This week, Metropolitan Inokentiy, head of the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese, sacked three priests of the Church after they spoke against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Gintaras Sungaila, one of the dismissed priests, they were instructed not to talk about the war.
“When the war broke out on February 24, there was a certain silence among the Church leadership. The priests were told not to talk about the war and the situation in Ukraine in general,” Sungaila told LRT.lt.
“At the beginning of March, a meeting of the clergy took place, and I, as well as a few other priests, signed an appeal saying that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow supports the war, therefore, we cannot call him our father. And if we were told to call him that, we would leave,” he added.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has openly expressed his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. His name is mentioned during the Orthodox Liturgy.
According to Sungaila, Metropolitan Inokentiy at first allowed not to mention the name of Patriarch Kiril during Liturgy, but later, the situation “changed drastically”, which led to the dismissal of priests.
There might be even more dismissals because “10 out of 60 priests in Lithuania disagree with Patriarch Kiril”, Sungaila said.
He could not answer whether the dismissals were influenced by pressure from Moscow but said that the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese could secede from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Sungaila is collecting donations for the website ortodoksas.lt, which says that “from now on, the donations received will be used to support the priests dismissed by the Moscow Patriarchate”.
Read more: Three Orthodox priests sacked in Lithuania after criticising Russian invasion of Ukraine – media
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