"Women are weaker in mind"
In 2021, during a radio broadcast, the priest said that men in general are smarter than women, but there were exceptions in history, for example, the winner of the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, Frenchwoman Marie Sklodowska-Curie. At the same time, in his estimation, a woman is much more patient and has more love. Later the archpriest explained what he meant.
Their weakness of mind is not that they are stupider. Girls, for example, more often graduate from school with a gold medal. They are diligent. They understand better what is being said to them. This cannot be called stupidity. But we laugh at them when they show these qualities. Dimitry Smirnov
archpriest
The Russian Orthodox Church commented on the statement about the mental abilities of women. Its representative explained that the church does not have the task of comparing the mental abilities of men and women, in addition, the Russian Orthodox Church considers both of them to be unique “divine creations.”
"You can't baptize"
Last September, a clergyman said that children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should not be baptized. In his opinion, a woman who has undergone IVF also has abortions, and this is not allowed by the church.
Every woman who undergoes IVF undergoes at least 3–5 abortions in parallel. And all this, my dear, will be on your neck until you die, and you will answer for the murder of everyone. Dimitry Smirnov
archpriest
The archpriest also spoke out about surrogacy. He called it the worst form of prostitution because the woman's body is "rented for nine months for money."
After this, the Russian Orthodox Church stated that “according to the faith of the parents, any baby can be baptized,” and this also applies to those born as a result of surrogacy.
“Punched in the face”
Also in September 2021, during a conversation with pupils of the Pavlin orphanage, Smirnov told how to stop a child from swearing. The clergyman recalled a case where one of the pupils once swore in front of him, so he had to teach him a lesson about foul language.
I punched him in the face, and he hasn’t sworn for five years now. Dimitry Smirnov
archpriest
According to Smirnov, this method is the most effective, but it is better to do without it. It is more important that the person himself tries to control his speech. The Russian Orthodox Church then called the clergyman’s advice just a joke.
Photo: Moscow Agency/Andrey Nikerichev
[edit] Composition of the commission
The commission included famous athletes, public figures, active athletes who are today engaged in public activities, as well as clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church who are actively involved in supporting issues related to physical culture and sports.
[edit] List of members of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports
- Bishop of Vyborg and Priozersk Ignatius, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs;
- Bishop Tikhon of Yegoryevsk, abbot of the Sretensky Stavropegic Monastery, executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture;
- Legoyda V.R., Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media;
- Archimandrite Sylvester (Lukashenko), confessor of the Rostov Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery of the Yaroslavl diocese;
- Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), head of the Youth Department of the Astana diocese;
- Archpriest Nikolai Sokolov, rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi at the State Tretyakov Gallery, confessor of the Russian Olympic team;
- Archpriest Dimitry Boltrukevich, director of the Educational Center at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra;
- Archpriest Seraphim Munteanu, head of the Metropolitan football team of the Orthodox Church of Moldova;
- Archpriest Alexander Shiriton, Chairman of the Synodal Pilgrimage Department of the Belarusian Exarchate;
- priest Sergiy Akimov, cleric of the church in honor of the Balykinskaya Icon of the Mother of God in Nelidovo, Tver diocese;
- priest Sergius Poperechny, rector of the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the village of Barkovo, Moscow regional diocese;
- priest Andrei Alekseev, rector of the Church of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy in Northern Butovo, Moscow;
- priest Vasily Lyakh, rector of the Vvedensky Church in Bolkhov;
- priest Daniil Zubov, cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas on Three Mountains in Moscow;
- priest Roman Yakovlev, cleric of the Nativity of the Mother of God stauropegic convent, chairman of the Council of the Foundation for the Support and Spiritual and Moral Development of Youth;
- Alekseev V.V., executive director of the All-Russian Association of Fans (as agreed);
- Valuev N.S., deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation, member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, world champion according to the World Boxing Association (as agreed);
- Zhurova S.S., deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation, Honored Master of Sports of Russia (as agreed);
- Lebedev P.V., Head of the Department for Work with Government Bodies of the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media;
- Novikov P.V., Deputy Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation (as agreed);
- Nosov V.A., master of sports of international class in boxing, champion of Russia and Europe (as agreed);
- Petrovsky D.I., employee of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate;
- Sagalakov D.A., General Director of the Moscow Federation of Russian Hand-to-Hand Combat (as agreed);
- Fedenko I.A., head of the Department of Culture and deputy head of the Department for Relations between Church and Society of the Tashkent-Uzbekistan Diocese.
[edit] List of honorary members of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports
- Astakhov S.A., President of the International Federation of Hand-to-Hand Combat;
- Volkov A.E., world champion in kickboxing in the absolute weight category according to MMA (Moscow);
- Emelyanenko F.V., President of the Union of Mixed Martial Arts "MMA" of Russia;
- Zhukov A.D., First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, President of the Russian Olympic Committee;
- Isinbaeva E.G., Honored Master of Sports of Russia;
- Karelin A.A., deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs;
- Karpov A.E., international grandmaster, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR;
- Nemov A.Yu., four-time Olympic champion;
- Plushenko E.V., Honored Master of Sports of Russia;
- Popov A.V., Honored Master of Sports of the USSR;
- Skrynnik B.I., President of the Bandy Federation;
- Starshinov V.I., Russian hockey player, Honored Master of Sports;
- Titov E.I., Russian football player, coach;
- Tretyak V.A., deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation, member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, President of the Russian Hockey Federation;
- Turusov A.N., world champion in classical wrestling;
- Chernyshenko D.N., General Director of Gazprom-Media Holding JSC.
