An Orthodox priest from the county of Suceava is under criminal investigation after he laid down on the ground in front of a cemetery gate on Sunday to obstruct a burial ceremony, Agerpres reports.

According to the spokesman of the Suceava District Police Inspectorate (IPJ), Ionuts Epurianu, the incident took place in the area of ​​Gura Soltsi, where an Orthodox priest objected to the sending of a Pentecostal requiem mass for a man of the Orthodox faith.

“It was decided that on this day at the general cemetery in the city of Hura-Solchi, where citizens of all denominations are buried, a man of the Orthodox faith should be buried, and all his other relatives should be Pentecostals. Previously, the man’s relatives appealed to the parish priest to allow the burial according to the rite of Pentecost and paid the fee for the burial place and other specific fees, the Orthodox priest agreed to the entire procession. However, on this day, when the funeral procession began to move, an Orthodox priest also joined, and when he approached the gate of the cemetery, the Orthodox priest deliberately planted himself on the ground to prevent the funeral procession from entering,” the IPJ said. official.

He notes that the police intervened gradually and condescendingly, mediating in the resulting conflict and managing to remove the priest who was obstructing the passage of the hearse.

The priest who caused the scandal is in criminal proceedings for the crime of obstructing the exercise of religious freedom.