Translated material
The court rejected the claim of the parishioners of Fr. Sergius (Romanov) on the protection of honor and dignity
On January 28, 2021, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court rejected the complaint of the spiritual children of the former schema-abbot Sergius (Romanov) Svetlana Ermakova and Olga Makhneva against the decision of the Verkh-Isetsky District Court to leave without consideration the claim against the former Metropolitan of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye Kirill (Nakonechny) for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation.
The reason for appealing to the district court was publications on the website of the Ekaterinburg diocese dated July 3 and August 16, 2020. The first of them reported on the deposition of the schema-abbot, and in the second, Metropolitan Kirill explained why this was done. In particular, Ermakova and Makhneva were outraged by his words about the liturgy, which Fr. Sergius served despite the ban: “Due to the lack of grace of the minister, it is not only not accomplished, but is also for him and his accomplices the mortal sin of blasphemy and desecration of the sacred. Adding to his sins the sin of Judas, schemamonk Sergius (Romanov) draws after him the souls of the people who trusted him.”
About the followers of Fr. Sergius, who participated in the services he performed after defrocking, the Metropolitan said that they had defiled themselves “by participating in the schism and can no longer be admitted to any Sacraments and rituals without first returning to the bosom of the Church through an open rejection of their previous error.”
The parishioners of the Sredneuralsky monastery regarded this as an accusation of complicity in the “sins of Judas” - blasphemy and desecration of the shrine. They considered such an accusation humiliating to their honor and dignity, and demanded that a refutation be published on the diocesan website.
Metropolitan Kirill did not appear at the court hearing, and the proceedings on the claim were terminated. The regional court confirmed this decision.
Sources
- The court in Yekaterinburg refused to return the rank to the former schema-abbot Sergius // EAN. 2021. January 28.