Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev finally defrocked – Kommersant

Protodeacon of the Moscow diocese Andrey Kuraev was defrocked, according to decree Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Kirill. The document is dated 28 April. Solution of the diocesan court on the deprivation of Andrei Kuraev of the rank of patriarch approved back on April 4, 2021, while there was a moratorium on the issuance of the relevant decree, today it was canceled. Andrei Kuraev said that he took today’s decision calmly.

Today’s document ends the moratorium. “Due to the fact that for more than two years that have elapsed since the decision of the Diocesan Court of Moscow to dethrone you from the priesthood and to impose a moratorium on the issuance of a decree on that in order to give you time to rethink your position and return to the path of the Church, you did not show signs of repentance either in words or in deeds, including did not stop their destructive activities,” the decision to lift the moratorium is justified.

“My attitude towards this is calm. The action is quite expected, ”commented RTVI Andrey Kuraev. According to him, the deprivation of dignity can affect his fate “unpredictably.” “The fact is that this may be a kind of go-ahead for secular law enforcement agencies, they say, “this is no longer ours, you can eat it.” I have no evidence of this, but it cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Patriarch Kirill dismissed Andrey Kuraev from holding services in April 2020. The decision was made in response to the “insult to the memory” of the rector of the Epiphany Elokhov Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Ageikin. He died from the effects of the coronavirus. “In my memory, this underprotopresbyter will remain as a stupid careerist who made a career in the field of VIP service,” Andrey Kuraev wrote in LiveJournal about Archpriest Alexander Ageikin.

Andrey Kuraev himself speaksthat “his story began three years ago, on April 28, 2019, when the patriarch forbade him to serve and put him on trial.”

In August 2022, the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow fined Andrey Kuraev for 30 thousand rubles. for discrediting the army.

Maria Fedotova