Constantinople Patriarchate reinstates Russian priest who replaced ‘victory’ with ‘peace’ in prayer

The Constantinople Patriarch has reinstated Russian priest Ioann Koval from Moscow’s Church of St. Andrew who was punished for replacing the word “victory” with “peace” in his prayer. Earlier, the Moscow Church Court stripped him of his ministry. The Secretariat of the Constantinople Patriarchate reports.

The report said that the Constantinople Patriarchate recognised the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church as non-canonical and adopted “based on political rather than ecclesiastical considerations”. Koval is now under the jurisdiction of the head of the Constantinople Patriarchate, Bartholomew I.

Prior to this, Koval appealed to the court of first instance and proved that he was punished for his attitude to the Ukraine war, the press service of the patriarchate said. The Moscow Patriarchate is yet to comment on the situation.

On 13 May, the Moscow Church Court unanimously ruled to strip Koval of his ministry. In early February, Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill personally banned the cleric from ministry.

The decision came after the church parishioners complained about the priest replacing the word “victory” with the word “peace” in the prayer “About Holy Russia”, which the patriarch blessed to be delivered in all Orthodox churches. The priestly authority regarded Koval’s actions as a manifestation of “self-will”.

The text contains the following words: “Rise, O God, to the aid of Your people and give us Your power to win”. Koval, according to the media reports, said “Rise up, O God, to the aid of Your people and give us Your peace by Your power”.