CHURCH
COURT UNFROCKS
SCHEHEGUMEN SERGIUS
Interfax-Religiia,
3 July 2020
A court
of the
Ekaterinburg diocese on Friday ruled that Schehegumen Sergius
(Romanov), who
cursed those who close churches during a pandemic, is guilty of
violating his
monastic vows and stripped him of his clerical status.
"The
court
ruled. First: to find Hegumen Sergius guilty of violating his
clerical oath and
monastic vows. Second: because of violation of his clerical
oath, monastic
vows, and enumerated holy canons, to expel Hegumen Sergius
(Nikolai Vasilevich
Romanov) from clerical status," Archpriest Nikolai Maleta told
journalists
regarding the results of the session.
The
court also asked
the ruling bishop to send a petition to the patriarch regarding
confirmation of
the decision concerning unfrocking.
The
diocesan court
expresses the hope that law enforcement agencies "will conduct a
thorough
investigation of specified evidence, for which the Ekaterinburg
diocese will
provide all possible cooperation," the priest added.
The
director of the
Information Department of Ekaterinburg diocese, Archpriest
Maksim Miniailo, in
turn, told journalists that "after expulsion from the cloth, a
return to
clerical status is impossible."
The
Central Urals
convent, where Schehegumen Sergius lives, "will return to the
administration of the Ekaterinburg diocese, Father Maksim noted.
Earlier
a video
recording of statements of the schehegumen was circulated on the
internet,
where he called the coronavirus pandemic a myth and urged
insubordination to
the church leadership and authorities. Among other things,
Father Sergius
cursed those who close churches during a pandemic and he warned
about the
creation of an "electronic camp of Satan."
Later
another video
recording of a speech by the schehegumen surfaced, where he
urged opening the
churches and he spoke about the threat of nanochipping, which is
supposedly
fatal for most.
The
Ekaterinburg
diocese inhibited the schehegumen from ministry and deprived him
of the right
of wearing a pectoral cross.
In its
turn, the
Center for Combating Extremism of the chief directorate of the
MVD for
Sverdlovsk oblast found in the activities of the sechehegumen
evidence of an
administrative violation of law based on part 9 of article 13.15
of the Code on
Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (circulation in mass
media, and also
on news and telecommunications networks, publicly significant
information known
to be unreliable in the guise of reliable communication). On
this article the
priest faces a fine of from 30 to 100 thousand rubles. A court
in Verkhnaia
Pyshma will consider this case on 7 July. (tr. by PDS, posted 3
July 2020)
SCHEHEGUMEN
SERGIUS,
WHO SEIZED CLOISTER IN URALS, STRIPPED OF CLERICAL STATUS
A church
court in
Ekaterinburg unfrocked Schehegumen Sergius, who denied the
reality of the
coronavirus and, along with his followers, seized the Central
Urals convent.
This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing the president of the
court, Archpriest
Nikolai Malet.
"The
regular
meeting of the diocesan ecclesiastical court has ended. . ; . It
ruled:
First—to find Schehegumen Sergius, Nikolai Vasilevich Romanov,
guilty of
violation of his clerical oath and monastic vows. . . .
Second—to expel
Schehegumen Sergius, Nikolai Vasilevich Romanov, from clerical
status,"
Malet said.
Sergius was suspended from ministry for criticism of ecclesiastical and secular authorities in connection with the closing of churches during the coronavirus epidemic. The Schehegumen, who is said to be the spiritual director of Deputy Natalia Poklonskaia, called the virus a fantasy and also cursed everybody who closes churches. "Whoever attempts to close churches, may he and all his tribe be cursed!" he declared in one of the video recordings. Sergius also spoke about attempts at "nanochipping" of the population, inveighed against INN [taxpayer identification number], and called for "restoration of control" in the country. The police saw in his words evidence of inciting hatred.
In late
May
Metropolitan of Ekaterinburg and Verkhotur Kirill suspended
Schehegumen Sergius
from clerical ministry and deprived him of the right of wearing
a pectoral
cross until the decision of the Ekaterinburg diocesan court. The
session was
originally supposed to occur on 26 June, but the subject himself
did not appear
at it.
In
mid-June, the
schehegumen removed the abbess of the Central Urals convent and
seized
effective control within it. Nuns who disagreed with him had to
leave along
with the abbess. Journalists' access to the cloister was
restricted. On 27
June, television announcer Ksenia Sobchak stated that Sergius'
supporters
attacked their camera crew during a visit to the cloister.
According to the
journalist, the director Sergei Erzhenkov's arm was broken
during the attack,
his camera was taken, and the footage was removed. Sobchak
stated that she
intends to file a lawsuit after the incident.
Schehegumen
Sergius
took an active part in the construction of the Central Urals
cloister in the
early 2000s and he was its first spiritual director. His
disciples later
reported about harsh treatment, harassment, and that he forbade
them to apply
for passports, the B.B.C. reported. Several sources of the
publication
described how physical punishments were used on them—whipping,
slapping, and standing
in a corner.
Yesterday
on the
website of the Ekaterinburg diocese an announcement was posted
about the
diocese "studying evidence about mistreatment of minors in the
Central
Urals convent in 2009-2010." All school children who think that
"impermissible measures" were applied to them are asked by the
diocese to come forward.
At the
church trial
that made the decision about unfrocking the schehegumen,
information also was
mentioned about harassment of school children. "During the
enquiry the
court received eyewitness reports confirming the harsh treatment
of children in
the cloister. The court expresses the hope that law enforcement
agencies will
conduct a thorough investigation," the court declared, according
to 66.ru.
(tr. by PDS, posted 3 July 2020)
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