Charges against Father Sergiy include encouraging minors to kill themselves.
The former priest took over the Sredneuralsk convent near Yekaterinburg in June after the Russian Orthodox Church banned him from preaching, and refused to leave. He has denied the existence of the coronavirus pandemic. The controversial cleric was barred from preaching in April and then stripped of the right to wear a cross in May after he encouraged the faithful to disobey public health orders.
Fr Sergiy helped found the Sredneuralsk Convent in the early 2000s, and hundreds of supporters have flocked there over the years to hear his sermons. Russian authorities shut churches to worshippers between April and June, prompting Fr Sergiy to accuse them of co-operating with “forerunners of the Antichrist”.
What happened in the raid?
Priest Sergiy was detained in a raid by Russian police that lasted for about an hour. Many of the armed men guarding the convent were thought to be pro-Russia rebels from the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. Several people received minor injuries including three nuns. Later Fr Sergiy’s supporters posted a video message in which he said that he was OK. “Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do, and even if they do, forgive them anyway,” he said of his captors.
The charge sheet against Fr Sergiy, published in local news website Ura.ru, says that he “publicly urged no fewer than 10 nuns” to take their own lives and posted a recording of his speech on YouTube.
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Harrison Okafor
editor
Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
