Russian Bishop Threatened with "Defrocking"

Dramatization of a defrocking.

NY TIMES: A bishop who accused leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church of forming an inappropriate alliance with the Kremlin will be defrocked unless he repents, clerics ruled. Bishop Diomid, who has also spoken out against ecumenical ties with other Christian faiths, had to be disciplined because he was trying to create a split within the church, the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement. Many Russian Orthodox believers are sensitive about any sign that the church is compromising its independence from the Kremlin, especially because under Soviet rule senior clerics were recruited by the Communist authorities as collaborators. “With his appeals and statements, he is cultivating the spirit of schism in the church and destroying its unity,” the church said of the bishop.