Disposing of Inconvenient Critics the Kremlin Way

"[Metropolitan Hilarion has been sent to Budapest, an outlying diocese, and] shall be ... relieved of his duties as chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church."

Russian Synod, Russian Orthodox Church

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill share common values

 

To the recent present, 55-year-old Metropolitan Hilarion was the deputy head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He had led a delegation to a meeting of global orthodox churches held in Cyprus, in May. While there, he signed a declaration in condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rather than promoting the war-supporting attitude of his superior, Patriarch Kirill. 

Under Patriarch Kirill, a firm confidant, admirer and supporter of Vladimir Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church has become a dependable ally of the Russian state. The Russian president portrays himself as a firm believer and patron of the Russian Orthodox Church. Both the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches hold to a similar dogma and were considered interchangeable. Understandably, a schism has arisen, with the Ukrainian Church condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while the Russian Church upholds the necessity of the conflict.

"[The dismissal of the] noted theologian and accomplished composer] is important."

"Until his dismissal last month, Hilarion was the church’s de facto crown prince. And unlike its current leader, the woodenly pro-regime Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Hilarion is an energetic and highly intelligent cleric, a noted theologian, and an accomplished composer. And while Kirill’s steadfast support for the Kremlin’s policies seems to be motivated mostly by opportunism, Hilarion has over the years toed the line but in a more independent manner." 

"His dismissal signals that Putin can no longer tolerate even the slightest independent thinking in his vicinity."

"When authoritarian regimes reach this stage of decay, they usually can't survive -- although the period between visible rot and collapse can be messy and painful."

Elisabeth Braw, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Washington

Last week 54-year-old Dmitry Kolker, head of the Novosibirsk State University's quantum optical technologies laboratory was withdrawn by police from a hospital in Siberia where he was receiving cancer treatment. He was taken to Moscow and died there a few days later. Part of a wider crackdown on public officials ostensibly for treason and corruption. Issues leading Kremlin critics to assess the situation as paranoia.

This week, Moscow police arrested Col. Andrey Grudzisky of the Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences, charging him with fraud. This represents the latest installment of a purge of anti-war Russian officials and academics unwisely expressing negative personal points of view related to the war in Ukraine.

"We must also remember that an outcome of any war is unpredictable. Can we assume that Russia won the First World War? Let’s remember the enthusiasm with which Russia entered it, what patriotic feelings accompanied the Russian Empire’s entry into this war. Could anyone then imagine that in three years Russia would collapse?"

"For all these reasons, I am deeply convinced that a war is not a method of solving the accumulated political problems."

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Dec. 22, 2021 | Vatican Media.