Today's award ceremony for those who make our country richer spiritually and morally, unfortunately, coincided with sad news, both for the country and for the entire Orthodox world. Metropolitan Filaret, the honorary High Priest of All Belarus, passed away. He was 85. The President of our country, Alexander Lukashenko, expressed his condolences to the entire Belarusian people. We have lost a Hero of Belarus, a mentor and the most sincere defender, who prayed for the well-being of our country and our people till his last hour.
Metropolitan Filaret was not without reason called the measure of morality and the conscience of the nation. "We are fortunate that he gave the greater part of his life to the Belarusian land, which he loved with all his soul. Due to his support and fatherly advice, together we have built a strong sovereign country, where everybody lives in peace, harmony and there is no place for religious enmity. Our long friendship with Filaret and our great mutual respect was a powerful spiritual support," the President confessed.
The restoration of sacral sanctuaries of the nation is a work in which Filaret has been engaged for more than 40 years. The last monument is the Turov Cross.
The future patriarch Kirill Vakhromeevwas born in Moscow in an ancient merchant family.
Great-grandfather of the metropolitan was involved in the restoration of churches in Yaroslavl, for which he received nobility. His father taught at Gnesin School of Music and his mother was also involved in music.
Kirill Vakhromeev entered the Moscow Seminary, then the Academy. In his second year he took the name Filaret. He fully devotedhimself to the service of God, was the rector of the Theological Academy, head of various dioceses. He also headed the Department of External Church Relations, in layman's terms, was the Church's Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The church of Mary Magdalene was the first in the country, which the authorities gave to the believers. It is interesting that Metropolitan Filaret insisted that not only Orthodox churches be returned, but also the Catholic ones.
Archbishop Ante Jozic, apostolic nuncio to Belarus: "The openness of the late Metropolitan Filaret to dialogue greatly contributed to the development and strengthening of mutual understanding of fraternal relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. The blessed memory of the deceased Metropolitan Filaret will live on not only in the hearts of the faithful flock of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, but will also live forever in the history of the Belarusian people."
Filaret managed to preserve the Holy Dormition Monastery in Zhirovichi. In 1989 Minsk Theological Seminary was also revived. For the first time in history cooperation between the Orthodox Church and the State was initiated. Meetings of the President of Belarus and Metropolitan Filaret became habitual. For revival of the spiritual life in Belarus Metropolitan Filaret was awarded the title "Hero of Belarus".
The funeral of the High Priest will begin tomorrow at 16.00 in the Holy Spirit Cathedral and will last until 6 pm on January 14. Then the body of Filaret will be transferred to the Assumption Cathedral of Zhirovichi monastery. Filaret will be buried on Friday, January 15, behind the monastery's Church of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Metropolitan Filaret passes away
12 января 2021












