A well-known priest is scheduled to be expelled from the Russian Orthodox Church for refusing to read a prayer asking God to lead Russia to victory over Ukraine, Reuters reports.

In a verdict published on Saturday, the church tribunal ruled that Oleksiy Uminsky should be “removed from the shrines” for violating priestly vows.

The decision was submitted for approval to Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Church, a strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin.

He was excommunicated from the Church for not reading the prayer that was required by Patriarch Kirill

The case shows how the church suppresses internal dissent while supporting Putin and his “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The ecclesiastical court ruled that Uminsky had broken his vow by refusing to read the “Prayer for Holy Rus” — the archaic name for Russia — which Cyril had made mandatory at church services.

“Here are those who want to fight, raised their arms against Holy Russia, hoping to divide and destroy its one people. Rise up, O Lord, to the aid of Your people and give us victory with Your power,” reads the prayer, which was read by Cyril for the first time on September 25, 2022, seven months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to the online group Christians Against War, which has documented their cases, dozens of Russian Orthodox priests have been punished for violating the Church’s stance on war — such as by praying for peace instead of victory.

Who is Oleksiy Uminskyi?

Uminsky is still the most important object of church repression.

He served for 30 years as head priest of Moscow’s Life-giving Church of the Holy Trinity before he was suddenly removed this month, just before Orthodox Christmas, in a decision that paved the way for Saturday’s verdict.

He was known for his work in hospice for dying children and adults, and attended the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 2022.

Last November, in an interview, Uminsky said that the language of war and “special military operation” is “in no way compatible” with church liturgy.

He urged the faithful to look for priests who “pray more for peace than for victory, and understand that any victory is always a Pyrrhic victory in these wars… In modern wars, any victory is almost always tantamount to self-destruction.”

Parishioners say that the removal of the priest caused them great suffering

Ksenia Luchenko, an expert of the Russian Orthodox Church of the European Council on International Relations, believes that Uminsky’s sentence is unfounded, since the prayer he was accused of refusing to read was not considered and approved by the highest body of the Church, the Holy Synod.

She called his punishment proof that Patriarch Kirill usurped power in the Russian Orthodox Church and violated its statutory documents.

Uminsky did not publicly comment on his sentence. The ecclesiastical court said the decision to expel him was made in absentia after Uminsky failed to appear despite being summoned three times.

A total of 11,627 Orthodox believers signed an open letter in support of him after he was removed as a priest of the Holy Trinity Church and replaced by Andrii Tkachev, an active supporter of the war.

They said that this decision has caused them great suffering and will deprive thousands of people of spiritual support: “This is a great tragedy for many believers, for seriously ill children, for hundreds of orphans and thousands of homeless people.”