Archpriest Alexey Uminsky of the Russian Orthodox Church was removed from the rectory of the Trinity Church (Moscow) and banned from ministry over his anti-war speeches.
Parishioners confirmed the report to religious scholar Ksenia Luchenko.
It is not known what exactly the decision to remove Uminsky is related to, she notes. According to Russian media, the reason was the interview of the clergyman to journalist Alexey Venediktov.
“If there is a church where there are priests who try not very hard to strengthen the military spirit in the liturgy and from their own position pray more for peace than for victory, and understand that any victory is a Pyrrhic victory that is equal to self-destruction, the Orthodox should look for them, look for like-minded people who will be able to console them during confession, to solve this problem in personal communication with the priest,” Uminsky said at the time.
In February 2022, Uminsky said that he had an “unequivocal” attitude towards the war in Ukraine: “I cannot support these military actions. I’m praying for peace, I’m praying for this to stop as soon as possible and for as few people to be hurt as possible.”
Instead of Uminsky, a former Ukrainian priest and now archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church Andrey Tkachyov, who holds pro-Russian views and supports the war, was appointed to the post of superior.
Uminsky had been the abbot of the Trinity Church since 1993.
