On January 13, the Moscow Diocesan Church Court docket introduced its determination within the case of Father Alexei Uminsky, depriving him of his priestly rank. At present was the third session of the courtroom, as Fr. Alexey didn’t present up for it. In response to the principles of the ecclesiastical courtroom, on the third assembly the choice may be taken with out the presence of the “accused”.
In response to the choice “… in accordance with Artwork. 45, para. 3 of the Rules for the Ecclesiastical Court docket of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate): it’s acknowledged that, primarily based on Apostolic Rule 25, Father Alexey Uminsky is topic to deprivation of rank for violation of the priestly oath (perjury) – and extra exactly, refusal to meet the patriarchal blessing to learn the prayer for Saint Rus on the divine Liturgy”.
The choice was despatched to Patriarch Kirill for approval.
That is the second Moscow priest to be stripped of his priesthood for refusing to learn the so-called “battle prayer” included within the Liturgy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The primary was Fr. John Koval, who as an alternative of “victory” prayed for “peace”. In contrast to Fr. Ioan Koval, who was not a public determine, Fr. Alexey Uminsky is a preacher identified all through the nation, a priest with nice authority in Moscow. His sermons and articles have been revealed in varied languages. In his protection, an open letter was despatched to Patriarch Kirill, signed by greater than ten thousand individuals, together with 29 clergymen and 12 deacons. Predictably, their letter went unheeded.
The authorities insist on studying the prayer for the “Victory of Holy Russia” through the Liturgy for 2 causes: first, it’s an expression of loyalty to the coverage of the Kremlin and the Moscow Patriarchate that helps it; on the similar time, secondly, it’s a part of the advanced of measures which might be being pushed by the Orthodox Church in Russia to militarize society. The ROC has been assigned the essential ideological position of presenting Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine as a metaphysical occasion of a spiritual nature and thus justifying it.
