A preeminent religious leader in Ukraine who blamed the coronavirus pandemic on same-sex marriage has tested positive for covid-19.

Patriarch Filaret, leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate, was hospitalized and diagnosed with the disease last week, the church said.

The church confirmed the Patriarch “showed a positive result on covid-19” during a scheduled screening for the virus, according to a Facebook post.

“His Holiness Patriarch Filaret is especially grateful to everyone who shows him love and support in prayers for his health,” the church said in a statement earlier this week.

The 91-year-old made headlines in March when he told Ukrainian TV that the coronavirus crisis was “God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sinfulness of humanity.”

“First of all, I mean same-sex marriage,” he added. “This is the cause of the coronavirus.”

In his interview, Kiev Patriarch Filaret, head of #Ukrainian Orthodox Church, that splitted away from #Russia/n Orthodox Church (which was hailed by many in the West) says that the reason for #COVID19 is same-sex marriage and homosexual relations in general... pic.twitter.com/v7Yb0Fnltr

— Maxim A. Suchkov (@m_suchkov) September 5, 2020

As a result of Filaret’s controversial comments, the Ukrainian LGBTQ rights group Insight filed a lawsuit against him in April.

“Our aim is to show people that there is no longer place for such statements from church leaders in Ukraine,” Insight’s leader, Olena Shevchenko, told Reuters.

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