Church historian: "The murderer who became a priest is a sign of the deepest crisis in the Russian Orthodox Church"

At the request of NI, Sergey Bychkov, a doctor of historical sciences, a historian of the Russian church, commented on the situation.

- Have there been precedents in the recent history for the capture of monasteries and disobedience to the hierarchy?

- A similar story happened with Diomedes, the Bishop of Anadyr and Chukotka, who in 2007 - 2008 opposed the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Alexy II.

He rallied, campaigned, convicted. Several exhortations were made. The bishop of Sergiev Posad Theognostus was sent to Anadyr with two old men from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, because Diomede was a resident of this monastery before being ordained bishop. A trip to Chukotka Feognost with the elders was the last attempt of exhortation. Unfortunately, this did not bring any results. Diomede rested, saying that the church was mired in sins. As a result, he was forbidden to worship.

Diomede broke communication with the Russian Orthodox Church, calling it the “servant of the Antichrist”, and with a group of his supporters created the small religious association “The Most Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church”. Now he has ceased active activity, has disappeared into nothingness. Lives somewhere in Ukraine as a private citizen Sergey Dzyuban. And on the territory of Russia there are several small hierarchies, originating from Diomedes.

As for the confessor of the Sredneuralsky monastery, Sergiy Romanov, this story is ugly. He was a policeman, he killed a man and spent 13 years in prison.

According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, a person who has committed murder can in no case be a priest. Never, under any circumstances! He can be a simple monk, if he decided to come to church.

The fact that this person was ordained, became the confessor of famous persons - the same Natalia Poklonskaya, this does not fit into any framework, and really says that the church is in a grave crisis.

During the time he was the confessor of the monastery, Sergiy set up about a dozen monasteries in remote places. There is an analogy with the Old Believer schism of the mid-17th century. Well, they pick him out of this monastery - he will go to the monastery. He has a lot of fanatical fans, a lot of followers, and this, of course, will be stronger than Bishop Diomedes.

- What are the levers of the influence? Now Sergius is guarded by Cossacks, but the expelled nuns called the police...

- It will lead to a collision. You know that in Russia in the hands of individuals is a huge amount of weapons. Most often, these weapons are not registered. We have enough people who illegally participate in military clashes both on the territory of Russia and abroad. They return from hot spots and bring weapons with them. The story of the Far Eastern partisans who shot the police could be repeated. I think that can get to this.

The psychology of people in the Trans-Urals is different from the psychology of people in the European part of Russia, where the people are nailed enough and are dying out. Beyond the Urals, this could lead to an armed clash.

- Is it possible to say that Sergius gathered around himself religious fanatics?

- Of course, he himself is an ignorant and fanatical person. It was not for nothing that I recalled the Old Believer schism: what was the reason for the Old Believer schism? To be baptized with two fingers or three fingers! How to make a procession - in the direction of the sun or against the passage of the sun? It would seem ridiculous things because of which the church cannot split! Here we have the same thing - crazy thoughts about chipping through the blood... but, unfortunately, most of our flock is not enlightened, ignorant, and people like Sergius Romanov find grateful ground. Fanatical appeals strongly affect these people.