Russian Orthodox Church carries out reshuffle after child abuse at Convent

Vladimir, November 13, Interfax – A senior Russian Orthodox bishop has removed the mother superior and the spiritual mentor after claims surfaced of violent abuse on girls staying at the Bogolyubsky Monastery in Vladimir.

Archbishop Yevlogy of Vladimir and Suzdal fired Georgia, the convent’s mother superior, insisting on a new appointment “in conformity with the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian legislation.”

Spiritual counsellor Archimandrite Pyotr (Kucher) was pensioned off but allowed to keep living in the convent.

The main critic of the convent, Priest Vitaly Rysev, was dismissed as Suzdal District dean and principal of a boarding school though he remains chief priest of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Suzdal. The school is to be reorganized to become an ordinary rather than boarding school, under the same order.

The order also prescribed that the convent’s leadership strictly comply with an earlier directive by the Archbishop prohibiting under-age children from living on the convent’s premises, even if they are the children of convent workers.

The purpose of these measures is “to normalize the atmosphere” and address the “personal aspect” of the situation, the order said.

In autumn 2009, two girls ran away from the convent to complain about the brutal treatment they suffered whilst living there. The Russian Public Chamber and the Prosecutor General’s Office responded by launching investigations.

One of the girls, Valentina Perova, said she had been falsely imprisoned. However, the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General’s Office decided that her complaint did not provide sufficient grounds for criminal action.

In November 2009, an investigation commission of the Moscow Patriarchate made recommendations after it found pedagogical mistakes and “a series of fundamental mistakes in the organization of the life of children living at the convent.”

The findings of a working group appointed by regional governor Nikolay Vinogradov led to the mother superior being stripped of guardianship of the orphans in December.

Archimandrite Pyotr also came into the limelight. Previously he had been dismissed from office on two occasions, had been punished by the Holy Synod and had joined the Old Believers, though after staying with the latter for one month on each occasion, he had rejoined the mainstream church.

In March this year, the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church put one of his books on a list of publications not recommended for dissemination in churches, monasteries or convents.

The Bogolyubsky Monastery became the scene of another scandal in autumn 2010 when criminal proceedings were launched after two other girls ran away from the orphanage and complained about physical abuse.

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