RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Priest critic of Moscow patriarch faces criminal charge

CRIMINAL CASE OPENED AGAINST PRIEST OF GORODETS DIOCESE OF RPTsMP AFTER HE CALLED PATRIARCH KIRILL A HERETIC

Credo.Press, 6 November 2019

A criminal case for fraud has been opened (part 3 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the RF) after he called Patriarch Kirill a heretic. He described this in a video message on VKontakte. . . .  (tr. by PDS, posted 6 November 2019)

 

 

PRIEST IN SHAKUNYA ACCUSED OF FRAUD

Nizhnii Seichas, 6 November 2019

 

A priest in the town of Shakhunya of Nizhnii Novgorod oblast is accused of fraud. He published his appeal on his page in a social network in October 2019.

 

According to a former rector of the local parish in Shakhunya (located in the jurisdiction of the Gorodets diocese), Sergei Tsepov, it all began in 2016, when Patriarch Kirill met the Roman pope. At the time the patriarch told the head of the Catholic church that they are brothers and Catholics also are considered Orthodox.

 

We recall that this meeting occurred in February 2016 in Havana, Cuba. It was the first such meeting, after which the heads of the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches made a joint statement.

 

The Shakhunya priest fundamentally disagreed with the statement that Catholics also are considered Orthodox and he stopped praying for Patriarch Kirill.

 

Before 2018, he explained to parishioners why he does not understand such actions of the patriarch.

 

"In 2018, when it reached the church authorities that I has ceased commemorating and for two year I did not commemorate, I was summoned and I wrote a report where I laid out everything in detail: why I do not commemorate and by which apostolic rules it is impossible to commemorate," Tsepov says.

 

After this, Father Sergei was removed from the rectorship and then gradually he was forbidden to perform rituals. He transferred all church property and financial affairs. He said that there were no complaints against him at that time. Tsepov did not go anywhere and he remained serving in his town.

 

"Then inspections supposedly began. On 22 February 2018 there was a conversation in the office of Bishop Avgustin. The days before the secretary of the diocese phoned me and invited me to a meeting. . . . He looked at everything and understood everything and thought one thing and said another and did a third. He said to me that he understood me, but we will change nothing. At the end of the conversation he said that he has nothing against me. And then he wrote a report and went to the prosecutor's office," Tsepov continued.

 

He also explained that after this statement, searches were conducted in his apartment.

 

"They were looking for some kind of documents. Supposedly I had amended the charter and was living by a different charter. They seized a computer," the priest explained.

 

He considers that "they cobbled together and fabricated a criminal case" against him, which they was categorized under article 160 of the Criminal Code of the RF as using "libelous explanations." he also said that the episode with the court has lasted a whole year now.

 

We note that in the files on the website of the Shakhunya district court of Nizhnii Novgorod oblast there is a case against Sergei Tsepov, who is charged on the basis of article 160, part 3, of the CC RF (embezzlement or fraud). The injured party is the Gorodets diocese. Its interests are represented by the priest Aleksander Tronchu. The session is scheduled for 6 November. (tr. by PDS, posted 6 November 2019)

 

PRIEST FROM SHAKHUNYA CALLS PATRIARCH KIRILL HERETIC AND CLAIMS THAT FOR THIS HE WILL BE TRIED

by Vera Zemtsova

Nizhnii Novgorod OnLine, 6 November 2019

 

A local priest in Shakhunya, Sergei Tsepov (he already now however is a former priest), thinks that Patriarch Kirill is a heretic and also maintains that because of this a criminal case has been opened against him. But not on the article regarding hurting believers' feelings, but for fraud.

 

Sergei Tsepov made a video in which he describes his view of the situation. He says that in 2016 "Patriarch Kirill met with the Roman pope and called Catholics our brothers." In the opinion of the Shakhunya batyushka, Catholics are not any kind of Orthodox, and everybody who thinks so, including His Holiness the patriarch, is a heretic. Sergei Tsepov explained that since that time he has ceased to mention the name of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in prayers and he has explained his position to parishioners.

 

Two years later the opposition to the priest has supposedly complained.

 

"I wrote a report in which I set forth in detail why I do not commemorate and on the basis of which apostolic rules it is impossible to commemorate a heretic, because in commemorating a heretic we become heretics ourselves, and if we are silent then we partially betray God," the priest thinks.

 

Sergei explains that after this he was removed from the rectorship and then gradually he was forbidden to conduct services. And he surrendered all the property belonging to the church and financial documents and no charges were leveled against him.

 

"But I continued to serve in that town and I did not go away, and audits were begun on me," he said. "Then Bishop Avgustin wrote a report against me for the prosecutor's office, full of lies and slanders. They began to conduct searches in my apartment and to seek documents. Supposedly I amended the charter and was living by the amended charter. They seized computers and documents. Obviously they did not find anything. They fabricated a case and cobbled one together, let's say. Later they understood that nothing would come of it and they recast it by article 160 of the CC RF 'Embezzlement of property,' but at the same time I surrendered all property, they took it from me, and there were no claims."

 

He has been removed from ministry in the church. But Sergei says that he has a place where he prays with some parishioners who support him. (tr. by PDS, posted 6 November 2019)


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