Kuraev: I have no doubt Phanar will accept me but I'm afraid of arrest

Andrei Kuraev. Photo: screenshot of the youtube-channel "Antonimy"

The banned cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, in an interview with Anton Krasovsky on the Antonimy youtube channel, said that after being deprived of his dignity he intends to move to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but has not yet decided, as he is afraid of going to prison on charges of espionage.

In a conversation with a journalist, Kuraev said that he was "quite realistically considering" the transition to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but he has not yet done so, since he does not have a document on his deprivation of dignity.

Kuraev is confident that he will be admitted to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but he has not yet turned to Phanar, since he "does not want to violate the protocols available." In the next phrase, the protodeacon announced one more argument for the absence of his appeal to Phanar – he is afraid of arrest.

"I have no doubt that I will be admitted (to the Patriarchate of Constantinople – Ed.), but the atmosphere in the country is such that when I become a cleric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, I am declared a foreign agent, and then a foreign spy."

In response to the journalist's genuine amazement, Kuraev assured him that “this is a real threat,” and his “some security officers he is familiar with” informed him about it, adding that if he was excommunicated from the Church, he would definitely go to Constantinople.

As the UOJ previously reported, Zoria told how he met with Kuraev at the Mikhailovsky Cathedral. 

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