Churches across half of Russia will remain open to the public for Easter Sunday

Priests across roughly half of Russia will reportedly ignore coronavirus-containment directives from federal health officials and Patriarch Kirill himself to close Easter Sunday services to the public. In 43 of Russia’s 85 regions, churches will welcome parishioners for services on Sunday, April 19, when Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter, says the news website RBC, citing data available on April 15 from dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church and state regional leaders’ press offices. 

Legally speaking, dioceses are subject to the same state requirements imposed on all nonprofit organizations and must comply with any gubernatorial directives that affect such groups, says RBC. The legality of Russia’s lockdown measures remains in question, however, because state officials have not declared a formal state of emergency or disaster situation. Many Russian Orthodox dioceses are using this uncertainty to assert their right to remain open to the public for Easter.

According to RBC’s report, several of the areas where churches will be open on Sunday have reported relatively large numbers of COVID-19 infections, including the Leningrad region (330 reported cases as of April 16), the Murmansk region (306), the Krasnodar Territory (260), the Tula region (174), and more. Churches in Russia’s three worst-affected regions, meanwhile, (such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Komi Republic) will reportedly observe the instructions to close Easter services to the public.