After Russia Began Its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hundreds of Orthodox Prieste Face Repression Because They Disagreed With the Policies of Russian Secular and Church Officials, According to Estimates by Human Rights Activists.
A number Fled Russia, Fearing Prosecution, Or Were Banned from Ministry by the Russian Orthodox Church Controlled byMoscow Others Were Imprisoned for Speaking Out Against Russia’s aggressiveness in Ukraine.
As well as coming across the traditional immigrant obstacles, search as requested a visa and discovering a work, the fleing clergy deal with one-of-a-kind problems as they commonly do not have transferable abilities.
DW Talked with Several Russian Priest Living in expatriation in Germany to discover just how they are adjusting to life in their brand-new home.
Washing Dishes and Studying German
Father Yakov, Whose name Has Be Changed for Safety Reasons, Had Been Officiating at an Orthodox Church in Russia’s West Since the Late 2010s. When Russia Invaded Ukraine, He Became Involved in Anti-War Initiative
This interaction enabled him to get an altruistic visa for an Eastern European Country Shortly Before Russia Announced the partial mobilization of army reservists in September 2022.
“Even though i wasn’t Prosecuted Directly by Ether Secular or Church Authorities, I Realized that I had no more prospects of staying in Russia … Under the Current Political Regime and the situation in the Russian Orthodox Church,” He Told Dw
Yakov Said He Had Already Planned to Leave Russia But After The Mobilization Was Announced, He Only Had A Few Days To Pack Up andFlee
Although Clergy Can Gain An Exemption from Military Service, He Said, also if that held true at the time, he was what stressed that “Tomorrov Everything Could Complete.”
But Yakov Struggled to return on his feet in the brand-new nation. For Several Months, He Washed Dishes Illegally, Earning Just EUR 3.50 ($ 3.65) toHour Later, he was provided a scholarship to examine german in germany where he has actually been living sinter September 2023.
Yakov is still Worried concerning the future. He intends to maintain researching in Germany But Said his work as a Russian Orthodox clergymans make it difficult to discover a placement throughout Western Europe.
“It’s possible if you have some decent secular job. For instance, if you are an it specialist priest or have a scientific background, it’s much less of a problem,” Heer sitaid.
IT Specialist Priest and Human Rights Activist
Like lots of various other Anti-War Clergy From Russia, Yakov Receives Help from the not-for-profit tranquility unto all, which was co-found by papa valerian Dunin-Barkovsky
In 2024, the company Helped 45 Clerics and their households with financial backing amounting to EUR 120,000, Dunin-Barkovsky Said
“The Question of Finances is Decisive for Us. The Main Thing That Those In Need Require is time. Some need a new profession after they were banned from Ministry. Some need to live in a third country for a visa. Must Wait for their Case to be reviewed, so they’ll be allowed to serve in a new country, “He Told DW.
Dunin-Barkovsky, that is currently Based in Germany, Became Involved in the Church While Still in Russia.
In 2018, his Eldest Son was Prosecuted for Attending Demonstrations Organized already-Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, Who Died in Prison in 2024.
“So we realized We had to leave,” Dunin-Barkovsky Said “I received an offer and Left My Well-Paid Position in Moscow for some Strange Job in Germany. And i’ve Be Here Ever Since.”
Now Dunin-Barkovsky Works in IT and Serves as a Priest in the Orthodox Parish ofSt Nicholas in Düsseldorf in Germany’s West.
In his Düsseldorf Parish, He Said, The Number of Parishioners Has at Least Doubled Since the Invasion of Ukraine.
Moving from Spain to Germany
Father Andrey Kordochkin, Another Co-Founder of the Peace Unto All Project, Has Be a Russian Orthodox Cleric for greater than two decades, consisting of a church in Spain’s Capital, Madrid.
When Russia Invaded Ukraine, Kordochkin Found Himelf At the Center of Attention “Without intending to,” Heer Said.
“Spanish Media Needed to Communicate with someone from Russia. And, sate the embassy had gone into deep defense at that point, we and our golden-domed church were quite in a spotlight,” Kordochkin Told dw.
Even thouh he belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church it was importing for him not to “share the sociopolitical agenda that Became mainstream in Moscow,” Kordochkin Said.
Because of his anti-war remarks, in very early 2023 the Russian Orthodox Church Suspended Him for Three Months.
He recognized as “Exodus from Madrid Can Be Considered a Done Deal.” After the Protestant Church in Germany Offered Him A Small Scholarship, Kordochkin Moved to Germany Where is functioning Toward a Postdoctoral Thesis on the Ecclesiastical and Theological Aspects of Russia’s War Against Ukraine.
Hard Life for Clergy from Russia
Kordochkin is the Rector of an Orthodox Parish in Tilburg, in the South of theNetherlands His church Falls Under the Administration of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Rather than the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russia damaged connections with the Constantinople Patriarchate in 2018 After It Granted Independence (AutoCephaly) to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Previously Answered to Russia.
But, Said Kordochkin, this does not Mean Other Russian Orthodox clergyman so simple Find deal with the Constantinople Patriarchate.
It’s incredibly tough to move from one patriarchate to an additional, he mentioned, also if a cleric was formerly prohibited from the Russian received church. He does not recognize of a solitary instance of the German Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Accepting Ether a Russian or a Ukrainian Clergyman.
For those clergymans relocating from russia to a European Country He Sees Only Two Options: Ether Finding An Income Source That Helps A Cleric Support His Family, Or Seeking Asylum and “Sharing All the Hardships of Life As a Refugee.”
Both Valerian Dunin-Barkovsky and Andrey Kordochkin Believe that Numerous Orthodox Churchgoers in Germany Welcome Welcome Attending A Parish Outside of Russia’s Control.
“Thesis Days, A Lot Depends on People Who Believe and Want to Maintain Their Loyalty to Jesus and the Gospel,” Said Dunin-Barkovsky,-People, He Said, Who Undertstand that, Just as Russian President Vladimir Putin and His Supporters Can’ T take russia far from them, the Russian Orthodox Church “Can’t Take Away the Orthodox Faith.”
Edited by: Kate Hairsine
