Yesterday, suddenly and unexpectedly, at the age of 52, the well-known Orthodox priest Vsevolod Chaplin died. The former head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church was the subject of many of our publications (https://golosislama.com/?tag=vsevolod-chaplin), so it would be wrong to overlook his death. It cannot be said that Chaplin was an outspoken Islamophobe. He belonged to the category of Orthodox Christians who, while remaining devoted to their own religion, could respect other religions. Especially Islam, for its strict rules and the devotion of its followers, who devote their lives to it and are willing to sacrifice for it if necessary. It should be understood, however, that despite this respect, such people often view Islam and Muslims as competitors at best and enemies at worst.
Chaplin once sided with Muslims in their conflict with aggressive secularism, supporting the right of Muslim girls to wear headscarves in school. At the same time, he actively supported Russia’s aggression in Syria, calling it a «holy war» and calling for the destruction of the mythical Wahhabis in Russia, a group to which his like-minded followers usually attribute all practicing Muslims with Islamic self-awareness.
Nevertheless, Chaplin’s position as an «Orthodox caliphate supporter» who believes that Russia should be a «worldwide Orthodox caliphate» is logically consistent and not surprising. What is more interesting is that a person with such views, who dedicated 25 years of his life to working for the current Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill Gundyaev, suddenly found himself in disfavor and became, as they say, «toxic» precisely when these views became almost an official ideology, not only within the church but also within the state. Chaplin was dismissed in 2015, and since then began to allow himself periodic criticism of the church and state leadership. However, his criticism came from an even more extreme, aggressive, and intolerant perspective than theirs. In doing so, he demonstrated that consistent supporters of these views do not take the rhetoric of state and church authorities seriously.
Many attribute Chaplin’s sudden death to this fact. He was a middle-aged man with no serious illnesses. Politician Sergei Udaltsov, who was close to Chaplin, reacted to his death by saying, «Vsevolod Chaplin, a protopriest who was critical of the current government, was close to the leftist patriotic opposition. We often met at various protests. He was only 51 years old. By the way, another opposition politician, Nikita Isaev, recently died suddenly at the age of 41. Take care of yourselves!»
Communist oppositionist Maxim Shevchenko, who had known Chaplin for 30 years, expressed similar sentiments, saying, «He was immersed in the depths of the life of the patriarchy. He was dangerous for many. He knew more than others.»
It should be noted that the official response of the Moscow Patriarchate only reinforced these suspicions. Many noted how sparse Patriarch Kirill’s condolences were for the death of his longtime colleague (http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5582025.html?fbclid=IwAR1RNJsMi9CDR4bNzoF0MVJ62GwPxfNBw-ZKjCPOKLMYis86TShTNGN_d8o), especially in comparison to his condolences for other church hierarchs (http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5581935.html?fbclid=IwAR3jvnDlYKwnRbSxQ_hVwkW0AgfBgVq3yVFMcB6y3sHCjDen23DMCljHhew).
The non-church resource «Tserkvach» commented on these condolences saying, «Just a few routine words: ‘May the Lord forgive the deceased for their sins, both voluntary and involuntary, and grant them eternal memory. In Russian, this phrase from the mouth of the Patriarch means, ‘I have not forgiven you and I do not want to know you.'» This is also evidenced by the fact that the funeral of the deceased was entrusted to a mere protopresbyter and not to a vicar of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In this sense, the death of Vsevolod Chaplin is truly tragic, even by secular standards. A man who fought all his life for the triumph of the ideas of the «Russian World» and the «Orthodox Caliphate», if he did not become a victim of those who successfully appropriated these ideas, he was certainly discarded as unnecessary.