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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion

Patriarch Filaret, former honorary Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, founder and current Patriarch of once again the second non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate, was confirmed to be a positive case of COVID-19. He becomes the first independent and non-canonical autocephalous leader or patriarch in the Eastern Orthodox faith to contract the disease. Months earlier, he had stated that the pandemic was God's punishment for same-sex marriage, which is currently not legally-recognized in Ukraine. Activists say homophobia is still widespread in the national culture.