Romania’s Orthodox Church has distanced itself from a senior cleric who praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
”Mr Putin is seen everywhere nowadays and considered a dark figure, but he isn’t the way he’s portrayed,” Archbishop Teodosie said during an interview on Radio Dobrogea.
The 70-year-old archbishop whose diocese is in the Black Sea region is known for his anti-vax views and insubordination to the main Romanian Orthodox Church.
He praised the Russian president for being “a big church builder from Mount Athos to Jerusalem.
Romanians and Russians share the Christian Orthodox faith. Politically, relations are cool.
Teodosie has attracted anti-establishment followers with his non-conformist stance particularly since the pandemic started.
„As we already know, Archbishop Teodosie is used to expressing his own opinions including on non-church matters, “ church spokesman Vasile Banescu said Wednesday.
“In virtue of the autonomy he has which he sometimes interprets in an original way, he has the right to express himself without that meaning that he is expressing a Romanian Orthodox Church point of view. It is strictly a personal opinion,” the spokesman told Adevărul.
The fact that the church spokesman commented on the bishop’s radio remarks shows the sensitivity of the issue. Romania is a member of NATO and is jittery about Russian troops amassing near Ukraine.
Romania shares a 615-kilometer border with Ukraine, but has no border with Russia.
In his radio comments, the archbishop praised the Russian leader for making “sacrifices.”
“Of course he has his faults, but he can’t be responsible for those who brought communism. It’s the West that brought communism.”
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