Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 16 – No one doubts
that Patriarch Kirill is already in trouble or that Shiigumen Sergiy’s outspoken
criticism of him and seizure of a woman’s monastery in Siberia has weakened him
still further; but it is still an open question, Aleksey Shaburov says, as to
whether Sergiy is acting on his own or is part of a broader conspiracy against
Kirill.
Sergiy has long been a scandalous
figure, but he has recently attracted even more attention because of his ties
to outspoken monarchist Natalya Polonskaya, his invocation of “a Jewish-Masonic
conspiracy” as a cause of Russia’s troubles, and his other extreme right views,
the Politsovet commentator says (politsovet.ru/66797-voyna-shiigumena-sergiya-bunt-odinochki-ili-zagovor-protiv-patriarha.html).
Until the pandemic, however, the leadership
of the Russian Orthodox Church allowed all this to occur without any criticism because
is was not so terribly different from the remarks of other churchmen in the
regions, many of whom have openly reactionary views little different from
Sergiy’s, Shaburov says.
But “all this changed after the
beginning of the coronavirus epidemic,” he continues. Sergiy denounced the patriarchate’s
decision to close churches and said that the Patriarchate was part of an international
conspiracy against Russia. That was too much and the church hierarchs “could
not remain silent.”
First, the hierarchy prohibited him
from preaching, and then they announced he would have to face a church court to
determine whether he could retain his religious rank. Sergiy not only refused
to comply but personally attacked both his superiors in Yekaterinburg and Patriarch
Kirill personally – and generally showed that he was not going to stop at that.
He and a group of his followers
declared that they would not leave the Sredne-Urals monastery and even
suggested that if the church wanted them out, they would need to ask for help
from the civil Russian Guard. Such “boldness” from an Orthodox priest is “an
extremely rare phenomenon” and attention to Sergiy soared.
The church has no option but to
punish him and punish him severely, the Yekaterinburg analyst says. Sergiy
certainly knows this, and that means he either doesn’t care because he is so
sure he is right or because he is counting on those who think as he does to
help oust Kirill and then restore himself to his position.
That he is driven by his own demons,
of course, is the more plausible explanation; and if it is true, then Sergiy
will be ousted and isolated. But there is alternative possibility that must be
taken seriously: that he is “only the ace of a much more serious and
influential group within the ROC MP which is engaged in a game against
Patriarch Kirill.”
Such a conspiracy must be considered
given both the weakened position of the church and of Kirill personally after
Ukraine and especially in the midst of the pandemic and the strength of
ultra-conservative elements in the church who have never liked or trusted
Kirill and now believe they can bring him down.
Because of his outspokenness and
ability to attract attention, Sergiy is a perfect candidate to be the public
face of this movement even if it is unlikely that he is its leader. He may even willingly service as “a
sacrificial victim’” whom the Patriarchate will destroy only to find that doing
so will backfire on itself.
One detail in the current controversy
strongly suggests this is the case: Whenever Sergiy speaks, he “reads from a
paper and it appears that someone else is writing” what he is prepared to say. That
suggests he is far from alone and has good reason to believe that if those who
back his ultra-conservative views win, he will be restored whatever Kirill’s
people do now.
This is only a possibility, Shaburov
repeated, but “even if ‘the revolt of the shiigumn’ is suppressed and does not
grow into something bigger right now, the conservative influence group within
the ROC isn’t going anywhere, and its voices will arise again and again. This
is the reality the patriarch must somehow try to deal.”
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