IN TATARSTAN RPTsMP PARISHIONERS BEAT UP THEIR BISHOP
RPTsMP Bishop of Chistopol and Nizhnekamsk Parmen was beaten in the Spassky district of Tatarstan by parishioners of his church. He sustained physical injuries and his robe was torn, EADaily.com writes on 1 October.
Later it was established that supporters of an archpriest from Bolgar, Vladimir Golovin, who was inhibited from ministry participated in the beating. Deacon Artemy Silvestrov said that on that day, Golovin attended a worship service in only a cassock and without a cross (as befits a priest who is inhibited from ministry).
"The whole service, he stood in the church in silent penitence surrounded by his fans. Upon the conclusion of the service, the inhibited archpriest did not approach his bishop for a blessing and he left right away. Immediately a group of aggressively minded people tried to engage the vadyka in an inquiry—they said, like, why was 'our dear batyushka Father Vladimir' prohibited from ministry. Bishop Parmen began to explain Golovin's situation, but the angry supporters of Golovin literally grasped the vladyka and everyone who was with him in a vise. Somehow the bishop and the new dean managed to get to the refectory, but the aggressive supporters of Golovin (it is said, with sticks) broke into the place," he wrote on his page in a social network
According to eyewitnesses, it took Bishop Parmen an hour and a half to calm down the mad Golovin flock. Still the vladyka was not released and the police of the village of Three Lakes had to summon a squad of police from the district center. Only the police who arrived helped Bishop Parmen to break away.
Earlier Archpriest Golovin was inhibited from
ministry for
three months. In the diocese, it was considered inappropriate
for a priest to
advise "women to watch obscene films that their husbands watch,"
to
give "public pastoral advice to women about their choice of
style of
underwear" or "about singing a liturgical hymn during intimacy
with
their spouse," or, for example, to compare military valor with
suicide. In
the future, if the archpriest continues to preach outrageous
sermons, he may be
unfrocked. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 October 2018)
IN TATARSTAN, FLOCK OF BLASPHEMER PRIEST BEATS UP BISHOP
by Musa Ibragimbekov
In the village of Three Lakes of the Spassky district of Tatarstan, police recorded a non-trivial emergency situation—an attack by aggressively minded believers on their own ruling bishop, Bishop of Chistopol and Nizhnekamsk Parmen. The bishop sustained physical injuries and his robe was torn.
It was established that supporters of a blasphemer priest who has been inhibited from ministry from the village of Bolgar, Vladimir Golovin, participated in the beating. Golovin is a lobbyist for the "sovereignty of Tatarstan."
According to a deacon from Novosibirsk, Artemy Silvestrov, who is acquainted with the church situation in Tatarstan, when Bishop Parmen conducted a service in the church in celebration of the feast of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, Golovin stood throughout the service "in silent penitence surrounded by his fans." "Upon the conclusion of the service, the inhibited archpriest did not approach his bishop for a blessing and he left right away. Immediately a group of aggressively minded people tried to engage the vadyka in an inquiry—they said, like, why was 'our dear batyushka Father Vladimir' prohibited from ministry," Artemy described the situation on his page on VKontakte.
Bishop Parmen began explaining Golovin's situation. But the angry supporters of Golovin surrounded the bishop and the people standing near him formed a ring and intended to beat him up. "Somehow the bishop and the new dean managed to get to the refectory, but the aggressive supporters of Golovin (it is said, with sticks) broke into the place. According to eyewitnesses, it took Bishop Parmen an hour and a half to calm down the mad Golovin flock. Still the vladyka was not released.
"The police of Three Lakes had to summon a squad of police from the district center. Only the police who arrived helped Bishop Parmen to escape the sectarian perimeter. This is how things are done in Tatarstan. These are the fruits borne by the 'prayer for agreement' preached by the inhibited archpriest Golovin," the clergyman writes.
The aggression of Golovin's flock was provoked by the fact that their spiritual "guru" stood in the service in the church in his robe and without a cross, as befits a priest who is inhibited from ministry. It cannot be ruled out that Golovin's action was a conscious psychological provocation, aimed at inciting aggression by his supporters. Ignoring the bishop's prohibition, Golovin continues his preaching activity. The banned priest ignores the order of the bishop to cease the work of his internet resources and terminate "prayer tours" to Bolgar.
Golovin's supporters in the social networks are conducting a campaign against the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church under the slogan "Who are the true persecutors of Father Vladimir?" This slogan is an altered phrase from Golovin's appeal to his flock. "Who is the true author of statements of the Chistopol diocesan administration (about the schismatic activity of Golovin—EADaaily)?" Golovin asked in his video appeal. "The authors of the statements: Metropolitan Feofan (head of the Tatarstan diocese—EADaily), Metropolitan Savva (head of the Tver diocese), and the professor of the department of sectarian studies of the St. Tikhon's Humanities University, Alexander Dvorkin, and so forth."
Golovin says that for more than six month the "enemies" he named want to destroy him as a priest and as a Christian, and to destroy Orthodox life in Bolgar. Against this background, Golovin's supporters are spreading rumors: after Golovin's inhibiting from ministry, the churches in Bolgar will be closed and demolished, and mosques will be built in their place. Moreover, Golovin says, the Moscow patriarchate is displeased with Metropolitan Feofan and wants to send him into retirement "on account of age." Wishing to prevent this, Golovin says, Metropolitan Feofan "sends money to Moscow in suitcases" and "writes denunciations" of "true Orthodoxy" in Bolgar. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 October 2018)
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