In the photo from the meeting of representatives of the Czech and Serbian Orthodox Church, which took place in Jindřichovice near Sokolov in the last week of June, Archbishop Michal Dandár is standing in the middle and on the left are representatives of the Night Wolves, who have signs in Cyrillic.
The Archbishop is criticized for this, especially by believers from Ukraine. “In Ukraine, people and soldiers die every day during the counter-offensive, and he is probably building the Russian world here,” angry believer Vladimir Seliskyj.
According to the church, it was an act of reverence for the victims of the First World War. Its spokesman Tomáš Jarolím said in a statement to ČT that the church did not invite bikers to the event.
“So their visit was an activity not organized by our church. We assume that it was a private initiative of Orthodox believers with some relation to the victims of the First World War or to the Serbian diaspora,” he claims.
Long-term ties to Russia
At the same time, the Czech Orthodox Church itself placed photos with the Night Wolves on its Facebook profile. Some believers and clergy criticize the leadership of the church because of its long-term ties to Russia.
For example, for the fact that the Czech Archbishop Dandár met with the clergyman Ilarion Alefejev in Hungary last year. “It’s a shame from the point of view that Ilarion was the main person and the main ally of Patriarch Kirill,” adds Miroslav Boublík, a representative of the faithful.
The dismissal of the mother superior of the Orthodox church in Loděnica also caused protests among some believers. The leadership replaced her with the Karlovy Vary cleric Nektaria with ties to controversial Russian businessmen. Nektária is also in a joint photo with the Night Wolves. When asked how she perceives the sanctions against Kirill, Nektaria replied that she does not have a television or a computer and does not know anything.
Michal Dandár himself graduated from a church school in Moscow and is led as an associate of StB. His secretary, Igor Strelec, who worked at the StB in the counter-espionage department, also studied in Moscow. He refused to answer questions about Moscow Patriarch Kirill.
In the 2021 census, roughly 40,000 people in the Czech Republic declared themselves to be members of the Orthodox Church. According to the clergy, this number increased significantly after the arrival of refugees from Ukraine.
2023-07-04 18:04:48
#leaders #Czech #Orthodox #Church #pictures #Night #Wolves #received #criticism
