Candidate for defrocking

The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church at its final meeting on Friday decided to defrock Bishop Diomede of Anadyr and Chukotka unless he repents. He was given until the next Holy Synod. The Council participants voted for this decision with an absolute majority (with only three abstentions). He is charged with disobedience to the clergy and activities that “contain a violation of canonical norms... and introduce temptation into church life.”

The Church Theological Commission analyzed the appeals and letters of the Chukotka bishop and made, in particular, the following conclusion: the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on basic church and social issues, in which Diomede finds serious flaws, found its detailed expression in the document “Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church.” The position on issues of inter-Christian relations is outlined in the document “Principles of the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to heterodoxy.” Both documents were approved by the Council of Bishops in 2000, of which Bishop Diomede was a participant.

The Council of Bishops also defrocked a former associate of Bishop Diomedes, Hegumen Ilia (Empulev), the author of a recent open letter from a group of clerics who refused to commemorate the name of Patriarch Alexy II during the liturgy.

The other three signatories of this letter—Archpriest Vladimir Mordvov, Priest John Balitsky, Hieromonk Anthony (Shlyakhov)—the Council decided to ban them from the priesthood until repentance.