Vsevolod Chaplin - priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, archpriest

About the priest Chaplin has not heard in recent years, except that the most lazy. For more than five years, he has not tire of shaking the secular and ecclesiastical community with his odious statements and provocative statements. Below we will talk about the biography of this man, discuss his career and some other aspects of life.

Birth, childhood and youth

Vsevolod Chaplin was born in Moscow in 1968. The family where he was born was by no means religious, and about God and religion the boy collected information himself, from where he could. At the age of 13, he already realized himself to be Orthodox and has since been in the bosom of the Orthodox Church. Back in school, Vsevolod Chaplin decided that he would become a priest, and so all around-both friends-classmates and teachers-knew about the young man's intention to enter a theological seminary. Oddly enough, Vsevolod did not cause any special difficulties in school. This did not affect the family of the future priest, who belonged to the Soviet intelligentsia and was a member of the scientific community.

Nationality

Some people on the Internet spread the belief that Chaplin is a cross, that is, a baptized Jew. Some even speculate about a certain national Jewish name, surname and patronymic. However, these rumors are false, and Vsevolod Chaplin is the real name of the archpriest. And that there is no proof that he belongs to the Jewish nation, which, by the way, respects very much. Chaplin himself Vsevolod Anatolyevich directly declares that he is not a Semite.

Becoming a career

The beginning of a career in church structures was laid in 1985 with a post in the publishing department of the ROC MP. At this time, Vsevolod Chaplin declared himself as a fairly liberal man, whose views were distinguished by their flexibility and tolerance. He welcomed various kinds of reformist ideas that are hanging in church circles, spoke out for revision of liturgical practice and even for the replacement of the Church Slavonic language. Chaplin was one of those who organized an exhibition of avant-garde artists in church premises, and in the early 90s he even became the author of the preface to one of the first albums of Christian rock music in post-perestroika Russia.

Going to work in DECR

The key decision that affected the boy's future life was taken in 1990, when Vsevolod Chaplin moved from the publishing department to the Department of External Church Relations. At that time, he was headed by the young ambitious Archbishop Cyril (Gundyaev), now known as Patriarch Cyril. The latter became patron and patron of Vsevolod, having committed a succession of deacons over him, and a year later and priestly consecration. Thus, in 1992 Chaplin Vsevolod Anatolyevich became a priest. But a year earlier, he took the post of head of the public relations sector of the church in the DECR jurisdiction. Actually, in one way or another this he did later all his life and continues to study at the present time. In 1994, Father Vsevolod Chaplin graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, thus obtaining a candidate of theological sciences.

Many people are interested in the question of his personal life, since the priest's marriage should take place before his ordination. However, nothing is known about who Vsevolod Chaplin's wife is. There is nothing surprising in this, because he is not married. Accordingly, he was ordained as a celibate cleric who took upon himself the vow of celibacy, but without accepting other monastic vows.

Work on Public Relations

The first prominent position in the government Chaplin received in 1996, during the presidency of Yeltsin. For two years he was a member of the Council for Interaction with Religious Organizations. Being excluded from it in 1997, he headed the DECR secretariat for the interaction of church and society. He held this position until 2001. The priest successfully coped with his duties, which led in 1999 to the award that Vsevolod Chaplin received. The Russian Orthodox Church elevated him to the rank of archpriest. Three years later he was expected to be promoted: he became deputy head of the DECR - Metropolitan Kirill. To occupy this chair he happened right up to 2009, when Cyril was elected patriarch. Working under the personal guidance of Metropolitan Kirill, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin supervised two secretaries of the department: on inter-Christian relations and public relations. In addition, he was instructed to monitor church publications and monitor the work of the communication service.

The priest was a frequent guest at various events, be it conferences, talks or meetings. He also took a direct part in the dialogue with the papal throne and Russian state power. His experience led to the fact that he was included in the council of the State Duma Committee for the Affairs of Associations and Religious Organizations immediately, when it was established, in 1994. Another important fact of the biography of this figure is that he has the honor to be a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.

Career in the Patriarchate of Cyril

In 2008, with the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the life of the archpriest changed and the career sharply went uphill. The main role in this was played by the fact that the patron of Chaplin - Metropolitan Kirill - took the patriarchal throne in 2009. Chaplin was elected his personal deputy at a forum called the World Russian People's Council, which was convened in the same year. In addition, he received the chair of the head of the newly-formed Synodal Department for the relationship between church and society. Since then, and up to this day, he is in charge of the patriarchate for all official contacts of the church and public institutions at the patriarchal level.

With his mediation, an agreement was reached between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ruling United Russia party. Thanks to the close contacts of the church and the authorities, Chaplin's role and importance have incommensurably increased in comparison with his former position. First, he again gained membership in the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the Government of the Russian Federation. Secondly, as the head of the public relations department, he takes a direct part in the discussion of bills proposed and promoted in the State Duma, thus defending the interests of the church or, at least, its official political line. Moreover, Chaplin is a member of two important commissions in the Public Chamber. The first one deals with issues of interaction and development of regions and self-government. The second is devoted to freedom of conscience and interethnic relations.

Other facts about Vsevolod Chaplin

In addition to his administrative activities, Chaplin is responsible for the rector of St. Nicholas Church on the Three Hills in the Presnensky district of the capital. He also leads the teaching practice, being an assistant professor at St. Tikhon's Orthodox University. Periodically publishes his semi-diary entries in the format of a book called "Scraps". To date, two parts of these notes have been published, which have an ideological nature. Actually, thanks to the published two-volume "Shredders" Chaplin acquired membership in the Union of Writers of Russia and the Academy of Russian Literature. It is also often seen in various programs on radio and television. For example, on one of the radio stations, where Vsevolod Chaplin appears with an enviable regularity, - "Echo of Moscow". At the same time, being the guest most often invited, he leads some programs as a presenter, however, already on other, purely ecclesiastical venues.

The activity of the archpriest is marked by a number of awards: the Order of Prince Daniel II and III degrees, the Order of St. Anne, the Order of Friendship, and the Order of St. Innocent of Moscow.

The views of Vsevolod Chaplin

The official speaker of the Moscow Patriarchate is rather conservative, and partly radical. For example, in addition to the expected negative evaluation of abortion and euthanasia, he advocates the creation of a public dress code that regulates the appearance of citizens in accordance with the moral principles and traditions of the Orthodox Church. In addition, he actively supports the idea of creating so-called Orthodox detachments - force groups that, with the blessing of the church, will monitor the public space for insulting the feelings of believers and using force to defend the interests of the church. In part, this is already practiced, as evidenced by the strong friendship between Chaplin and the extremist group led by Enteo, whose activity boils down to the destruction of exhibitions, the disruption of concert and theatrical performances, the beating of participants in gay pride parades and similar events, the legitimacy and legitimacy of which is ardently defended by the official speaker of the ROC MP.

Chaplin also advocates the abolition of the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools and universities, the introduction of a system of Sharia courts on the territory of Russia. Vsevolod Chaplin was extremely belligerent about the war that followed the revolution. He condemns the position taken by believers at that time and insists that the moral duty of any Orthodox was to enter military operations and destroy as many people as possible who have anything to do with the Bolshevik party. But that's not all. Many were shocked by Vsevolod Chaplin's speech and his attitude towards the members of the punk band Pussy Riot, to whom neither he nor the official church position showed any mercy and demonstrated the spirit of forgiveness often spoken by church functionaries. The next wave of sharp criticism against the archpriest was caused by his ardent apology of luxury in official and private life, which is distinguished by many representatives of the church nomenklatura. In his opinion, expensive things, vestments, cars and generally the bohemian way of life of the clergy are necessary for the church to provide and maintain its public prestige.

Criticism of Chaplin

These and many other statements of the archpriest were followed by a severe reaction from representatives of secular society and even from the side of many clerics. They do not hesitate to express their open dislike for Chaplin even in the nearest environment of the patriarch, believing that his words undermine the authority of the church organization of the ROC.