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Who is Patriarch Filaret? Religious leader, 91, who blamed gay marriage for coronavirus catches Covid-19

The religious leader is reported to have said, 'God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sinfulness of humanity. First of all, I mean same-sex marriage'

Leading Ukrainian religious figure Patriarch Filaret has fallen ill with Covid-19 after blaming gay people for the virus. The 91-year-old is said to be in stable condition in a hospital after being diagnosed with the coronavirus during routine testing.

Filaret is the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate. According to Ukrainian website 11.2 international, he has also been diagnosed with pneumonia. In a statement on Friday, September 4, the church said: “We inform that during planned testing, His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kiev and All Rus-Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19. Now His Holiness Bishop is undergoing treatment at a hospital.”

This comes after Filaret, who has 15 million followers, stirred controversy earlier this year by blaming same-sex marriage for the global health crisis. In an interview with the Ukrainian national TV network Channel 4 in March, he said, “God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sinfulness of humanity. First of all, I mean same-sex marriage."

He faced heavy criticism for his comments with Kiev-based LGBTQ+ group Insight announcing that it was taking legal action against him. The group accused Filaret of inciting hatred and discrimination. “Our aim is to show people that there is no longer place for such statements from church leaders in Ukraine,” head of Insight  Olena Shevchenko told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The group also demanded an apology from the church leader as well as the TV channel for airing the controversial interview.

Maria Guryeva, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International Ukraine, also stood up against Filaret’s statement at the time, saying: “Such statements … are very harmful because they could lead to increased attacks, aggression, discrimination and acceptance of violence against certain groups.”

Soon after Filaret’s diagnosis news broke out, people took to Twitter to slam him. “Homosexuals are responsible for the spread of coronavirus, announced 91-year-old patriarch Filaret, who is the head of one of Ukraine's largest Orthodox churches. Now it turned out that he had infected himself with the #covid19. That's what I call coming out!” one user tweeted. “Is there something you want to tell us, Patriarch Filaret?  #Hypocrisy #COVID19 #LGBTQ,” said another one. A third added: “Karma? Irony? Maybe Patriarch Filaret should have paid more attention to the science. -  Leader Who Blamed Coronavirus on Gay Marriage Contracts COVID-19”.

However, Filaret was not the only religious leader who blamed gay marriage for the pandemic. Another conservative preacher from Tennessee also shares the same thoughts. In March, Perry Stone said, “If this is a moment of reckoning, and I know it is; I know what I heard, I did not make that up. I audibly heard the phrase, a male voice speaking, and I believe it was the Holy Spirit.”

“The Bible talks about going after ‘strange flesh,’” Stone said as he added: “There is a reckoning because the courts of the land passed a law to take an infant’s life, that it was OK, and for marriage as we have known it to be changed into something we have never known. Both of their laws, biblically in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, are what God calls an abomination. And the Bible teaches us that God is long-suffering, he is not willing that any perish, he wants everyone to come to repentance, but there will be a time when the Lord says, ‘Enough is enough.'”