The Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church has suspended priest Dmitry Safronov for three years after he held a memorial service for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in March, on Wednesday, the 24th of April, reports Reuters.
In a statement published on their website on Tuesday, the diocese did not explain the reason for the punishment, which bans the priest from giving blessings, wearing a priest’s cassock and carrying a priest’s cross until 2027.
Safronov was also transferred to another church in Moscow to perform the duties of psalm reader.
“After the penance period,
a decision based on the feedback from the place of obedience will be made as to whether he will be able to continue his priestly duties,” the diocese said in a statement.
After Navalny’s death on the 26th of March, Safronov held a memorial service for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic Navalny, who died in February at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony.
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