The Russian Orthodox Church condemned the decision of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to accept John Koval

The Russian Orthodox Church called the decision of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to take under its jurisdiction the former priest of the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called in Lublin, John Koval, as a propaganda action that contradicts the canons. Mr. Koval was previously defrocked by an ecclesiastical court for arbitrarily changing the text in the Prayer for Holy Rus’. The Synod of the Church of Constantinople considered that the reason for the persecution of the priest was his attitude towards the Russian special operation.

“The Holy Synod considered the appeal filed by Ioann Koval, who was deposed by the Russian Church, and found that the reasons for which he was punished were not ecclesiastical, but because of his attitude towards the war being waged against Ukraine,” the statement reads. documentpublished on the website of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The synod, it is noted there, decided to restore John Koval to the priesthood and take him under his omophorion so that he could serve in the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

On February 2, 2023, Patriarch Kirill banned the cleric of the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called in Lublin, Priest John Koval, from priestly service for unauthorized correction of the text of the Prayer for Holy Rus’. The priest replaced the word “victory” with the word “peace”.

May 11, 2023 Moscow Church Court accepted decision to defrock Father John. “The decision of the court is motivated by disobedience to the hierarchy with reference to the 25th apostolic canon, where, among other serious sins, perjury is mentioned. It is understood that the ordained person takes an oath, in which he promises to strictly follow the instructions of the hierarchy,” commented the deputy chairman of the Diocesan Court of Moscow, Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, in May. “When asked whether this decision is an expression of his political position or fundamental pacifism, he refused answer without confirming any of the options. He doesn’t seem to have a solid argument to support his position.” According to Father Vladislav Tsypin, “not just peacefulness, but pacifism, that is, the principled refusal for Christians to participate in wars, is usually an element of heretical, sectarian doctrines.”

“The so-called restoration to the rank of John Koval is a propaganda action of the Patriarchate of Constantinople that has nothing to do with the canons,” Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy head of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, commented on the decision of Constantinople to Kommersant. “A well-known fact is public support for the Turkish military operations in Syria by the head of the Phanar, therefore the pacifist pathos of Patriarch Bartholomew is aimed only at people who are poorly educated and ignorant of international politics.” According to him, “the former priests of the Moscow Patriarchate who received the Phanar’s ‘amnesty’, alas, will not be able to claim a role other than the role of expendable material in the political games played by Patriarch Bartholomew.” “After the recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics, there is no doubt that the Phanar can recognize anyone as an active priest,” said Mr. Kipshidze.

“At the beginning of 2023, the transfer of five priests of the Lithuanian Metropolis from the Russian Orthodox Church to the Ecumenical Patriarchate became a precedent, then two clerics of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church were received by the Synod of the Church of Constantinople,” recalled Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. canons, the decisions of the Synod of the Church of Constantinople are extremely doubtful: all those admitted to Constantinople really violated the oath and did not obey the authorities, no one denies this. Mr. Lunkin added that Ioann Koval himself “insisted that he was convicted for a pro-Ukrainian point of view, and not for praying for peace”: “That is, he himself insisted on the political motivation for moving to Constantinople.”

Pavel Korobov