Metropolitan Hilarion: I did not retire of my own initiative

Retired Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), in a wide-ranging interview with the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, hinted at his dissatisfaction with the Moscow Patriarchate’s decision to remove him from active ministry, while also speaking in detail about the events surrounding his detention in the Czech Republic and his encounter with the country’s police.

The former Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR) also revisited the case of his arrest in the Czech Republic, maintaining that there is no evidence linking him to the narcotics allegedly found in his vehicle.

Remains in Russia The Press Service of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia announced that, by a decision of the Patriarch dated July 29, the June 3 decree assigning Metropolitan Hilarion to Brazil has been suspended. Hilarion said he welcomed the decision not to transfer him, as it will allow him to care for his elderly mother in Moscow.

He has now been assigned to reside and serve at the Women’s Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross near Moscow.

Metropolitan Hilarion expressed his gratitude to Patriarch Kirill and said he was pleased to continue serving…