Moscow, December 23, Interfax – Archpriest Alexander Filippov, who served at the Ascension Church in the village of Satino-Russkoye in the Podolsk District outside Moscow, has died after being shot in the heart on Tuesday evening, the priest’s widow Yelena told Interfax-Religion.
“Father Alexander was killed only because he reproached those people who were urinating in an apartment building’s entrance hall,” she said.
Father Alexander was 39 years old. He had three teenage daughters.
According to the Moscow Patriarchate, the priest’s murderer has already been detained.
It was the second murder of an Orthodox priest in the Moscow area in the past month. Priest Daniil Sysoyev from Moscow’s Saint Thomas Church, who was known for his criticism of nationalist groups, was killed on November 19.
A total of 26 Orthodox priests have been murdered in Russia since 1990.
But having dropped its totalitarian state ideology, modern Russia has also seen a surge in alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as a rise in ethnic tension.
Father Alexander Pray for Us!
