R.P.Ts.
REFUTES
RUMORS THAT PATRIARCH FORBADE BISHOPS TO PARTICIPATE IN FUNERAL
OF ARCHPRIEST
VSEVOLOD CHAPLIN
Interfax-Religiia,
30
January 2020
The
Russian Orthodox
Church (RPTs) disavowed rumors to the effect that Patriarch
Kirill forbade
representatives of the higher clergy to participate in the
funeral of the
priest Vsevolod Chaplin, which was held yesterday in Moscow.
"Rumors
about a
prohibition on the episcopate to participate in the funeral of
Archpriest
Vsevolod Chaplin are fantasies," a source in the synodal
Department for
Cooperation of Church with Society and News Media told Interfax
on Thursday.
The
famous priest,
the rector of the church of Theodore the Studite, who was the
former spokesman
for the RPTs for long years, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, died
suddenly on 26
January from a heart attack. In the four years before this, he
was relieved by
the patriarch of the post of head of the synodal Department for
Cooperation of
Church and Society, and he also was removed from public and
governmental
structures where he had served as the representative of the
RPTs.
On the
day of the
funeral of Father Vsevolod, there appeared on the internet
articles to the
effect that the patriarch had forbidden bishops to appear at the
priest's
funeral. In particular, as the former chief editor of the
Journal of the Moscow
Patriarchate, Sergei Chapnin, wrote on his Facebook page,
several bishops
"at their own peril and risk" arrived yesterday in order to
serve
brief litys at the grave, but there were no bishops at the
funeral itself.
Meanwhile,
according
to a representative of the synodal department, everybody who
attended the
funeral knows that the liturgy was performed by Archpresbyter
Vladimir Divakov,
who, acting in the capacity of the ruling bishop of the city of
Moscow, was
blessed for this by Patriarch Kirill.
"Vicar
bishops
from Moscow and several diocesan bishops preferred to bid
farewell to Father
Vsevolod and to serve litys the day before. None of the bishops
with whom we
communicated confirmed the existence of any prohibition," the
news
agency's source added. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 January 2020)
PATRIARCH
KIRILL
HONORS MEMORY OF ARCHPRIEST VSEVOLOD CHAPLIN
Interfax-Religiia,
30
January 2020
Patriarch
of Moscow
and all-Rus Kirill and members of the Inter-council Presence of
the Russian
church prayerfully commemorated Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who
passed away
last Sunday.
"Upon
the
conclusion of today's plenary session of the Inter-council
Presence,
participants in the session, at the suggestion of His Holiness
Patriarch Kirill,
sang 'Eternal Memory' to the recently deceased Archpriest
Vsevolod Chaplin, a
former member of the Presence," Vladimir Legoida, the head of
the
Department for Cooperation of the Church and [Society and—tr.]
News Media,
wrote Thursday on his Telegram account.
The
Inter-council
Presence is an advisory body that assists the higher church
authority of the
RPTs in drafting of decisions concerning the most important
issues of the
internal life and external activity of the church.
The
famous priest,
the rector of the church of Theodore the Studite, and former
spokesman of the
RPTs for long years, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, died suddenly
on 26 January
from a heart attack. The burial of Father Vsevolod was held on
Wednesday at the
Troekurov Cemetery of Moscow. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 January
2020)
PATRIARCH
KIRILL DID
NOT COME TO BID FAREWELL TO VSEVOLOD CHAPLIN; FORBADE BISHOPS TO
PARTICIPATE IN
HIS FUNERAL
Patriarch
of Moscow
and all-Rus Kirill did not want to assist with the burial of
Archpriest
Vsevolod Chaplin and he forbade bishops to appear for his
funeral, Sergei
Chapnin, the former executive editor of the Journal of the
Moscow Patriarchate,
described on his Facebook page.
He noted
that the
patriarch did not come to bid farewell to Chaplin, who was his
aide and
"for long years fixed his messes." The burial of the archpriest
was
arranged by friends of the deceased. The head of the RPTs
"forbade his
vicars even to show up for the funeral of Fr Vsevolod," although
"at
their peril and risk several bishops came yesterday and served
brief litys
at the grave."
"Patriarch
Kirill
is a heartless and vindictive person. Friends, beware and
restrain
yourselves from communication with such people," Chapnin summed
up.
The same day as Chaplin, Archpresbyter Matfei Stadniuk
died, who was the
former rector for decades of the Elikhovsky Epifany cathedral of
Moscow and one
of the most influential priests of the soviet period. The Akhila
publication
called attention to the fact that in condolences regarding
Stadniuk's death on
the website of the Moscow patriarchate, the patriarch spoke in
detail and
praise about the deceased, while in the text about Chaplin's
death only the
forgiveness of the deceased's sins is mentioned.
In addition, the patriarch himself conducted Stadniuk's
funeral, joined
by several bishops, and he noted that father Matfei "never
dissembled," was wise, and was beloved by his flock.
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin died on 26 January near the
church of St.
Theodore the Studite at Nikita Gates in the fifty-second year of
his life. News
media identified the cause of death as a heart attack. He was
buried on 29
January in the Troekurov Cemetery. From 1997 to 2001, Vsevolod
Chaplin was the
secretary for cooperation of the church and society and then he
became the
vice-chairman of the department, and in 2009 he headed the new
synodal
Department for Cooperation of Church and Society. But in 2015
the RPTs removed
Chaplin from office and abolished the department he had headed.
Chaplin said that he was deposed because of conflict with
the patriarch.
(tr. by PDS, posted 30 January 2020).
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