Patriarch Filaret: brief biography, activities

The history knows several cult figures who are namesake, named in the same field of activity, and, nevertheless, radically differently changed the course of history.

Patriarch Filaret, whose years of life coincided with the period of major social upheavals, is one of the most controversial figures in Russian history, whose actions and historical significance for the whole of Russia are hard to assess impartially. Nevertheless, this man significantly changed the course of political and social events, first of all, acting in the interests of his family, and providing the Romanov dynasty with a firm position on the throne.

Throughout his life, Patriarch Filaret Romanov - in the world of Fedor Nikitovich - experienced constant career and status ups and downs following them. Being a non-religious person, but by the will of the case, who took the post of Metropolitan, he continuously maintained contact with the higher Moscow clergy, creating himself a righteous and venerable image corresponding to the status of the Third Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. This talented, domineering, ambitious man could not help but remain in the annals of history.

His namesake in the monastic name, self-proclaimed as a result of the split of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch of Kyiv Philaret, in the world of Mikhail Denisenko, is known to the uninitiated as an ardent supporter of Ukrainian self-identification. The main result of the work of Patriarch Filaret is the creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church and public support for military operations in the southeast of Ukraine. He publicly expressed his negative attitude towards Putin after the annexation of the Crimea. Patriarch Filaret, Ukraine, according to which, should be independent and autonomous, is also known for his harsh statements about other officials.

Be that as it may, but advocating for the independence of Ukraine, Filaret defends the interests, first of all, of the majority of citizens of this country, so in this text there is no search for sacred truths, but there is a set of facts that make it possible to get to know the rich life of this spiritual leader to the maximum.

Patriarch Filaret Romanov: family tree and family

The life of a clergyman was not easy. The biography of Patriarch Filaret is notable for his being the nephew of Anastasia Zakharina-Yuryeva, the first wife of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Thus, the Romanov clan joined the dynasty of Russian tsars. Rod Anastasia Zakharina (they are St. George's, Koshkins) was in the service of the Moscow sovereigns from the 14th century. The importance of this family in the government of the country increased after 1584, when Ivan the Terrible left with the young son Theodore the guardian boyar Nikita Romanovich, the brother of the deceased Anastasia, whose good reputation became the basis of the popularity of the Romanov family.

The relations between the Godunovs and the Romanovs were not hostile. On the contrary, at the wedding of the kingdom, Boris gave the Romanovs many privileges, however, this could not mitigate the growing struggle for the royal throne.

Youth and youth

Fedor Nikitovich Romanov was born in 1553. Possessing a secular practical mindset, Fedor Nikitovich never aspired to occupy any priestly rank. In his youth, he was one of the most famous Moscow giants.

Having received an excellent education, perfectly connecting love to books and love for secular outfits, Fedor Nikitovich learned even the Latin language, resorting to the help of specially written for him Latin books. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, he was an inquisitive, handsome, adroit and friendly young man.

Metropolitan of Rostov

As one of Boris Godunov's main rivals, Fedor Nikitovich, together with the rest of the Romanovs and many other boyar families, was subjected to royal disgrace in 1600. The beginning of this process was a false denunciation. Fedor was forcibly tonsured into monks and exiled to the north of the principality, to the Antoniev-Siya Monastery, located 90 kilometers from Kholmogory. In former times, monastic tonsure was one of the means of depriving a person of political power. Along with the receipt of the new name, Filaret Romanov also received sympathy and support from his compatriots as the descendant of the royal descendant and the legitimate king of Russia.

In the monastery the future metropolitan was under strict surveillance - the bailiffs stopped any of his independent actions, while constantly complaining to Moscow about his steep temper. But most of all Filaret Romanov yearned for his family.

June 30, 1605 after the coup, Filaret with honors was returned to Moscow as a relative of the imaginary king False Dmitry, and in 1606 became Metropolitan of Rostov. After the overthrow of the impostor in 1606, Filaret, being in Moscow, was sent to Uglich for the body of Tsarevich Dmitry Ioannovich at the direction of the new Tsar Vasily Ivanovich. While Filaret was in Uglich, Shuisky elevated to the post of patriarch of Moscow's Kazan Metropolitan Germogen, and Fyodor Ivanovich went to the dedicated under his protectorate chair in Rostov the Great, where he remained until 1608.

Tushino events

Due to the dislike of the population for Shuisky, and the emergence of a new impostor in the political arena, the rebel forces came to Moscow itself. The Patriarch of Moscow urgently sent out letters on the state in which he instructed the archpastors to pray for Tsar Vasily and described the course of events. Patriarch Filaret, whose brief biography was already full of fateful facts, spoke about global state upheavals, the rebellion of Bolotnikov, the gangs of the "Tushino thief," from whom he remained loyal to the tsar and later suffered himself. In 1608 the troops of False Dmitry II took Rostov, ravaged the city, and Patriarch Filaret was taken prisoner and taken to the Tushino camp with mockery.

In Tushino, the impostor and his people began to give Fedor appropriate honors and gave the title of "Filaret, Patriarch of Moscow." One can not doubt that Fedor Nikitovich himself did not value this position at all - he was bullied and held in Tushino by force. The certificates that came down to us from 1608 to 1610 do not give the right to assert that Filaret (the Patriarch of Moscow) in general had something to do with church and political affairs. On the contrary, Hermogenes, the legitimate Moscow Patriarch, considered him a victim of the situation.

In March 1610, after the collapse of the Tushino camp, Filaret was captured by Poles and taken to Volokolamsky monastery in Iosifov, but soon fled from there with the support of Grigory Voluyev's detachment, and, returning to Moscow, found himself in the former honor of the Moscow diocese.

Dual power

In September 1610, Filaret, as well as Prince Golitsyn in the "great embassy" moved from Moscow to Smolensk to meet with King Sigismund, after which he sent ambassadors to Poland as prisoners. Filaret spent eight years in captivity, and was exchanged in 1619, and then immediately transported to Moscow, where his own elected son Mikhail Fyodorovich was sitting on the throne in order to occupy the vacant seat of the Moscow Patriarch. In 1619, June 24 in the Assumption Cathedral, his adage was pronounced "Philaret Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia." Now Filaret, called the royal title "Great Sovereign," began to manage the church and the state equally.

Thus, in Moscow a dual power was established for a period of 14 years, in which only the tsar and the Zemsky Sobor had the highest governmental authority, and the letters of the patriarch father to the son-sovereign reveal the entire power of the patriarch's influence on the conduct of public affairs, and in fullness describe the activities of Patriarch Filaret .

Historians know the conciliar verdict of 1619, about "how to arrange the land," which was created by the reportable "articles" of the patriarch. It correctly estimated the unequal material and property status of the population in different parts of the kingdom, therefore, such measures as:

• The proper organization of service from estates;
• Compilation of precise cadastral inventories of lands and on their basis achievement of correctness of taxation;
• Informing both cash resources of the treasury and its future resources, for determining income and expenses;
• Taking effective measures to eradicate administrative offenses that hamper the establishment of the state and social order in the country.

All these introductions pursued the sole purpose of increasing government funds in the easiest and right way for the population.

Also, Fedor Nikitovich patronized printing, and also edited old Russian texts for errors.

Reforms of church administration

The events of the patriarch's life were polished from him by a political businessman and a thin diplomat. The interests in strengthening the dynastic power stimulated him to direct all his forces to the management of the affairs of the state, in which he was an able and tactful leader. But, being devoid of theological education, he was especially reserved and cautious in church affairs. In this sphere Filaret took care of the protection of the faith and looked for the main danger behind the Polish-Lithuanian border. In the rest, he followed the immediate needs of the church and never took steps forward. Thus, Filaret's political activity was more fruitful and more active than the church. From 1619 to 1633 the state power was strengthened, and the Romanov dynasty gained support in a wide circle of the population, and this is the historical merit of Fedor Nikitovich.

On all matters related to religion and church organization, he preferred to consult with the Moscow clergy, which earned him considerable fame in its milieu.

Family and Children

Fedor Nikitovich married the daughter of a poor nobleman from Kostroma Xenia Ivanovna Shestova. They had six children. After the disgrace of Boris Godunov to the family of Fedor Nikitovich, Ksenia Ivanovna was forcibly tonsured into nuns under the name of Martha and sent to Zaonezhsky Tolvuisky churchyard. Son Michael and daughter Tatiana, along with aunt Nastasya and Martha Nikitichny were taken to the village of Klin, located in Yurievsky district.

Filaret Patriarch of All Russia immediately after returning home from Polish captivity and carrying out the campaign to erect his son Michael, he turned into a calculating and disgraced regent.

The death of Patriarch Filaret on October 1, 1633, put an end to the dual power in the state and finally placed the Romanov family on the throne who reigned until 1917.

The historical significance of Filaret

Being the regent of the young king Michael and in fact the ruler of the country, Patriarch Filaret signed in his own name state diplomas and also held the title of Grand Sovereign.

Speaking of Patriarch Filaret, historians in the majority speak about his patronage of typography. Since 1621, the clerks of the Ambassadorial Order specially for the tsar have taken up the manufacture of the first Russian newspaper Vestovye Pis'ma.

The patriarch understood the value and favored the development of the arms and metallurgical industry. Therefore, in 1632, Andrei Vinius received permission from Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich to establish the first iron-smelting, iron-work and weapons factories in Russia at Tula.

Patriarch Filaret of Kiev: birth and family

This clergyman comes from Ukraine. Filaret The Patriarch of Kiev, in the world Mikhail Antonovich Denisenko, was born in the mining family on January 1, 1929. The place of birth is the village of Blagodatnoye, located in the Amvrosievsky district of the Donetsk region.

Despite the mandatory requirements of the vow of celibacy, according to media reports, Filaret openly lived with his family - his wife Eugenia Petrovna Rodionova, who died in 1998, and three children - the daughter of Vera and Lyubov, as well as son Andrei - are mentioned.

Studies, monastery and the adoption of monasticism

In 1946, Denisenko graduated from high school, and in 1948 - Odessa Theological Seminary and was admitted to the Moscow Theological Academy. In January 1950, being in his second year, he took a monastic vows, taking the name of Filaret. In the spring, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 1952 he was ordained as a hieromonk.

Occupied posts and titles

In 1952, Denisenko received the degree of candidate of theology and stayed at the Moscow Theological Seminary to teach the Holy Scripture of the New Testament. At the same time, Filaret was acting as Dean of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The title of associate professor was in March 1954.

In August 1956, Filaret, being hegumen, became an inspector of the Saratov theological seminary, then the Kiev Theological Seminary. Managing the affairs of the Ukrainian exarchate, he began in 1960, being in the rank of archimandrite.

In 1961, Denisenko was appointed rector of the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alexandria under the Alexandrian Patriarchate.

In 1962, Filaret received the rank of bishop of Luga, vicar of the Leningrad diocese. At the same time he was appointed governor of the Riga diocese; In the summer of 1962 - vicar of the Central European Exarchate; In November of the same year he became Bishop of Vienna and Austria.

In 1964 Filaret took the place of a vicar in the Moscow diocese and already as a bishop Dmitrovsky became rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.

A member of the Holy Synod elevated him to the rank of archbishop of Kiev and Galicia in 1966. In December of the same year, Filaret became head of the Kiev Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. At that time, he repeatedly traveled abroad as part of delegations of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian exarchate, participating in congresses, conferences and assemblies. In 1979, Filaret received the award in the form of the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and in 1988 - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for active peacekeeping.

After the death of Pimen - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia - in the spring of 1990, Filaret became locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne and one of the most probable candidates for the patriarchs, for the election of which a local council was convened. In June 1990, the new head of the ROC, Metropolitan Alexy II, was elected as the cathedral. However, it was traditionally Filaret the Patriarch of Kiev and All Ukraine who was considered the next most important bishop of the Russian Church and the most influential permanent member of the Holy Synod.

Filaret as a spiritual figure of the UOC

In this period, with the support of Leonid Kravchuk, Filaret begins active work aimed at the autonomization of the Ukrainian Church. The media talk about the beginning of their "friendly" relations even during the work of Denisenko in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. With the proclamation of Ukraine's independence in 1991, Kravchuk strongly stimulated the process of creating an autonomous church that had the basis of the canonical UOC - the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Uniates did not have the necessary support of the population to secure autonomy. It was understood that canonical autocephaly as an independent association of the UOC will absorb all the Orthodox churches in Ukraine and reduce the level of interconfessional contradictions.

In January 1992, Filaret gathered bishops to a meeting and, with the support of the now Ukrainian president, Kravchuk, drafted an appeal to the Patriarch, all the bishops and the Holy Synod, in which he accused the ROC of deliberately delaying the process of a positive decision on the issue of autocephaly of the UOC. The Bishops' Council of the ROC already raised this issue in the spring of 1992 in the absence of Filaret. In response to an appeal by the Moscow Patriarchate, Filaret was charged with using his autonomy as an instrument to strengthen his power in running the Ukrainian Church, exerting pressure on local priests to force them to support autocephaly. In the process of this dispute, the Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret was accused of immoral behavior and his gross miscalculations in the administration and was obliged to voluntarily resign the powers of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Filaret himself voluntarily gave the floor to the bishop that he would not impede the free choice of the Ukrainian Church in the process of electing a new first hierarch, but after a while he refused to part with the post of the head of the UOC. Then followed his renunciation of the episcopal oath. So there was a religious schism known in the history of Orthodoxy as "Filaret". Sam Filaret justifies his original promise of pressure from the ROC, and therefore considers it forced.

In 1992, the Bishops' Council of the UOC still managed to displace Filaret from the post of First Hierarch of the UOC and the Kiev Department. He remained in the state, but had no right to conduct divine services, and in June of the same year, the Judicial deed of the Bishops 'Council for human vices, blackmail, dictatorship, perjury and public slander against the Bishops' Council, the church schism, and for holding in the state of prohibition Ministerial services, Filaret was overthrown from his rank and deprived of all degrees of priesthood and rights concerning his stay in the clergy.

In June 1992, Philaret's supporters assembled the Unification Council in Kiev. This marked the beginning of the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) as a result of the unification of some representatives of the UOC concerning the Moscow Patriarchate and the UAOC. In 1995, Filaret took over the post of patriarch.

On February 19, 1997, the Bishops' Council of the ROC excommunicated Filaret from the church for conducting dissenting activities during the inter-council period.

Mutual relations with Russia

Filaret took the place of the most likely candidate for the post of the head of the ROC, but not everyone was satisfied with his candidacy. Special censure and indignation caused his faulty moral character, lust for power, manners of behavior, rudeness and a mundane way of life.

During the election of the new patriarch, the struggle of the UOC for its autonomy intensified. And even after the adoption by the Council of Bishops of the ROC in 1990 of a new provision and granting the Ukrainian exarchate more rights in self-government and manifestation in the church sphere of national traditions, independence and autonomy in the management of the UOC, and Filaret - the title of "The Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine" Did not stop fighting for the independence of Ukrainian religious ideology, now - in the sphere of social and secular life.

Patriarch Filaret considers Russia the main aggressor in the conflict in the southeast of Ukraine, arguing that Russia, as the enemy of the Ukrainian people, is doomed to defeat.

Mutual appeals of Patriarch Kirill of All Russia and Patriarch Filaret of all Ukraine are widely known. In a letter to the Ukrainian bishop, the Moscow patriarch called for a balanced and methodical approach to the issue of continuing support for the conflict in the southeast of Ukraine, and called for this uneasy, unsettling time to unite the whole Russian church against the dark side of the human personality, performing universal Christian prayer services. However, in his response to the Moscow Patriarch, Filaret very negatively spoke about the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, sharply speaking of the impossibility of uniting these churches, and the haughty position of the Moscow Patriarch in relation to the Kiev Patriarchate.

Recently, in connection with the frequent trips of the Patriarch of All Russia Kirill to the church halls of Ukraine, Patriarch Filaret keeps a cautious distance in relations with the ROC, rightly believing about the possible removal from the political arena.