Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ accused Archpriest Leonid Kalinin of preventing Andrey Rublev’s Trinity icon from being brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on June 4. According to the Patriarchal press service, Kalinin was relieved of his post as rector of the Church of the Hieromartyr Clement and banned from serving.
In addition, he was released from the post of chairman of the Expert Council on Church Art, Architecture and Restoration, from the post of diocesan curator of antiquities of the Moscow diocese and from the duties of a member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.
At the same time, the press service did not specify what exactly Kalinin’s actions were regarded as “obstructing” the bringing of the icon to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Recall that on May 15 it became known that the Trinity would be returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Director of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin, Elizaveta Likhacheva, however, warned that the transfer of the icon carries serious risks. “It can simply be lost, it can fall apart: there are three boards, and they are not very well fastened together,” Likhacheva explained.
Later, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation reported that the icon would be exhibited in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on June 4, then it would be sent for planned restoration, and then to the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra. But the other day, at a meeting in the Tretyakov Gallery, representatives of the museum community came to the conclusion that the icon was not subject to extradition outside the museum on June 4 because of its “difficult and unstable condition.”
Now she is in the restoration workshop in the process of urgent restoration of the monument.
On this occasion, a special protocol was drawn up. Archpriest Leonid Kalinin signed the relevant document, but considered the concerns of the museum community exaggerated.
Source: Rosbalt
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