ROC hierarch recalls exploits of St Philip who denounced Ivan the Terrible

The exploits of the holy confessors of the Church of Russia should serve as an example for Orthodox Christians, for in the history of Russian holiness there have been many great names and exploits, said Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest and Hungary.

Metropolitan Hilarion noted that when thinking about saints in Russia, people immediately raise their eyes to the times of Kievan Rus, the Baptism of Rus in the waters of the Dnieper by St Prince Vladimir, to the feats of St. Fathers of Kiev Caves. The Metropolitan also mentioned the deed of Metropolitan Philip, who condemned Ivan the Terrible, who shed innocent blood.

"We remember many saints, including those who shone through the feat of confession. Such as St Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, who was not afraid to stand up to the terrible tyrant who shed innocent blood. And who, on the ambo of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, instead of giving the terrible tsar a blessing, sternly rebuked him, saying: "Even the Hagarenes and pagans have judgment and truth, but in our Russian land there is no mercy", for which he paid with his own life and was strangled by the tsar's oprichnik," said Metropolitan Hilarion.

As reported, Metropolitan Hilarion commented on his resignation as head of the DECR  MP, which was decided by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at a meeting on 7 June 2022.

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