The head of the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church for Art and Restoration was banned from service because of the “Trinity”

Patriarch Kirill signed a decree under which Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, head of the Council for Art and Restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church, is relieved of his duties and expelled from the priesthood. The reason for this decision was to “prevent the bringing” of the “Trinity” icon by Andrei Rublev from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the feast of Pentecost, which is scheduled for May 28.

The website of the Moscow Patriarchate reports that Archpriest Leonid Kalinin was dismissed from the post of rector of the Moscow Church of St. the position of diocesan conservator of monuments of the Moscow diocese and from obedience to a member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.

Kalinin, in turn, commented on the decision of his leadership, saying that he accepted it calmly. The archbishop pointed out that he may have made a mistake in negotiating with gallery specialists.

Patriarch Kirill stated that he did not ask for the icon to be removed from the Tretyakov Gallery forever. According to him, this decision was made personally by Vladimir Putin “in response to numerous requests from the Orthodox”. Earlier, on May 23, the board of experts of the Tretyakov Gallery announced the unstable state of the icon of the Holy Trinity and recommended that it should not be handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church for the time being. Kalinin confirmed that he had signed the expert report with the annotation “read” and “with understanding” reacted to the conclusions of the gallery specialists.

However, on the eve, the Ministry of Culture confirmed that Andrei Rublev’s icon “Trinity” will continue to be displayed in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for two weeks from June 4, as previously planned. After that, the icon will be sent for restoration and maintenance.

Despite the conclusions of the expert council of the Tretyakov Gallery that the icon cannot be removed from the gallery due to its serious condition, Archbishop Kalinin stated that conditions for storing the icon must be ensured everywhere, and the quality of the capsule in which it will be placed is important. He also noted that a political decision by the leadership could lead to the icon being removed and no one could prevent it.