Patriarch Kirill was about to exile Metropolitan Hilarion to Brazil. Now he’s sending him to a convent near Moscow instead.

Source: Moscow Patriarchate

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has temporarily suspended his own decree transferring Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) to Brazil, the Moscow Patriarchate said on its website.

Hilarion has been given the opportunity to remain in Russia to care for his mother. His place of service has been designated as the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Convent in the Moscow region.

Ksenia Luchenko, a religion researcher who runs the Telegram channel Pravoslavie i Zombi (“Orthodoxy and Zombies”), called the convent’s abbess, Yekaterina (Chainikova), an “experienced church manager” and someone close to the patriarch. Luchenko said the convent has actively collected money and supplies for the front since Russia’s war against Ukraine began.

In the 2010s, Hilarion led the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations and was a member of the synod, the Russian Orthodox Church’s highest governing body. In those years, he was considered one of Patriarch Kirill’s closest associates and was even named as a possible successor.

In 2022, Hilarion was sent from Moscow to Budapest, where he became metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary. Two years later, his former personal assistant, Georgy Suzuki, accused him of sexual harassment, after which the metropolitan was demoted. He became a priest at an Orthodox church in Karlovy Vary.

Czech police found drugs in Hilarion’s car in May 2026. He was detained but released shortly afterward without charges. He denied any involvement in transporting the drugs. He returned to Russia after the incident. In June, Patriarch Kirill designated Brazil as Hilarion’s new place of service.

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Patriarch Kirill was about to exile Metropolitan Hilarion to Brazil. Now he’s sending him to a convent near Moscow instead.

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Patriarch Kirill was about to exile Metropolitan Hilarion to Brazil. Now he’s sending him to a convent near Moscow instead.

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