Patriarch Filaret, a high-ranking bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine, has announced he has been hospitalized for contracting the coronavirus. Filaret’s diagnosis is of note because he had previously blamed the global pandemic on gay marriage.
The Herald-Sun reports that representatives for Filaret, 91, announced his diagnosis in a Facebook post.
“We inform that during planned testing, His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kiev and All Rus-Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19,” the post said. “Now His Holiness Bishop is undergoing treatment at a hospital.” Filaret is said to be suffering from pneumonia as well.
Related: Crazed pastor says coronavirus is God’s revenge for gays
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Filaret made headlines in March at the outset of the global pandemic, claiming that COVID-19 is an act of divine punishment for sinful acts, mostly on the part of LGBTQ people.
Filaret labeled COVID-19 “God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sinfulness of humanity” in an interview with Ukrainian Channel 4. “First of all, I mean same-sex marriage,” he added. The comments prompted the World Health Organization to intervene, condemning Filaret’s words as misinformation, and warning that such remarks further stigmatize the LGBTQ community. Filaret refused to apologize, however, defending his words as “consistent with Ukrainian laws.”
As with much of Eastern Europe, Ukraine has seen a disturbing rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment in recent years. Homosexual sex is legal in the country, though queer Ukrainians still face harsh stigmatization among the general public, and same-sex marriage remains illegal. A 2017 survey found that a shocking 85% of Ukrainians surveyed think marriage equality should remain illegal, with a full 20% favoring the criminalization of same-sex relationships.
Chrisk
He’s like the Jerry Fallwell Sr. of the East. Hopefully he meets the same fate soon.
Josh447
Karma’s is making the rounds these days.
Consider This
Perfect!
Prax07
Fingers crossed he meets his maker (Satan) soon.
CurtisIsTheOne
His Holiness’s Drag Costume looks like an outfit rejected by Cher. Good Lord, where’s your sparkle deary?
Bumper
Schadenfreude is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another that projecteth too much.
fingertrouble
Most of the orthodox patriarchs are queer anyway. I heard a lot of interesting stories about Greek orthadox from a guy I knew who worked there, I doubt Ukraine is any different.
Reuben
I sometimes believe Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s territory by military force was a good thing.All those homophobes from Ukraine died in the process.I am happy
gaym50ish
The patriarch is surely getting his punishment for his homophobia. Pat Robertson got his in 1998, when he said Hurricane Bonnie was advancing on Florida because of “Gay Days” at Walt Disney World. But the hurricane turned, missed Florida and slammed Robertson’s 700 Club headquarters in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
And maybe God knew what James Dobson was going to say about the Sandy Hook school shooting and punished him by getting him forced out of Focus on the Family, which he founded. In 2012 he said the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, happened because gay marriage and abortion had “allowed God’s judgement to fall on us.” To imply that the shooter was doing God’s work by killing innocent first-graders is beyond the bounds of human decency.
BaltoSteve
Hmmm.. looks like the Divine is expressing displeasure and the human who has the audacity by attempting to act as the Divine’s Voice.
Cam
So either he was wrong, and gays didn’t cause it.
Or he’s on the downlow and he got it from his godfor being a “The Gay”.
Saki
blame it on women, then gays but never on old horny sleazy church’s pedophiles who made up the greatest story ever told in the first place