I have decided to bring my social status into conformity...

I have decided to bring my social status into conformity with my convictions and to bear public testimony that I consider myself a follower of the great tradition of the correct belief and of the prophets of monotheism, beginning with Abraham, and thus I do not consider myself any longer either a clergyman or a member of any Orthodox church… As regards possible penalties, we all are mortal and all sooner or later will depart from this life, so it is better to depart from it abiding in the Truth and not in spiritual ambivalence or in the delusions of human fantasy.

With regard to the practical difficulties, including the Arabic language, I must place my hopes on help and cooperation from my new brethren. My will fully shares this worldview choice.” How Did your Clerical Path Evolve? Within the church circles of Moscow, I was not “my own person.” There also were family circumstances which forced me to request ministry in Central Asia. I served briefly in Frunze and somewhat longer in Dushanbe.

There I dealt with Islamic culture and the eastern mentality for the first time, which made a deep impression on my soul. After half a year I was ignominiously deprived of my registration for disobedience to secular authorities, that is, to the commissioner for religious affairs. For three years, I was not accepted anywhere and was in complete disgrace. In 1988, when perestroika began, I was offered a half-destroyed church near Obninsk.

From there I was elected in 1990 as a member of the soviet of the RSFSR. The position of the Moscow Patriarchate For the Moscow patriarchate, the announcement by Archpriest Viacheslav Polosin of his conversion to another faith came as a complete surprise. In the Department of External Church Relations, his move is explained as instability of character and convictions and a quick “subsequent change” of religious views is predicted.

In the patriarchate there is an inclination to let the matter drop, relying on the decision of Fr Viacheslav’s ruling bishop, Archbishop Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk. Were You Suspected of Conversion to Protestantism? American protestants, who in 1991 arrived in Russia in abundance and whom I received, proposed that we begin our meeting with prayer.

But I categorically objected, saying that this was a secular institution and that I protected freedom of conscience and thus there must not be any prayer here.