Banned Russian cleric stands by criticism of 'murdering his brother' in Ukraine By Reuters
KARABANOVO, Russia (Reuters) – For years until war broke out in Ukraine, Father Ioann Burdin served as a pastor in the Russian village of Karabanovo, 370 kilometers (230 miles) northeast of Moscow. Now he is a convicted heretic, banned from holding services and hunted from his church.
In the spring of 2022, Burdin condemned the conflict in his sermon to his parishioners and in online comments, saying that Christians cannot simply stand by “when brother kills brother”.
He said the blood of the citizens of Ukraine will be on the hands of Russia's rulers, its soldiers and everyone who agrees to war or remains silent.
As a result, he was fined for “discrediting the Russian army”, and in June 2023 he was banned from performing services by the court of the Russian Orthodox Church, which convicted him of “apostasy” and insulting the trust of Patriarch Kirill, the head of the church, and the demotion. a close ally of the Kremlin.
But speaking to Reuters in an undisclosed location in Russia, Father Burdin said he does not see his preaching as anti-war, rather he uses the Bible's injunction against killing.
“In my opinion, it was a Christian sermon, not an anti-war one,” he said. “We are all Christians, and we should not kill each other.”
Any murderer, he said, “carries the sin of Cain”, who killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament.
Church officials, who are very loyal to the Kremlin, have supported the Russian war and ordered priests from September 2022 to say a special prayer for victory during services.
Burdin is among a number of priests punished for opposing the conflict, according to Christians Against the War, an online group of believers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
In January, a church court ruled that popular liberal priest Aleksiy Uminsky should be “excommunicated from holy orders” for violating his priestly vows by refusing to recite the victory prayer.
According to the parishioners of Karabanovo, the reaction to Father Burdin's speech about Ukraine was mixed.
Alexander, a parishioner who did not give his last name, said others in the congregation responded by asking Burdin to avoid politics and instead focus on the spiritual health of his parishioners.
Another woman said, “he got angry and said that you, Father, should be in charge of the ministry, there is no need to be told about politics.”
But Alexander said he continues to respect Burdin despite the ban, and would like to see him reinstated in Karabanovo.
“He is a good person to me. It has never happened that I am hungry or without clothes here. To me he is a normal and good man,” he said.
Burdin said that after the controversy over his sermon, he went to Bulgaria and considered becoming a priest there, a move he said was opposed by Russian church authorities. But he said he has returned to Russia because he feels he is needed there.
Despite being banned, he said he continues to see himself as a teacher and servant of God. He said he was impressed by the words of his 12-year-old daughter telling him that the church cannot stop a person from continuing to serve God.
“I am always Father Ioann to all my believers, I know I am,” said Burdin. “I'm not removed from office. I'm just forbidden to serve.”
