Posted on Feb 15, 2023
Russia’s Religious Leaders Who Criticized the Ukraine War - The Moscow Times
315
13
6
7
7
0
"Those who have dared to take such a step — whether Christians, Buddhists, Jews or Muslims — have not only faced ostracism in their local communities, but been stripped of their positions and even prosecuted."
Russia’s Religious Leaders Who Criticized the Ukraine War - The Moscow Times
Posted from themoscowtimes.com
Religion
Russia
Freedom of Speech
Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 4
2
2
0
2
2
0
Knowing even a little of Communist Russia's past this is no surprise, there is no room in a communist country for religion that speaks against the state.
(2)
(0)
MSG Stan Hutchison
Russia is NOT a communist country! This has nothing to do with any ideology other than a dictatorship.
Out of an 8 century history, less than 90 years were as communist.
Out of an 8 century history, less than 90 years were as communist.
(1)
(0)
MSgt Dale Johnson
From an article I read at the History Channel website...
Although president Boris Yeltsin banned the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CPRF took its place. Although United Russia has a majority of over 60%, the CPRF is the second-largest political party in Russia. This means that there are still communists in the opposition and that quite a lot of Russians still believe in communism.
The nation has evolved toward a parliamentary democracy, but as international watchdog organizations have thoroughly documented over the years, Russia’s democratic foundations remain weak. Vladimir Putin has been in power longer than most Soviet premiers and has similar levels of power. While the trappings of communism no longer remain, the effects of the ideology and the nature of power politics in Russia have a strong line of continuity with its past.
Although president Boris Yeltsin banned the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CPRF took its place. Although United Russia has a majority of over 60%, the CPRF is the second-largest political party in Russia. This means that there are still communists in the opposition and that quite a lot of Russians still believe in communism.
The nation has evolved toward a parliamentary democracy, but as international watchdog organizations have thoroughly documented over the years, Russia’s democratic foundations remain weak. Vladimir Putin has been in power longer than most Soviet premiers and has similar levels of power. While the trappings of communism no longer remain, the effects of the ideology and the nature of power politics in Russia have a strong line of continuity with its past.
(0)
(0)
1
1
0
LTC Eugene Chu
..."Orthodox priest Maxim Nagibin has been an outcast in his village in southern Russia since the sermon he gave at his local church, St. Michael the Archangel, during the Easter service where he condemned the Ukraine war as a “crime.”
“I wanted to express my point of view for people to hear me, wanted to share the pain in my soul,” Nagibin, 38, told The Moscow Times.
“But, unfortunately, not everyone heard me and there were consequences.”
The priest from the Krasnodar region is one of just a handful of Russian religious figures to defy the religious — and secular — authorities by condemning the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands are believed to have been killed in over a year of fighting.
Those who have dared to take such a step — whether Christians, Buddhists, Jews or Muslims — have not only faced ostracism in their local communities, but been stripped of their positions and even prosecuted. Some have fled the country.
After his anti-war sermon, Nagibin said he was summoned for a conversation with officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB).
He was also apparently reported to both the local police and the church authorities in Moscow. In October, he was charged with violation of wartime censorship laws, but was acquitted because the statute of limitations had expired.
“In my eparchy, there is no dissent,” he said. “People are either scared of speaking up and choose to go with the flow or they support what’s going on. There are two people who think like me [in the village] and they are secular.”
Similarly to Nagibin, Orthodox priest Ioann Burdin from the central Kostroma region gave an anti-war sermon in the early days of the fighting."...
..."Orthodox priest Maxim Nagibin has been an outcast in his village in southern Russia since the sermon he gave at his local church, St. Michael the Archangel, during the Easter service where he condemned the Ukraine war as a “crime.”
“I wanted to express my point of view for people to hear me, wanted to share the pain in my soul,” Nagibin, 38, told The Moscow Times.
“But, unfortunately, not everyone heard me and there were consequences.”
The priest from the Krasnodar region is one of just a handful of Russian religious figures to defy the religious — and secular — authorities by condemning the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands are believed to have been killed in over a year of fighting.
Those who have dared to take such a step — whether Christians, Buddhists, Jews or Muslims — have not only faced ostracism in their local communities, but been stripped of their positions and even prosecuted. Some have fled the country.
After his anti-war sermon, Nagibin said he was summoned for a conversation with officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB).
He was also apparently reported to both the local police and the church authorities in Moscow. In October, he was charged with violation of wartime censorship laws, but was acquitted because the statute of limitations had expired.
“In my eparchy, there is no dissent,” he said. “People are either scared of speaking up and choose to go with the flow or they support what’s going on. There are two people who think like me [in the village] and they are secular.”
Similarly to Nagibin, Orthodox priest Ioann Burdin from the central Kostroma region gave an anti-war sermon in the early days of the fighting."...
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google