An investigation towards key figures within the administration of the Archdiocese of Prague (Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia) led to their elimination from the posts they’ve held for years.
The investigation by the authorities is towards Prague Archbishop Michael (Dandar) for the switch of church properties to a non-public individual, and it started on the finish of final yr. Nonetheless, his secretary Igor Strelets, thought of his right-hand man and “grey cardinal” within the archdiocese, in addition to the chairman of the Diocesan Council Fr. Jan Beranek. It was formally said that their elimination was on account of an “audit” and the necessity for “reforms to enhance the work of the diocese”. Along with them, three monks had been faraway from their positions of episcopal vicars.
Igor Strelets, who’s a secular individual, was answerable for the “Russian connections” within the church of the Czech lands and Slovakia. In accordance with an article within the native version of “Free Europe”, the Prague diocese maintains shut ties with Moscow – most of the clerics studied in Russia, and later acquired costly items from the Kremlin and the Patriarchate. Cyril within the type of villas and financing of varied initiatives. For instance, in 2011, when the lease of the residence of the Archbishop of Prague in Prague expired, the Patriarch of Moscow “fraternally” donated a two-story constructing, which nonetheless homes the administration of the native archdiocese.
Archbishop. Mikhail Dandar and Strelets have had shut ties to Russia for a few years and had been previously members of the Czechoslovak safety service, the equal of the KGB. Strelets labored within the counter-intelligence division, and Mikhail Dandar lived for a number of years within the USSR, receiving a diploma from the Leningrad Theological Academy in 1969, and in the identical yr he was recruited by the Czech secret companies below the pseudonym “Misha”. He was ordained by Mitr. Nikodim (Rotov) from the Russian Orthodox Church and was despatched to one of many Russian parishes in Dresden.
For a few years the appropriate hand of the archbishop. Mikhail Dandar was Igor Strelets, a person with out a theological training, however with shut ties to Russia, due to which he financed initiatives of this extremely Moscow-dependent native church. He sponsors the publishing exercise of the diocese, the web site of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia is registered in his title. He organizes and pays for the home and international journey of church hierarchs. These actions are carried out by way of the joint-stock firm “Czech Nationwide Cultural Fund”, which he owns and which is financed by the Russian finances. The Czech media accused him of getting a enterprise relationship with a sanctioned businessman near the Kremlin.
In July 2023, towards the backdrop of the struggle began by Russia in Ukraine, the Archbishop of Prague participated in a gathering with representatives of the Night time Wolves motorbike membership. The members of the motorbike membership and their chief are below sanctions for his or her shut ties to Vladimir Putin and their help for the struggle in Ukraine. When requested why the Czech Orthodox hierarch attended a gathering with the Russian rockers, assistant head of the Prague Diocese Stšelec, organizer of the occasion, stated that the assembly was devoted to the reminiscence of those that died in the course of the First World Warfare. These ties of the Czech clergy to Russia had been sharply criticized by native believers, which was extensively reported within the Czech secular media.
Among the many issues of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church, which every so often turn into recognized to most of the people, are primarily property points.
In Could 2022, it grew to become recognized concerning the large debt of the church. It turned out that the church had not paid into the state medical insurance system for its staff for ten years. Due to this, a part of the church’s property was confiscated. It’s in debt, regardless that the Czech Republic handed a restitution legislation in 2013, below which the finances pays cash to church buildings that misplaced property because of nationalization throughout communist rule in Czechoslovakia, as compensation for repression. By advantage of this determination, the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church acquired greater than 300 million crowns (about 16 million {dollars}). Czech legislation enforcement authorities are presently investigating two circumstances wherein, based on the investigation, Archbishop Michael Dandar has appropriated church property.
In accordance with a 2021 census, Orthodox Christians within the Czech Republic numbered 40,000. Their quantity elevated considerably after the beginning of the Russian struggle in Ukraine as a result of many refugees.
Illustrative picture: Orthodox icon of The Holy New Martyrs of Bohemia