the Orthodox Church.
Last March, in an interview with a local television station, the patriarch Filaret He stated that the pandemic responds to a “punishment from God for the sins of men and the sinfulness of humanity.”
“First of all, I mean same-sex marriage. This is the cause of coronavirus”He said at the time.
Those words predictably sparked controversy. In April, the Ukrainian rights group Lgbtq Insight filed a lawsuit against the Orthodox leader.
“Our aim is to show people that there is no longer a place for such statements by church leaders in Ukraine,” Olena Shevchenko, leader of the movement, said in dialogue with Reuters.
The complaint filed against the Orthodox Church demanded an apology from the patriarch Filaret “For spreading false information” and a retraction by the television channel that broadcast the controversial comments of the religious leader.
Maria Guryeva, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International Ukraine, said at the time that statements by Filaret “They are very harmful because they could lead to an increase in attacks, aggressions, discrimination and acceptance of violence against certain groups.”
In response to Insight’s lawsuit against Filaret, the Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate issued a statement in April: “As the head of the Church and as a man, the patriarch has the freedom to express his views, which are based on morality.”
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