RUSSIAN Orthodox clergy have defended Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Budapest and Hungary, after he was accused of sexual misconduct and a hedonistic lifestyle.
Allegations published in Novaya Gazeta Europe were made against Metropolitan Hilarion by Georgy Suzuki, a 20-year-old Japanese-Russian subdeacon who had previously been close to the bishop.
A statement signed by 11 priests in Budapest diocese said: “We have known Metropolitan Hilarion for many years — it has been obvious that here among us is a bishop with the single goal of serving God’s glory.
“Silence is criminal, especially for priests appointed by God to bear witness to the truth and shut the mouths of madmen. . . Having read his testimony, which causes nothing but disgust, we see that this criminal has accomplices who seek to discredit our saint.”
The priests said that life in the Hungarian diocese, which has only a dozen parishes, had “qualitatively improved” in the two years since Metropolitan Hilarion had been in post. They said that the latest “dirty slanderous campaign” should be set against “the authority of a widely known hierarch, theologian, and good shepherd with a multi-million flock of spiritual children”.
Metropolitan Hilarion, who is now 57, was once the second-ranking official in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate from 2009, and widely seen as a likely successor to Patriarch Kirill. But, in June 2022, he was appointed Metropolitan of Hungary, four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thereby losing his permanent place on the governing Holy Synod.
The Metropolitan was quoted by the TASS news agency as telling his Moscow congregation that he had not “fitted with” the “current socio-political situation”.
Some media speculated, however, that his transfer had been co-ordinated with Russian intelligence to provide the Moscow Patriarchate with a base for influencing Western governments and Churches, using premier Viktor Orbán’s sympathetic government, and to enable a substantial expansion of Russian embassy staff.
In a detailed report on 5 July, Novaya Gazeta Europa said that Metropolitan Hilarion had been given a Hungarian passport soon after arriving in Budapest, enabling him to travel freely, protected from international sanctions.
The paper said that the Metropolitan had been accused of sexual harassment by Mr Suzuki, who had fled to Japan in January, taking with him cash and valuables from Metropolitan Hilarion’s residence, as well as photographs, videos, and recordings of the Metropolitan’s yachting and skiing trips and parties for Russian oligarchs and senior Hungarian officials.
The paper reported Metropolitan Hilarion’s private criticisms of Patriarch Kirill for misusing funds on “projects that interest him personally”, and his subsequent correspondence with Mr Suzuki’s mother, offering a financial settlement as “a testimony of sincere regret for all mistakes made”.
Interviewed last week by Russia’s RIA Novosti agency, Metropolitan Hilarion rejected the accusations. He said that he would challenge Suzuki’s claims in court; he went on to say that an investigation was under way against the subdeacon’s mother for attempting to extort money from him.
In a follow-up article at the weekend, Novaya Gazeta Europe said that Metropolitan Hilarion had now returned to Moscow for “urgent consultations” about the accusations.
The Metropolitan has backed the banning of LGBT groups in Russia and was a leading critic of the Pope’s pre-Christmas declaration, Fiducia Supplicans, which allows RC priests to bless same-sex couples (News, 22/29 December 2023).