‘Thanking the warrior, but not sharing his sinful inclinations’: Filaret revoked his award to a military gay man

Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret awarded a medal to the military serviceman Viktor Pilipenko, who is openly gay. Upon learning of this, Filaret revoked the award.

This situation became known from a Facebook post and the website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

After receiving the award, Pilipenko posted on Facebook, thanking Filaret and the Kyiv Patriarchate for a “radical” change in their position regarding the LGBT community.

“Friends, I am sincerely glad that Patriarch Filaret took such a step and thanked me, an openly gay person and human rights activist, by awarding me a medal with his signature and seal. He and the Kyiv Patriarchate have radically changed their position on LGBT+ people and no longer consider us ‘sinful’ or the cause of the coronavirus… I am sincerely glad for such a radical change in position,” the military serviceman stated in his post.

However, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate soon issued a statement that Filaret was unaware of the recipient’s orientation, and therefore, the order of award was annulled.

“Military serviceman Viktor Pilipenko received gratitude from the church solely as a defender of Ukraine, not as an LGBT activist, based on the recommendation of his colleagues from the heroic 72nd Zaporizhian Brigade. Patriarch Filaret did not personally award Pilipenko the medal and was unaware of his sinful inclinations… The Most Reverend Patriarch Filaret and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, based on the Holy Scripture and the thousand-year teaching of the Orthodox Church, consistently maintain a principled negative position towards the sin of Sodom, condemn the propaganda of so-called ‘same-sex marriages’… We thank warrior Viktor Pilipenko (as well as all our defenders for protecting our freedom and territorial integrity) for his military merits, but we do not share his sinful preferences and LGBT advocacy. We announce that due to the open propaganda of the sinful ideology and the denial of the existence of God, the church award to Viktor Pilipenko dated February 8, 2024, is annulled,” the press service of the Kyiv Patriarchate stated.

In response, Pilipenko stated that he only acknowledges awards from the people of Ukraine and urged politicians and church officials not to “capitalize” on his name.