The resort town of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, traditionally popular with Russian tourists, is known for its thermal springs and colonnades. However, it has recently been receiving increasing attention from the Russian Orthodox Church as the Czech authorities continue to implement one of the strictest sanctions regimes against Russia in Europe, writes the British publication Church Times.
The Orthodox Church of St. Peter and Paul, opened in 1898, has changed ownership and been transferred to the Hungarian diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church due to concerns that its property may be frozen. The church has the status of a sub-district of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The property registers of Karlovy Vary make it clear that the transferred part of the “Russian Orthodox Church – the Courtyard of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia”, which represents the ROC in the Czech Republic, to the “Hungarian Diocese of the ROC” includes not only the church, but also the land around it, an adjoining house and a garage, not far from the church building.
Patriarch Kirill’s diplomat Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) was “retired” and sent to Karlovy Vary in December of this year due to “a lifestyle incompatible with monasticism”. Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was appointed Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary, when he also received Hungarian citizenship (and thus EU citizenship).
The previous representative of the ROC in Karlovy Vary, Archpriest Nikolai Lischenyuk, a 51-year-old Russian citizen, was stripped of his honorary citizenship last month by the local council after he was expelled from the Czech Republic last year, citing security concerns.
In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the Czech government imposed broad sanctions on Russia, which also targeted Patriarch Kirill. He was the first person to be added to the Sanctions Act, passed in 2023.
The transfer of the property to the Hungarian diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church is an attempt by the Moscow Patriarchate to secure its property, relying on friendly relations between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Putin. Hungary has consistently maintained its position regarding Patriarch Kirill. In In December, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called the EU’s latest proposal to impose sanctions on the patriarch a “crazy idea” and said that sanctioning church leaders was counterproductive and should be “avoided at all costs.” In 2022, Hungary pressured EU officials to remove Kirill from the list of Russians to be sanctioned, saying Hungary stood by “the fundamental principles of religious freedom.” The head of the Russian Orthodox Church thanked his main political ally in the EU by awarding Viktor Orbán the church’s Order of Glory and Honor, first class, in June 2023.
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First published in this link of The European Times.
