The Russian Orthodox Church’s head, Patriarch Kirill, has given a personal ban to priest Ioann Koval, a cleric at the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in the Moscow neighborhood of Lublino.
Koval can no longer conduct services because he substituted the word “peace” for “victory” during prayer, according to independent news outlet Sota, citing a directive from the patriarch himself.
Koval, in reciting “Prayer for Holy Russia” (“Molitva o Sviatoi Rusi”), instead of the words “Rise, O God, to the aid of Your people and give us Your victory by Your power,” said, “Rise, O God, to the aid of Your people and give us Your peace by Your power.”
The cleric was accused of “self-dealing”-autocratic behavior for this act.
Russian church clerics forced to use the word “victory” instead of “peace”
According to the Telegram channel “Christians Against the War,” the priest was suspended when members of the congregation reported him. “The clergy saw the priest’s acts as ‘insubordinate,'” according to the channel.
The cleric was barred from leading services “until his case was evaluated by the Diocesan Council of Moscow’s Disciplinary Commission.”
In January, Moscow Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill recommended clerics go to war in Ukraine and advised ordinary Russians to raise funds to finance the military campaign.
And last year, Vladimir Gundyaev assured Russians that by going to war, they were engaged in a righteous cause, so they would receive forgiveness of sins if they were killed in the war (in Ukraine).
Watch in the video below how the head of Russian Orthodox church supports Putin’s war propaganda.
