The Russian Orthodox Church transferred Metropolitan Hilarion to Brazil following a scandal in the Czech Republic
The Russian Orthodox Church has transferred Metropolitan Hilarion (Grigory Alfeyev) to serve in Brazil following an incident in the Czech Republic, where he was detained by law enforcement on suspicion of drug possession.
Patriarch Kirill issued the corresponding decision. The document states that Hilarion, due to “objective circumstances, cannot serve” in Karlovy Vary, and therefore he is being sent to the South American Diocese.
According to the decree, the metropolitan’s new places of ministry will be the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the city of Santa Rosa and the Church of St. John the Theologian in the city of Campina-das-Missões in Brazil.
In late May, Czech police detained Hilarion and his driver after discovering containers of a white substance in the car. Two days later, both were released without charges, though the investigation is ongoing.
Ilarion himself denied any involvement in the illegal possession of narcotics. He stated that over the past few months he had received anonymous threats demanding that he leave his post in the Czech Republic.
Ilarion headed the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church for many years and was considered one of Kirill’s closest associates.
The former influential figure in the Russian Orthodox Church called his arrest in Karlovy Vary a planned provocation and categorically denied any involvement with the four containers of white powder that police found during a search of his car’s trunk. Hilarion released a video statement in which he complained about the unsatisfactory conditions of his detention in the Czech temporary detention center in the city of Ungošť—specifically, the lack of hot meals, bedding, and personal hygiene items. The metropolitan’s defense team also highlighted significant procedural violations, pointing to the absence of witnesses and proper video documentation during the search of the vehicle by law enforcement officers.
Despite the fact that a Czech laboratory analysis later officially identified the seized white substance as a narcotic, on Tuesday, May 26, Ilarion and his videographer were released from custody without formal criminal charges being filed. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a diplomatic protest with Prague and summoned the Czech diplomat in Moscow, characterizing the actions of the Czech police as a premeditated political campaign aimed at “discrediting Orthodoxy.”
