Cleric of Constantinople Church blesses Oscar statuette

Fr. Alexiy Uminsky performed a blessing of an Oscar statuette in Paris. Photo: Loshak’s Facebook page

Alexiy Uminsky, a priest of the Constantinople Patriarchate, performed a blessing in Paris over the Oscar statuette awarded to Pavel Talankin, the creator of the film Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Journalist Andrey Loshak wrote about it on his Facebook page.

According to Loshak, Talankin arrived at the church in the middle of the service carrying the statuette in a string bag.

Uminsky, a former cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church, was initially surprised by the request to bless the Oscar, but then said: “Well, if they bless rockets and bombs there, why can’t we bless an award for a good film?”

“I still didn’t understand why Pavel needed a blessed Oscar, but the ceremony was веселой,” the journalist commented.

As previously reported, on January 5, 2024, Archpriest Alexiy Uminsky was suspended from ministry for refusing to comply with a patriarchal directive to read the prayer for Holy Rus’ during the Divine Liturgy, commonly referred to as the “prayer for victory.”

On February 8, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church confirmed the court’s decision. On February 27, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate reinstated Alexiy Uminsky to the priesthood.

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