Russian Orthodox Church launches investigation into priest who blessed Stalin statue

The Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese in the town of Velikiye Luki announced Friday that it will investigate the actions of a priest who blessed a new statue of Joseph Stalin at the monument’s opening ceremony earlier this week.

At the ceremony, according to the Telegram channel Sota, the priest said that during the dictator’s rule, “the church suffered,” but that “thanks to this suffering, there are many new martyrs and confessors.”

The diocese said in a statement that the priest took part in the event “without the blessing or approval of the diocesan administration” and that his statements “do not reflect the position of the Russian Orthodox Church heirarchy.”

Bishop Savva (Tutunov), the deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate, called the priest’s statements “disgusting” and “blasphemous.”