The conflict around the orphanage at the Bogolyubovsky Monastery in the Vladimir region

On September 16, Ezhednevny Zhurnal published an open letter from Valentina Perova, a 16-year-old inmate of the orphanage at the Bogolyubovsky convent of the Vladimir diocese. She was taken to the monastery with her two sisters by her mother in 2001. In 2003, the mother died, the girls continued to stay in the monastery. In September 2009, Valentina, together with her friend, escaped from the monastery and spoke about the rules existing there: the use of child labor, physical punishment, psychological pressure, the lack of opportunities to study, etc. The girl turned to the President of the Russian Federation, Patriarch Kirill and the Ombudsman for Children with a request to protect her interests and allow her to live outside the monastery and receive a secular education.

Soon after the publication, the diocese of Vladimir sent a commission to the monastery to check the situation. The head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, on the air of the Russian News Service, promised that "even if one tenth of the facts is confirmed, then <...> the answer will be tough on the part of the church authorities, the diocesan authorities and Moscow."

However, the diocesan inspection did not see any violations in the activities of the monastery shelter. The Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for the Vladimir Region began its check.

The situation caused a wide public outcry. Human rights activists, doctors, and lawyers believe that the stay of children in a monastic shelter violates the rights of children and is contrary to the law: “Children have no guarantee of a life at all: they are formally assigned to people who have no source of income and do not have their own housing. Passports are not issued, health insurance policies are not issued.

Their opponents see the publication as the beginning of an "information war" against the monastery. They note that V. Perova, having escaped from the monastery, ended up in the "Road to Home" shelter at the NAS charitable foundation ("No to alcoholism and drug addiction"), created with the support of the Soros Foundation. From this, the defenders of the monastery conclude that the scandal was provoked by "liberals", supporters of juvenile justice, acting on the money of opponents of Russia and the Orthodox Church.

On September 30, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation took over the investigation of the situation.

On October 1, the head of the Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Legoyda , announced that a church-wide commission had already been created to study the situation in the monastery shelter, which had already begun its work.

On October 5, it became known that the Civic Chamber intends to hold an off-site meeting of the commission to control the activities of law enforcement agencies in connection with the incident.

On October 7, commenting on the off-site meeting, A. Kucherena said that he sees the main problem in the position of the guardianship and guardianship authorities: “It turned out that they do not have free access to such shelters, which, in our opinion, is not right. Authorities should have the opportunity to freely visit those institutions where children who find themselves without care are kept. He stressed that these are not the final conclusions of the commission. The conclusion will be given after analyzing the information of law enforcement agencies, guardianship agencies and representatives of the Church.

The meeting of the commission was attended by the cleric of the Holy Trinity Church in Gus-Khrustalny Archpriest Maxim Khyzhiy, to whom the girls came after the escape. After meeting with members of the public chamber, he received a call from the diocese and was informed that he was banned from ministry. The reason for this was that, without the permission of the bishop, he was not supposed to communicate with either the commission or representatives of the prosecutor's office. An hour later, the ban was lifted. However, o. Maxim is ordered to appear on October 9 to the head of the Vladimir and Suzdal diocese.

On October 9, the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office of the Vladimir Region announced the extension of the pre-investigation check of the situation in the monastery shelter for 10 days.

On October 14, Hieromonk Savva (Tutunov), secretary of the administration of the Moscow Patriarchate, reported that Patriarch Kirill had taken the investigation of the incident under his personal control.

Sources

• I don't want to be registered in a monastery // Daily log. 2009. September 16.
• The response from the church, diocesan authorities and Moscow will be tough, even if one tenth of the facts-violations about the Holy Bogolyubsky Monastery in the Vladimir Region is confirmed // Russian News Service. 2009. September 23.
• "Bogolyubov scandal" is being investigated by the church and the prosecutor's office // Regions.ru. 2009. 24 September.
• In the case of the Perov sisters, all laws were violated // Daily log. 2009. 25 September.
• Let's stand up for the Holy Bogolyubsky Monastery! // Russian line. 2009. September 22.
• The incident with the novices of one of the monasteries of the Vladimir region became interested in the Public Chamber // Interfax-religion. 2009. September 30.
• Patriarch Kirill created a commission to study the situation around the orphanage at the monastery in the Vladimir region // There. October 1st.
• Representatives of the Public Chamber will visit the monastery shelter in the Vladimir region, from where the pupils escaped // There. October 5th.
• The Public Chamber blames the guardianship authorities for overlooking the situation in the orphanage at the Bogolyubovsky Monastery // There. October 7th.
• Bogolyubovo. New victims // Daily log. 2009. October 7th.
• Law enforcement authorities of the Vladimir region extend the inspection period in the Bogolyubovsky Monastery // Interfax-religion. 2009. October 9.
• Patriarch Kirill took personal control of the investigation into the scandal at the Orthodox orphanage in Bogolyubovo // There. October 14.