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A church leader who blamed gay marriage for the coronavirus pandemic has now fallen in love with Covid-19 himself.
In a television interview earlier this year, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kiev had stated that the epidemic “God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sin of mankind. “
“First of all, I’m getting married among people of the same sex. “
Today, Patriarch Filaret, 91, is hospitalized with the virus.
According to news from Ukraine 112 International, the preacher also developed pneumonia.
A Facebook post on Friday showed that he had tested positive for Covid 19 and was receiving treatment at a hospital.
Same-sex marriages are not legally identified in Ukraine and experts warn that homophobia may be widespread.
Filaret, who is a vital devoted figure in Ukraine and head of a church of about 15 million followers, widely condemned for his comments.
In April, a Ukrainian LGBT man sued Filaret for comments accusing homosexuals of coronavirus.
Kiev-based group Insight told news firm Reuters at the time that it was taking legal action because its comments can lead to discrimination.
Filaret is an incredibly influential figure in Ukraine, who led a division of the Church of the Russian Orthodox Order that led him to be expelled and excommunicated.
Insight Director Olena Shevchenko said in April: “Our organization’s goal is to show that there is no longer room for such statements for church leaders in Ukraine.
And Maria Guryeva, a spokesperson for Amnesty International Ukraine, said at the time: “Such Array statements . . . are very destructive because they can lead to an accumulation of attacks, aggressions, discrimination and the acceptance of violence against certain groups. “
The World Health Organization has issued repeated warnings against misinformation and creating stigma around the virus.
Other devoted leaders have been rebuked for trying to blame other LGBT people for the spread of the virus.
And U. S. President Donald Trump among the world leaders who were criticized for blaming China, even as his own country was at the heart of covid-19’s global epicenter.
At the beginning of the crisis, the leader called the Covid-19 the “Chinese virus,” in reference to the initial outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019, which critics say could make others of Asian descent a target of abuse.