Russian theologian Andrey Kuraev denied entry to Georgia
Andrey Kuraev denied entry to Georgia
Renowned Orthodox theologian and philosopher Andrey Kuraev has been denied entry to Georgia, according to Georgian news outlet Formula.
Kuraev is one of the most vocal critics of the Moscow Patriarchate’s policies. In 2020, the Moscow diocesan court defrocked him for his critical remarks, a decision that was finalized in 2023 when signed by Patriarch Kirill.
Kuraev has openly criticized both the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill’s close ties with President Vladimir Putin. He also condemned the Russian government for the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, for which he was fined under Russia’s law on “discrediting the army.”
In October 2023, Kuraev announced his departure from Russia and moved to Prague. In December, Russia’s Justice Ministry added him to its list of “foreign agents.”
In April 2023, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople overturned his defrocking, declaring it unlawful, and reinstated him into the clergy of the Constantinople Patriarchate. Kuraev was later accepted into the Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania.
At the Georgian border, Kuraev was handed a document stating that he is banned from entering the country for three years.
He had been scheduled to give a lecture at Tbilisi’s Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University titled “The Secret History of the Russian Orthodox Church: 100 Years of Autocephalous Schism.” However, border authorities stopped him and confiscated his passport.
Formula has published the document issued to Kuraev at the border:
Comment
According to Archimandrite Dorotheos Kurashvili, the refusal to allow renowned Orthodox theologian and philosopher Andrei Kuraev into Georgia indicates that Russia exerts control over the country’s borders.
“This fact alone shows that our state borders are controlled by Russia. <…> Kuraev has committed no other crimes—he is simply opposed to the Russian regime and the actions of the Russian Church, which makes him an enemy of Russia. And as we can see, anyone who is an enemy of Russia becomes an undesirable person in Georgia. This is the only reason [for Kuraev’s denial of entry], I see no other explanation.”
