Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Philaret (; ; 21 March 1935 – 12 January 2021), born Kirill Varfolomeyevich Vakhromeyev () was the emeritus Metropolitan of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

and

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

, the

Patriarchal Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of All

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and the leader of the

Belarusian Orthodox Church The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Eparchies and Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox eparchies in the ...

that is an autonomous part of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. He resigned on 25 December 2013, and was succeeded by

Paul (Ponomaryov) Metropolitan Paul (, , secular name Georgiy Vasilevich Ponomaryov, ; born 19 February 1951 in Karaganda) was the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus and the leader of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (an Semi ...

Biography

Born in 1935 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Kirill attended the

Moscow Theological Academy Moscow Theological Academy () is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials. The Academy traces its origin to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy, which was founded in 1685 by th ...

in 1954 after spending a year in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

. During the course of his studies, he chose the name Filaret when he received the monastic tonsure in 1959. Two years later, he graduated from the academy with a doctorate in theology. After serving in Minsk,

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

and Moscow, Filaret was appointed Metropolitan of Minsk and the entire

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

in 1978. In 1989, as the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was imminent, Filaret was appointed to become the patriarchal exarch of the new country of Belarus. He also served a short term in the

Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (Belarusian language, Belarusian: Вярхоўны Савет Беларускай ССР, ''Vyarkhowny Savyet Byelaruskay SSR''; Russian language, Russian: Верховный Совет Белорус ...

. In 2006, for his work in the Russian Orthodox Church he was awarded the title

Hero of Belarus Hero of Belarus (, Łacinka ''Hieroj Biełarusi''; ) is the highest title that can be bestowed on a citizen of Belarus. The title is awarded to those "who perform great deeds in the name of freedom, independence and prosperity of the Republic of ...

by President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. The

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

recruited Filaret as an agent some time before 1969, assigning him the code name Ostrovsky. He died on 12 January 2021, after being hospitalized with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus The COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belaru ...

. Cardinal

Kurt Koch Kurt Koch (born 15 March 1950) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been a cardinal since November 2010 and president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity since 1 July 2010. He was the bishop of Basel from 1996 until ...

of the Catholic Church sent a letter of condolence to Patriarchal Exarch Vienijamin. Koch said that Philaret had made a significant imprint on the church of Belarus, such as "the rebirth of ecclesial life, ... the renewal and construction of new churches and monasteries, and ... the development of religious instruction and educational programs". Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Minsk,

Tadevuš Kandrusievič Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz (; born 3 January 1946) is a Belarusians, Belarusian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, Archbishop of Minsk–Mohilev from 2007 to 2021. He has been a bishop since 1989, ...

, pledged to celebrate a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in honor of Philaret. On 3 May 2022, a monument to Metropolitan Filaret was unveiled near the Holy Spirit Cathedral in

. Attending the ceremony was Belarusian President

.Lukashenko unveils monument to Metropolitan Filaret
/ref>

References

1935 births 2021 deaths Clergy from Moscow Clergy from Minsk Bishops of the Belarusian Orthodox Church Belarusian people of Russian descent Eastern Orthodox Christians from Belarus Christian Peace Conference members National Heroes of Belarus Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus Moscow Theological Academy alumni {{Belarus-bio-stub