April 09, 2025

Fined Pacifist Bishop: "Thou Shalt Not Kill"


Fined Pacifist Bishop: "Thou Shalt Not Kill"
Icon of Christ Pantocrator Viktor Vacilevich Zhegalov (1898—1941), Wikimedia Commons.

On April 1, a St. Petersburg court fined a pacifist Russian Orthodox bishop R30,000 ($355) for “discrediting the army.”

The bishop had earlier helped Ukrainian refugees. Letters of gratitude from Ukrainian institutions in Kherson were attached to his case at the request of his lawyer.

Orthodox Apostolic Bishop Gregory Minkhov-Vaytenko and his religious organization have dedicated themselves to helping those affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, particularly Ukrainian refugees. On March 11, 2022, Minkhov-Vaytenko posted a video on Telegram calling for peace between Russia and Ukraine.  

In his message, the bishop cited Jesus' exorcism of demons into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8:28-34). According to Minkhov-Vaytenko's lawyer, Chertkov, an employee of the Ministry of Interior, "pulled a number of phrases from different places in the address ... [and] created a semblance of a statement by incorrectly quoting and taking it out of context." Authorities proceeded to charge the bishop with "discreditation of the army." The attorney also claims that the police inspector "expressed a subjective opinion in the report." Chertkov said the statute of limitations for Minkhov-Vaytenko's case has already expired.

This is not the first encounter Bishop Minkhov-Vaytenko has had an encounter with law enforcement. On February 16, 2024, the day anticorruption activist Alexey Navalny was found dead in his cell, the clergyman was arrested outside his home as he was leaving to hold a memorial service for the dissident.

Shortly after, Minkhov-Vaytenko was rushed to the hospital from jail due to suffering a stroke. The police oppened a case against him for "calls for mass simultaneous presence of citizens in a public space." The bishop was declared a "foreign agent" after his arrest. However, the criminal case against him was closed in July, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

On April 1, the clergyman denied the "discreditation of the army" charges. The bishop cited Russian Orthdox Church documents and the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13) to defend his statements. Despite his efforts, Minkhov-Vaytenko was forced to pay a fine. The bishop said he will discredit resolving conflicts by force "as long as he lives."

Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has classified pacifism as heresy.

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