Who are the judges?

Priest Pavel Adelgeim has long been dealing with the problem of the church court. Even when church authorities three or four years ago were just beginning to prepare the Regulations on the Church Court, he tried to analyze a possible approach to the issue, based on the principles of legal proceedings set out in the 2000 Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first principle, which gave rise to his most serious objections, states that “clergy and laity cannot appeal to public authorities and to civil courts on issues relating to intra-church life.” By

analytical center "SOVA", the immediate reason for writing

was the dismissal of the priest of the Latvian Orthodox Church (included in the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate) Janis Kalnins, who went to civil court. Meanwhile, not all dioceses have a church court, and if they do, it is not a judicial body, but a punitive body, the priest believes. He compares the position of ordinary clergy with legalized serfdom, since they do not have the opportunity to challenge the bishop’s decision. Thus, “tens of thousands of Russian citizens representing the class of clergy are limited in their civil rights on the basis of regulatory documents of the Russian Orthodox Church, recognized and approved by the Russian Federation.”

Today, clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church are deprived of the right to work and rest, since, in accordance with the Charter, the decision to accept or refuse employment and to grant or not grant the next vacation is made personally by the ruling bishop. An employment contract is not concluded with a priest. A priest also cannot resign or move to another diocese without the blessing of the bishop.

That is, the regulatory documents of the Russian Orthodox Church contradict the law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations”, the Labor Code, some sections of the Criminal Code and the Constitution of the Russian Federation as a whole.

“There remains hope in the law,” summarizes Father Pavel Adelgeim. “Let it protect the priest and the bishop equally. The holy canons were written for both. The legal field of the church should be the same for everyone. Serfdom of the priest should not be tolerated either in the church or in a state that calls itself legal."