ROC suspends rector whose church hosted performances with weapons
A video has circulated online showing military personnel with Kalashnikov assault rifles performing in an ROC church.
The ROC suspended the rector of the Peter and Paul Church in Obukhovo, Moscow region Archpriest Sergiy Reshetnyak after a scandalous video filmed in his church.
The footage, which spread across the internet, shows three men in military uniform with Kalashnikov assault rifles demonstrating their skills, pointing weapons including toward the altar. On the church wall hangs a screen with the inscription "Patriotic Education Center 'Dynamite' named after Private Timofey Yegorov".
The decree by Bishop Nikolay of Balashikha and Orekhovo-Zuevo states that the rector violated the directive "on the necessity of conducting youth events in premises not intended for divine services". It also indicates that the suspension was imposed based on a report from the Dean of churches of the Bogorodsk district.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the SBU announced suspicion against the chief military chaplain of the ROC.
