Vsevolod Chaplin where he serves. What are orthodox boys made of. Biography of Vsevolod Chaplin. Agent of the radical secularization of the Church

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin died today at the age of 52. This interview, in which the priest talks about the time and about himself, was first published on Pravmir on December 24, 2015.

Everyone is already accustomed to the fact that the Church in the modern world is a full-fledged public institution, an active participant in ongoing events, an object of criticism and discussion in society and the media, the Church has its own TV channels, radio stations, websites, but thirty years ago everything was completely different. Who were those young people who came to faith in the eighties, how did they spend their time, how did they relate to the Soviet system, who were their spiritual mentors, what did they think, dream about and talk about…

Remembers a man who will undoubtedly go down in the modern history of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, a witness and a direct participant in the religious revival, the head of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.

About the time

The world was very difficult, however, as now

Father Vsevolod, in your speeches you often mention the Christian community of the 80s. At one of the last events where we met, you literally said the following: “It reminds me of the Orthodox party of the 80s.” What is "it" and what does it "resemble"? What was it like - the Orthodox party, how do you remember it?

Let's start in order. Indeed, it was a very interesting time. I myself came to faith in 1981. I was then thirteen years old, and I was already interested in a lot of things. From the age of eight I listened to Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Radio Vatican, Voice of Israel, Radio Sweden and so on. My father also listened to all these radio stations, like many Soviet thinking people, but already at the age of eight I was picking up radio voices on my own. Moreover, when he came home from school, he put the receiver on the window so that everyone could hear.

I had access to various materials about religion from a young age. The sources were the same radio voices, and atheistic Soviet literature, which I read a lot already in my very young years. At the age of thirteen, I came to the temple and just realized that I would stay here. It should be noted that this decision had little to do with the amount of knowledge about religion that I managed to accumulate. I was catechumenized for about six months, then in July 1981 I was baptized in Kaluga.

I immediately joined a rather narrow but very interesting circle of believing young people of that time, who belonged to different religions and denominations. The people were very different. Someone was a real dissident - they were told about such on the same Western radio stations. Someone worked in the Soviet system, but at the same time was more or less openly a believer. There were Orthodox, Catholics, Jews, Protestants (mostly Baptists and Pentecostals).

There were people of liberal and conservative views, there were hippies, then still the first punks in Moscow, lovers of classical music, lovers of archaic stylizations, anyone. There were snitches. There was, alas, a criminalized element: around the religious places visited by foreigners, swindlers, dealers in illegal goods, prostitutes of both sexes, currency traders, drug addicts, drug dealers were spinning around - people who lived on the edge and beyond the law. There are always a lot of such people around any informal hangout, because such an environment is quite open. The world was very difficult, however, as it is now.

- I had some more idyllic ideas ...

No, it was exactly like that. In some places, the first people who came into contact with you were either political provocateurs or people offering something illegal, like drugs or tamizdat. You know, everything was. There were many mentally ill people... Nevertheless, in this "broth" there was a significant part of the real searching intelligentsia, who lived a full-blooded life. People met in different places. Sometimes they drank alcohol in large quantities.

- Which?

Beer and vodka, mostly. Good wine was then inaccessible, it is already at the present age that we have switched to wine. You are already starting to move from the “cinema, wine and dominoes” mode of life to the “kefir, klistir and warm toilet” mode.

There were people who wandered along the Moscow alleys and said: “It would be nice if American missiles fell here and all this muck would disappear from the face of the earth, this damned country.” Everything that some people say now was even sometimes said then in harsher terms, flavored with quotations from samizdat and tamizdat and ending with drunken conversations about when America will finally conquer Russia.

About pastime

We walked along the boulevards and lanes, and talked, talked, talked ...

- Did you mainly discuss political topics?

In general, any topics were discussed, but especially religious and social ones. The time went like this. There was a well-known "triangle" formed by three religious institutions - this is the Antioch Compound, the Catholic parish of St. Louis and the synagogue. A significant number of young people patrolled between these three buildings. Sometimes Baptists joined, but they kept a little apart, because in Soviet times it was a rather closed community that did not go very well with contact. The Baptists often played badminton on the current New Square in the square, and also walked the streets and tried to talk about God with different people.

A wider party periodically mixed with hippies who sat on Chistye Prudy, on Gogol and on the Arbat, visited pubs on Pokrovsky Gates, there were three of them. If suddenly someone had as much as ten rubles, they could go to a more decorous institution and drink vodka. And so, basically, they walked along the boulevards and lanes, and talked, talked, talked ... About what would happen to Russia, about what was happening in the military-political sphere - then the possibility of a nuclear conflict between the USSR and the USA was still relevant . They discussed what would happen to the dissidents, what would happen to the Soviet government, whether it was possible to find something human in such figures as Chernenko, Andropov, Gorbachev. Just then, a period of rapid change of state leaders began, Brezhnev died ... We washed Brezhnev's death with the Jews near the synagogue.

In addition, there was another circle of young people that I belonged to. They were parishioners of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption Vrazhek. I went mainly to three churches - there, in and sometimes in the Antioch Compound - Father Sergiy Bulatnikov served there then - a very open and kind priest who received young people. He could shoot a couple of rubles for beer. Then he was a little over thirty, and now he is quite an elderly man, unfortunately, in a very serious condition for many years after a stroke. I periodically invite him to services, we communicate.

This circle, the circle of Bryusov Lane, which we never called Nezhdanova Street, was more conservative, and there was more talk about spiritual life.

The day could, for example, go like this. Having skipped school or escaped from it early, it was possible to drive up to Chistye Prudy in the middle of the day. There, in the coffee shop of the Jaltarang restaurant, hippies were hanging out from eleven in the morning, it was possible to drink coffee, talk about the perniciousness of hippieism and the dirty hair of the people around. If you don't get punched in the face for this, then around two or three in the afternoon you could move on. For example, in one of the pubs on the Pokrovsky Gates, at that time some part of the young intelligentsia was already being pulled up there, with whom it was possible to talk about nuclear war. And about who will be after Chernenko. And about whether he will come to Russia and how long he will live and what else he will write.

Then it was possible to go to the service either in the Antioch Compound, or in Bryusov. There was an audience there. With this audience, we walked up and down Red Square, skirting St. Basil's Cathedral, and talked. Basically, again, about politics, but often about the practice of prayer, about the language of worship, about the possibility or impossibility of reforms in the Church.

The subway closed at 1:15, at which time it was necessary to jump on the last train and go home. There was definitely no money for a taxi at that time, so it was necessary to be on time. However, they always succeeded.

There was undoubtedly more good in all this communication and pastime than bad. The "broth" was very rich, its ingredients were very different. But, basically, people - perhaps with the exception of crime and informers, and even then not all of them - nevertheless came to this environment, being sincerely religiously seeking individuals, and many later became active church workers. Father Oleg Stenyaev, Sergei Chapnin, Dmitry Vlasov ...

Cons: Most are gone. Very many people were inclined, first of all, to self-pity and introspection, and did not see either God or people behind this. Too many simply lived on the principle of "tumbleweed". Too many have indulged in an endless search that came to nothing. Many people are mired in vices.

Unfortunately, most of the then active believing young people from this milieu, from the Moscow intelligentsia bohemian milieu, later disappeared somewhere. Someone went to other religions and denominations, primarily to Catholicism and Judaism. Someone has lost faith. Many have gone to other countries - to Western Europe, the United States, Israel. I think about half are gone. Someone is not alive. If we talk about hippies and the younger generation of the mid-80s, a lot of people died from drugs.

Some of the disappeared then suddenly reappeared on the horizon, like Yura Shubin, a Moscow businessman. He is now actively involved in the movement to support the construction of temples. Several people began to wander through confessions and jurisdictions, such as, for example, the most talented Misha Makeev. Someone went into business and switched to "spontaneous atheism." This is a very serious warning for today's creative youth: the instability and crisis of vocation, which may seem like a cute joke at fifteen or twenty, often turns into a life tragedy at forty or fifty, the state of a devastated and destroyed person.

In the center - Oleg Stenyaev and Sergei Devyatov (now Metropolitan Rostislav of Tomsk), on the left - Dmitry Vlasov, behind Vsevolod Chaplin and Yuri Shubin. Early 80s, Trinity-Sergius Lavra

About spiritual teachers

Among Orthodox believers, a certain divide existed between those people who went to Father Alexander Menu, and those who went to Father Dimitry Dudko

What, in principle, could not be imagined in the party of the 80s? For example, could sound, as sometimes now, positive reviews about Stalin? ..

Almost no one liked Stalin - just like the Soviet government. Of course, there were individual Stalinists. There were people who were ultra-patriots of the Russian Empire. There were even people who considered Stalin too soft, believed that it was necessary to unleash a war with the West and by 1946 destroy the United States and establish a global Russian dictatorship.

But the majority were Democrats and dreamed that the good Uncle Sam would come and set up a capitalist paradise here. Everyone, of course, listened to Western music. Very many on this wave became Catholics and Protestants. Rather, Catholics, because Russian Protestants - Baptists and Pentecostals - at that time were absolutely Soviet people in terms of lifestyle, this lifestyle was less attractive, and many people came to Catholicism precisely on the basis of spontaneous Westernism, some not only Soviet phobia, but also Russophobia. In fact, that is why many people left the country.

Among Orthodox believers, a certain divide existed between those people who went to and those who went to Father Dimitry Dudko. I have been visiting Father Dimitri since 1983. I was less familiar with Father Alexander Men, but I knew many of his spiritual children very well since the beginning of the eighties.

Of course, these were different poles of attraction. Father Demetrius was a monarchist and a Russian patriot. Father Alexander Men was more guided by Western experience. Although I do not imagine Father Alexander fled to Europe and lived a calm and quiet life there. He was a completely different person - in a pastoral, Christian way, able to inspire with his energy, his ability to give everything of himself for the sake of preaching.

Father Dimitry Dudko was a calmer person, although he was also internally very dynamic and groovy. The talks that he held on Sundays at his church in a small room were attended by a hundred people. People crowded very tightly into the benches standing there, someone listened while standing. Conversations could last three or four hours, or even more, and ended with a short prayer. The people all sang several hymns together, and a special litany was recited. We are now trying to reproduce something similar in our parish. Another conversation was held on one of the working days in the evening at the home of one of the spiritual children of Father Demetrius - these were such semi-underground meetings, which were attended by thirty or forty people, and sometimes more.

Still, Father Alexander Men had fewer meetings. There were more individual communication and closed meetings, which were attended by ten or twenty people, hardly more.

Hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), Yuri Shubin, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Fyodor Shelov-Kovedyaev, Abbot Athanasius (Selichev). At the exhibition in memory of Alexandra Men in Semkhoz

About relationships with authorities

Direct educational actions were not usually taken

- Tell me, what kind of relationship did you develop with the authorities? Was there any pressure from the authorities?

None. We were not called anywhere. Sometimes some people appeared who could give advice: "Go there, don't go here," but there was no direct participation of the authorities in communication. Maybe the authorities somehow communicated with the leaders, with the same father Dimitry Dudko. And then, in my opinion, it happened very carefully and indirectly. If someone was called to one office or another, it already simply meant that you either needed to leave the country, or you would be imprisoned soon. Direct educational actions were usually not taken.

All the pressure on me was within the school and family. At school, they quickly learned that I had become a believer. I didn’t emphasize it, but when one teacher asked me right in the class: “Is it true that you, Seva, got in touch with religious obscurantists?” I just stood on the teacher’s chair and delivered a sermon. That was the end of my attempts at re-education. True, the school had to change.

Relatives also tried to influence me. However, also without much success.

About the intelligentsia

Like it or not, but I did not break with the intelligentsia environment

The core of the Christian community consisted mainly of the Moscow intelligentsia. You, as they say, are the flesh of the flesh of this social group - by origin, by education, by hobbies, by position. But today you cannot be suspected of special sympathy for this stratum of society. At the very least, your statements and statements deprive the intelligentsia of the illusion that the official Church in your person somehow sympathizes with it. Please tell me what you disagreed about when it happened?

I believe that people need to periodically be told the truth about their illusions. Like it or not, I did not break with the intellectual milieu. In the church where I serve, it is mostly present, and more and more. And, oddly enough, to a large extent these are the liberals of the 90s. There are people from Yegor Timurovich Gaidar's entourage, some other people known as part of the ultra-liberal milieu. But I'm not going to go along with them. I believe that, just as in Soviet times I could say uncomfortable things to Soviet intellectuals, including bureaucrats and who felt like moral authorities, so now to people who feel entitled to teach others and feel themselves of the highest grade, I can also say some those unpleasant things. I wasn't afraid then, and I'm not afraid now.

- Maybe you broke up with one of these people and regret it?

No, I'm not sorry. I never tried to disagree on personal issues, because of personal grievances or disagreements, I try not to do this. Well, if there are serious disagreements, then there is nothing wrong or shameful in this.

About the 90s

Despite being busy, I managed to find time for informal communication - for example, on the site near the White House

Tell me, please, what do you remember about the 90s? Where were you during the celebrations on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'? What did they do during the events of 1991, 1993?

Since 1985, I have already worked in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. I went to work there immediately after school - the late Bishop Metropolitan Pitirim, without hesitation, took me to work literally after the first appeal. Therefore, in 1988, I participated in church celebrations and was engaged in compiling information materials for the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy.

Vsevolod Chaplin - subdeacon of Metropolitan Pitirim, c. 1987

Celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in the Cathedral of the Epiphany. In the center - Nina Davydova, far right - Andrey Zarkeshev, now Archimandrite Alexander

In 1991, I studied in England, then I was already an employee of the Department for External Church Relations, in the rank of deacon. And in 1993, I participated in organizing negotiations between those people who were in the White House and the then authorities. Of course, it was a very difficult moment. Despite being busy, I managed to find time for informal communication - for example, on the site near the White House.

Even now, it seems to me, I do not lose the possibility of such communication. Someone comes to the temple, with someone we can talk in the Department. I can go to a concert in some club, listen to the same Psoy Korolenko, talk to people who gather there. I can take a travel bag, drive around the Moscow region and see how many migrants are actually present in the markets. One problem - very soon you have to work as a beach monkey. This is the one everyone takes pictures with.

About art

I risk being forever damned as an absolutely anti-people creature and an aesthetic outcast

You are an interesting, bright, ambiguous person. At one time I was very surprised that you are an admirer of Psoy Korolenko's work. I would like to ask you a question - what films do you like, the poetry of which poets, the music of which composers do you like? What attracts you to art?

You can talk about this for at least another hour.

I relatively recently got acquainted with the work of Psoy Korolenko, and then with him. This is a very deep performer.

I have been going to concerts at the conservatory since I was probably thirteen years old, and I also started going there on my own. My parents had typical tastes of the sixties, but all this was of little interest to me. My brother, among other things, is a rock musician, but he is younger than me, so his tastes had little effect on me.

In general, I don’t like everything that is playful - I don’t like drama, I don’t like feature films. If I watch films with interest, then these are some avant-garde things, art-house things - on the verge of abandoning acting, on the verge of playing with meaning, on the verge of manipulating form, with all sorts of objects - light, faces, architectural forms and so on.

I also don’t really perceive poetry in the classical version, because I still think that the meaning of the word and the aesthetic form of the word do not have to be mutually linked, because the second is less important for me than the first.

Music is a big story. Typologically, I probably listened to more or less everything that is in the world. I do not like light music in any of the styles and in any of the eras. At one time, an indignant group of people attacked me, lamenting: “Ah, Mozart! Ah, Mozart! How dare he touch him! I would like to ask: “Gentlemen, have you listened to Mozart's operas? At least The Magic Flute? Alas, this is a classic light. Very light, too light. You can find a lot of this kind of music in every era. Even Bach has many things that are absolutely secondary and absolutely lightened. It's just that his musical heritage is very large in volume.

I am close to Western liturgical music, Gregorian chant. Of course, Beethoven, although he also has passage pieces, Arvo Pärt, Martynov are our parishioners, by the way. He enjoys many things, including repeating the same note over and over and playing with foam balls on piano strings. There is a musical and human thought, even if it is somehow realized through the balloons. Alas, I am such a freak - in music I am looking first of all for thought.

- Judging by your words, it seems to me that you should be close to the work of Dmitry Shostakovich? ..

Well, Shostakovich is the obvious love of a lifetime. Someday my friends will hang me on the fence, because at the end of some gatherings, when all the folk songs are sung, I put on Shostakovich's 15th symphony, sincerely believing that we should finally bring the party to a climax. And, of course, I run the risk of being forever damned as an absolutely anti-people creature and an aesthetic outcast.

About communication

I am an official, and I mainly communicate on bureaucratic matters

You once said about Vladislav Surkov that he is a very bright and creative person, and you enjoy talking to him. It seems to me that you are internally very similar to him. Please tell us about your relationship with Surkov. Are you friends, do you communicate?

There are no special relationships. Unfortunately, after his departure from the government, we almost did not communicate. After that, I called him literally once, and I'm a little ashamed, I have to call again. I am an official, and basically we communicated on bureaucratic matters. Official life is 90% of my time, except for sleep. Even when I'm eating, I usually read media reports or documents. But, of course, you need to communicate - both with Surkov and with other people. Just like that, out of business.

About death

If a person does not think about the finiteness of this life and what will happen next, it means that he still managed to brainwash the consumption of Pepsi or some other drink, physical or spiritual.

In one of your speeches before Easter, you told the audience: “That’s when I will burn in hell, and you will most likely be in a different, better place, then ...” The main thing in the phrase was not about hell and heaven, but struck and touched me exactly these words. Father Vsevolod, why exactly hell?..

Psoy Korolenko sings about the same in front of an audience of youth clubs, and they listen to him. Actually, a person is doomed to hell, he has no reason to believe that the Lord will have mercy on him, because he has merits or because he is so smart and talented. Only by relying on the power of God can we hope that the fate that really should await us will somehow be changed.

- Do you often think about death?

Of course yes. If a person does not think about the finiteness of this life and about what will happen next, it means that he still managed to be brainwashed by the consumption of Pepsi or some other drink, physical or spiritual.

About the past and the future

We will always find a couple of benches in the park and a couple of cafes

- Do you miss that time - the 80s, 90s?

A little yes, really.

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Yesterday, unexpectedly for many, the seemingly unsinkable head of the synodal department for relations between the Church and society, Vsevolod Chaplin, was dismissed. He is right there, which caused a storm of discussions on the network. By the way, back in October, I said that "the authorities, in the context of a growing crisis and social discontent, may again try to rely on the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, which strengthens the political regime, but for this it is necessary first to purge the governing bodies of the church from the most scandalous and odious figures (like Vsevolod Chaplin, Dimitry Smirnov, Patriarch Kirill). Actually, this is exactly what the Kremlin has repeatedly done with the same State Duma, pushing away deputies who cause too much irritation in society." In other words, Chaplin's resignation may be an element of some big game related to the reformatting of forces in the ROC as a whole.

April 25, 2012. Archpriest Chaplin allowed the legalization of Sharia courts in Russia
http://lenta.ru/news/2012/04/25/shariat/

May 13, 2012. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, supported the placement in a mental hospital of a Karelian blogger who criticizes the Russian Orthodox Church.
http://www.rbc.ru/society/13/05/2012/650104.shtml

June 25, 2012. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, said that he had a divine revelation that God condemns the members of Pussy Riot, who are accused in the scandalous case of hooliganism of a punk band in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. "I am convinced that the Lord condemns what they have done. I am convinced that this sin will be punished in this life and in the next life," the priest said during a New Times roundtable on the border between art and blasphemy .

July 24, 2012.“There must be a person in the country - a president, a monarch, someone else - who would have the right not just in resonant cases, but in any cases that require a clear moral judgment, to an absolute pardon or to an absolutely harsh punishment. This does not correspond to the Western political system, but it is precisely in this that it is wrong,” Vsevolod Chaplin said in an interview with the Pravoslavie i Mir portal.

August 2, 2012. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin: "The Lord Himself does not forgive a sinner without repentance," the priest reminded. angels. So God's forgiveness has limits and very strict limits. Moreover, the Lord says that many go the way that leads to destruction - only a few go the narrow way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whether Father Andrew likes it or not, the Lord says that many perish. What percentage, I do not know. Obviously, at least 51%. And therefore, the mercy of God does not extend to the majority of people who are unrepentant sinners. To remain silent about this or try to argue with it is to try to argue with the Gospel - because it is the Most Merciful Lord speaking."

August 27, 2012. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate, believes that clergy should not be shy about accepting expensive gifts, as people express their love through this

December 18, 2012. The chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, priest Vsevolod Chaplin, told Gazeta.ru that he actually supports the bill banning the adoption of Russian children by US citizens.

April 5, 2013. Mitred archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for interaction with society, gave another explanation for the craving of Orthodox hierarchs for luxury. According to him, even the most modest bishops, in accordance with tradition, should use expensive things. “If we talk about the bishop, we must take into account here: the tradition of the Orthodox Church has always assumed that he is surrounded by a certain honor. People make sure that he has a decent car and residence. He sits on the throne during worship, and sometimes at some events, he has a special place in the temple - a pulpit that elevates him above the rest of the people. This is the Orthodox tradition. The bishop is the image of the reigning Christ, and this tradition in the Orthodox Church must be supported in every possible way, ”Chaplin said in an interview with RBC.

May 17, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Chairman of the Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Relations between the Church and Society, who spoke on Friday at the forum of United Russia party projects, compared the current situation in Russia with 1917 and expressed the hope that the current government will be able to cope with "anti-patriotic" forces. "I am glad that the patriotic platform of United Russia, in general, sees the initiatives of the people and supports them," Vsevolod Chaplin said.

May 29, 2013. The head of the synodal department for relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, said that the Russian people sympathize with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. "I know how the Chechen people have a positive attitude towards the President of Russia, Mr. Putin, I know that the Russian people respect and sympathize with the Head of the Chechen Republic, Mr. Ramzan Kadyrov. But, of course, there are people who criticize him, but, mind you that, as a rule, these are the same people who, while in Russia, criticize Russia as well, believe that its people are too stupid to decide their own fate," said the head of the department for relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and society. "There is such a stratum in Moscow, in some other Russian cities, which does not respectfully perceive either the Russian authorities, or, most importantly, the Russian people. These people today criticize what is happening in the Chechen Republic, and, as a rule, these are people who are not friends of either the Chechen people or the Russian people," Father Vsevolod emphasized.

June 7, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Chairman of the Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Relations between the Church and Society, called for the norms of behavior in society to be prescribed in regional legislation. Speaking about this, the representative of the Church referred to the legislation of many countries of the world, where, according to him, "it is fixed quite clearly what you can do in public space and what not."

June 18, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin: "... you need to avoid a consumerist attitude to communion. Many people come who take communion only because their relatives, parents, friends ask them to. Many come to communion in order to alleviate their health condition or for other purely utilitarian reasons: before starting a new business, before going to the hospital. This should also be treated quite critically."

June 25, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin: "Russia also supports traditional Islam and should support it"

June 30, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate, considers the punishment for insulting the feelings of believers in the form of a three-year prison term to be too lenient, ITAR-TASS reports.

July 4, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, member of the Civic Chamber of Russia and head of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate, announced the need to introduce eligibility criteria for Russian scientists

July 5, 2013. According to Chaplin, if in a parish where rich or at least non-poor people live, a priest is in poverty and is forced to constantly walk with outstretched hands, “this is a shame for the flock, for that church community, for that social circle that is present in the place where this priest is serving. "You should not follow the lead of those people who insist that a priest cannot live with dignity in material terms," ​​the head of the OVCO summed up.

July 8, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin condemned Western trends in the formation of a “new man”, devoid of nationality and religious, and sometimes even gender differences.”

August 11, 2013. Countries where the majority of the population professes Orthodoxy have a better chance of economic prosperity in the future. According to Interfax, this was stated by the head of the synodal department for relations between the church and society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.

September 28, 2013. Vsevolod Chaplin on the Pussy Riot case: “I don’t see progress in their spiritual state. And the lack of this progress is unlikely to be affected either by continued imprisonment or release. I had to explain in a direct letter to Mrs. Tolokonnikova what she was wrong about. if he does not repent at confession, if she does not reconsider her attitude towards him, she is punished by God much more terrible than the punishment of any earthly court: she is punished with eternal torment.

October 14, 2013. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin: "People have the right to expect that the offender will be punished. And in this case, as in other similar cases, when the murder is accompanied by extreme cynicism, a challenge to moral norms and norms of culture, the punishment should be especially harsh, inevitable, demonstrative"

January 29, 2014. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the synodal department for relations between the church and society, called on the authorities to legally prohibit any manifestations of blasphemy in art, in particular, in the theater.

April 1, 2014. Vsevolod Chaplin: “We must ensure that the centers of idea generation within Russia are properly Russian, run from here, and serve the interests of our own people. Therefore, it is very important that figures who are aimed at a key role in their own country in one area or another, including religious ones, would be trained only within the country.

August 1, 2014. Western sanctions will give Russia the opportunity to make its economy more moral. This opinion was expressed by Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synoidal Department for Relations between the Church and Society.

August 7, 2014. Restrictions on the import of a number of goods will help Russians "stop chasing the Western standard of consumption." Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the synodal department for relations between the church and society, stated this, as RIA Novosti reports. In his opinion, the Russians will have to go through difficult times in terms of the economy, and not only in connection with the already introduced and possible new sanctions against Russia. These times, according to the clergyman, came even before the introduction of restrictive measures.

December 24, 2014. Vsevolod Chaplin believes that US dominance in the world is coming to an end and it is Russia that can finally nullify it. “It is no coincidence that we often, at the cost of our own lives, at the cost of a very serious physical weakening of the state, stopped all global projects that did not agree with our conscience, with our vision of history and, I would say, with God's truth. This is a Napoleonic project, this is a Hitler project. Let's stop the American project as well," Interfax quoted the priest as saying.

February 19, 2015. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society (OVTSO) of the Russian Orthodox Church, admitted in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta correspondent Igor Gashkov that he writes stories under the pseudonym Aron Schemayer and, along with other users, puts them on the Internet. Chaplin's short story "Masho and the Bears" shows Moscow in 2043 - the embodied antithesis of traditional morality. Krasnaya Presnya was renamed Blue, the Church dissolved itself, and the new social system, inspired by the ideals of the Great Sexual Revolution, rests on the bayonets of African legionnaires. The inhabitants of Moscow in 2043 exist in self-absorption, while the authorities have focused on protecting minorities and promoting the lower body. Here is one of the characteristic examples of the author's style of Aron Schemayer: “What is this brave new world? - Masha started up. - So I came here. I am intersex. I can be sado, and maso, and homo, and hetero, and zoo, and pedo, and necro, and techno. And I can - none of the above. Didn’t they explain to you what zero tolerance for discrimination is?”

March 7, 2015. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Chairman of the Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Relations between the Church and Society, considers it wrong to identify Christianity with humanism and pacifism. He wrote about this in the article "True Christianity or the Cult of a Child's Tears?", published the day before on the Interfax-Religion website. "Humanity, humanity is a Christian value, while humanism is an ideology that puts a sinful person at the center of the universe. It is the forerunner of the religion of Antichrist. It is no coincidence that Western militant atheists call themselves humanists," the priest writes in the article "True Christianity or the cult of tears child?"

March 24, 2015. The Novosibirsk production of the opera Tannhäuser should be checked for pornography and propaganda of homosexuality among minors, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, told Interfax. "If the theater management speaks of good will in a dialogue with believers, how can they ignore what believers say: the image of Christ (and the director admits that Christ is depicted) against the background of scantily clad women kissing each other - this, of course, desecration of a symbol revered by Christians - the face of Christ, his image," he said.

April 2, 2015. Vsevolod Chaplin, speaking at a round table in Moscow, expressed his conviction that Russia should implement a political system that would combine elements of a rigid centralized government and a welfare state. "Powerfulness, justice and solidarity are the three values ​​on the basis of which we need to build a system that would unite the monarchy and socialism," the Interfax-Religion portal quotes the words of a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

June 19, 2015. In an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between Church and Society, expressed the hope that calm and peace would end soon. In his opinion, too comfortable and quiet life harms society. “Secularism is a dead ideology,” Chaplin said during a discussion about the balance of secular and religious in Russia. - If a society lives in conditions of relative peace - calmness, satiety - for a certain number of decades, a couple or three, it can live in secular conditions. No one will go to die for the market or democracy, but the need to die for society, its future, sooner or later arises. Peace does not last long. The world is now long, thank God, will not. Why do I say “thank God” - a society in which there is too much well-fed and calm, problem-free, comfortable life - this is a society left by God, this society does not live long.

August 30, 2015. The Russian Orthodox Church called for a change in the "corrupt and cynical elites" ruling in Russia. This was stated by the head of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, on Sunday at the International Orthodox Youth Forum in Kazan. In early August, he already called on "youth with burning eyes" to change the elites. Now the most active "go to ISIS," he lamented.

September 11, 2015. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the synodal department of the Russian Orthodox Church for interaction with society, said that the Russian Constitution of 1993 is illegitimate. He substantiates this by the fact that the Orthodox did not participate in its discussion. Chaplin's statement was made in the release of the Tsargrad TV video blog, published on YouTube back in August.

November 11, 2015. The ROC intends to ensure that its voice is decisive in making any decisions. This opinion was expressed by Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the synodal department for church and society relations, at a meeting with diocesan departments for church and society relations. “We do not need to act as aggressors, to try to preach clericalism, that is, a system in which the clergy would rule the state. But together, clergy and laity, we have every right to have our voice, the voice of the majority, be decisive for making any decisions regarding the present and future, ”Interfax quotes Chaplin.

November 19, 2015. Chaplin urged to discuss the death penalty without regard to the opinion of the West. According to him, the fundamentals of the social concept of the ROC say that it is better to do without the death penalty if the decision to abolish it is made by society, but when there are serious security threats, people may again decide that the death penalty is possible.

November 24, 2015. Vsevolod Chaplin called for the realization of the ideals of the Caliphate in Russia. According to Interfax, the priest put the USSR, "Holy Rus'" and the "caliphate" in the same row, calling for the realization of the ideals of these systems of government today. “People are looking for justice, higher meanings, the reorganization of the world. We need to empower them to do what they want in peaceful, legal, but very direct ways. We must unite these people. We must here, in Russia, implement the best ideals of Holy Rus', the Caliphate, the USSR, that is, those systems that challenge injustice and the dictate of narrow elites over the will of the peoples.

Vsevolod Anatolyevich Chaplin - Archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church, former Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate, former member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. In early 2016, he was appointed rector of the church of St. Theodore Studite at the Nikitsky Gates of Moscow.

Childhood and youth

Vsevolod was born on March 31, 1968 in Moscow in the family of a scientist in the field of theory and technology of antennas, Professor Anatoly Fedorovich Chaplin. The parents of the future priest did not participate in the life of the Orthodox Church, and the boy came to the faith on his own at the age of 13. At school, Seva studied without much zeal, receiving low marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

In 1985, after graduating from an educational institution, he entered the service of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, after which he received recommendations from Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) to study at the Moscow Theological Seminary. In 1990, Vsevolod Chaplin became a student at the Moscow Theological Academy, from which he graduated in 1994 with the title of Candidate of Theology, defending his dissertation on the topic “The Problem of the Correlation between Natural and Divinely Revealed New Testament Ethics in Modern Foreign Non-Orthodox and Non-Christian Thought.”

Monasticism

Since 1990, Vsevolod has become an ordinary staff member of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1991, Vsevolod Anatolyevich was ordained a deacon and promoted to head of the public relations sector, where Chaplin worked for 6 years. In 1992, on Christmas Day, Vsevolod became a priest of the Orthodox Church. At the same time, Chaplin is a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches.

In 1996, Father Vsevolod was invited to a public post in the Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation and the OSCE Expert Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief. A year later, Chaplin received the post of secretary of the DECR MP in connection with the ongoing (Gundyaev) structural reorganization.

Personal life

Vsevolod Chaplin led a monastic life, he had no family or children.

Death

January 26, 2020 Vsevolod Chaplin at the age of 52. The official cause of death has not yet been announced. According to eyewitnesses, the rector of the temple at the Nikitsky Gate died in front of the church.

The name of Vsevolod Chaplin in modern Russia has been heard, perhaps, by everyone. For several years now he has been one of the most controversial, scandalous and odious figures in the world of Russian Orthodoxy. About what kind of person this is and what characterizes his priestly career, we will tell in this article.

Birth, childhood and youth

Other activities and church awards

As a priest, Chaplin is the rector of one of the capital's churches - the Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains, which is located in the Presnensky district.

Vsevolod Chaplin is a lecturer at the Orthodox St. Tikhon University, holding the position of associate professor. In addition, he is a member of the Writers' Union of Russia and the Academy of Russian Literature. Often the archpriest speaks on television and on the radio. He even regularly hosts some programs as a radio host.

As a priest, he is distinguished by extremely conservative views. Not even talking about his sharp assessment of euthanasia and homosexual marriage, Chaplin actively protests against the teaching of biology from the point of view of evolutionary positions. And some time ago he came up with a proposal to create a structure for Muslims in Russia.

His work has been marked by many church awards. He also has secular state awards. In 1996, he was awarded the Order of St. Prince Daniel of Moscow III degree. The same distinction, but already of the II degree, was awarded to him in 2010. He received the Order of Moscow Saint Innocent in 2005. Earlier, in 2003, he also received the II degree, which is an award of the Romanov dynasty. And in 2009 he became the owner of the Order of Friendship.

Statements of Vsevolod Chaplin

The priest occupies a lot of different positions and by the nature of his activity he is a public person. Therefore, it is not surprising that the constant media attention that Vsevolod Chaplin attracts to himself. His comments about certain events, phenomena and problems often cause public outcry and a wave of harsh criticism. For example, the archpriest's proposal to introduce a public dress code for Russian women caused a storm of indignation from citizens who accused him of violating constitutional freedoms. There was no trace of the former liberalism of the young patriarchal functionary, which became clear from Chaplin's call to physically destroy the enemies of the faith, defending their religious shrines. Among other things, he stated that the church forces should have unleashed an armed war against the Bolsheviks after the Revolution, and in modern reality, organize patrols of cities by Orthodox military squads. Quite eloquently about his radical, almost extremist views, Chaplin's friendship with the infamous Enteo and a more than tough stance against the punk band Pussy Riot speaks. Chaplin defends radicals who destroy exhibitions, disrupt concerts and theatrical productions, and also advocates active cooperation between church and state and the use of the latter's administrative, legislative, judicial and executive resources in church interests.

Reaction to Chaplin in society

All this created a reputation for him as a difficult, unpleasant person, who is associated with conflicts and confrontation, with the near-extremist wing of the church. In the patriarchy, he is the mouthpiece of clericalism and a symbol of the imperialist aspirations of the modern Russian Orthodox Church. He is frankly disliked not only in secular society, but also in the church itself. A huge mass of both ordinary believers and clerics, including those from the patriarch's inner circle, does not tire of criticizing him and wondering why Vsevolod Chaplin is still at the helm of public relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. Everyone answers this question differently. A significant number of people consider him only a translator of patriarchal programs, which he, for obvious reasons, cannot voice on his own. Others suggest more complex conspiracy theories or find reasons in sophisticated political technologies adopted by the current church authorities.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin is a man for whom Patriarch Kirill has done everything. We can say that he made Archpriest Chaplin. Without Patriarch Kirill Vsevolod Chaplin would not exist at all. There would be no brilliant career in the Church. And there would be an uneducated stuttering boy who does not know what to do in life, because at school he studied for twos and threes.

Now he was offended by the Patriarch of All Rus' and predicted the imminent departure of "Patriarch Kirill". But the Primate of All Rus' can only leave for the next world, and not from his post.

According to many, it was the Patriarch who brought Chaplin to the Russian Orthodox Church. He took on a highly responsible job of a stuttering boy, who was not hired anywhere due to severe speech problems, and allowed him to make a phenomenal career in the church.

Now Chaplin definitely decided that he certainly knows what God says on this or that occasion.

The future priest spent his childhood and adolescence in the Moscow microdistrict Golyanovo, he studied at secondary school No. nothing to do with religion. The Seva boy was not particularly sociable. According to the stories of classmates, Seva was always "a little strange": neatly dressed, combed, smiled a little.

Some of the classmates remembered a childhood story with a sewer hatch, which Seva, probably by accident, did not close, and another schoolboy broke his leg because of this. Apparently, Sevino's decision to "go to the seminary", which her classmates discussed for a long time in grades 6-7, forced her into her subconscious. According to their stories, "the teachers whispered to each other, but they did not show us that they themselves were in shock."

In "Patches" Chaplin describes his conversion as follows: "Even in my early school years, with some special, 'premonitional' attention, I collected from Soviet textbooks all the crumbs of knowledge about faith and the Church that were contained there." The coming to faith took place during Seva's first independent, not "on a tour", arrival at the temple, "to buy a "fashionable" then cross", after which Chaplin realized: "I will stay here." It is obvious that the temple in which young Seva discovered Orthodoxy for himself was the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral in Yelokhovo, the largest functioning temple of the ROC MP in the capital in those years. Although the closest functioning church to the place of residence of the Chaplin family was a relatively small and not very widely known Church of the Nativity in Izmailovo, where, probably, the newly converted Vsevolod looked more than once.
“The first person I spoke to,” recalls Father Chaplin, “was a very noble-looking old woman behind the box of the Yelokhov Cathedral. From her simple, but very convincing explanations, my path to Christ began.” “Soon, the late Father Vyacheslav Marchenkov performed the rite of proclamation on me, and in the summer of 1981 in Kaluga I was baptized by Father Valery Suslin, also now deceased. The baptism was performed in the hotel room where Father Valery (?!) lived – secretly from everyone , including my relatives, who did not approve of my choice at all," says the archpriest.

Seva's decision was not a secret to anyone, including teachers and the school director, and therefore should have naturally led to his exclusion from the pioneers and the subsequent refusal of the Komsomol to accept him into their ranks. Moreover, in "Patchwork" Chaplin calls his family "close to science and the party elite." At that time, the departure of a boy from such a family "into religion" was a scandal. However, according to the memoirs of the then deputy secretary of the Komsomol school committee, Olga Dolgova, she had not even heard of anything like that, although "for sure such information would have reached her." Personally not acquainted with the future father Vsevolod, she, nevertheless, believes that "in his school years, he did not show himself as a believer and trying to discuss this with anyone or guide someone on the true path."

However, perhaps the fact is that after the 8th grade, the parents transferred Seva Chaplin to the neighboring 314th school, and thus the scandal at the 836th school was avoided. But the director of the 314th school, Larisa Andreevna (now deceased), had troubles related to Chaplin's religiosity, then she was called on this occasion to the district committee of the CPSU.

Invisible forces protected Seva from retribution from the atheistic regime and helped to overcome all obstacles. When in the first half of the 1980s he came to Tula for Easter, he inexplicably went to the church through the then usual cordons of combatants, set up specifically to prevent young people from entering the service. Whether the forces that helped Seva were of heavenly or earthly origin is another mystery of his biography.

Classmates who knew Seva personally recall that "when they played war games in the yard, conquered ice fortresses, Seva did not participate in this, he said that it was bad to fight and misbehave." This statement, quite natural for a future priest, is in an interesting contradiction with the words of the already venerable Archpriest Chaplin: “Western Christianity, largely carried away by pacifism, in the face of current threats, has a future only if it teaches its followers to fight again. and die, just as their ancestors did."

In his own memoirs, Fr. Chaplin says that he almost did not study physics, chemistry and mathematics in high school, knowing that these subjects would not be useful to him in life, but he would still be given a "satisfactory" grade. According to other sources, Chaplin refused to study chemistry in the 7th grade at all. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to verify the degree of Seva's refusal from chemistry: his chemistry teacher Valentina Ivanovna Titova died in the fall of 2011.

According to the memoirs of geography teacher Galina Vasilievna Turgeneva, she noticed that in the 8th grade Chaplin began to systematically skip classes: “I once asked:“ Seva, why weren’t you at school yesterday? ”-“ I was in church, I I didn’t go out.” I say: “But it’s possible after school.” - “And I was at matins.” - “And what do you need there?” - “I’m interested there.” You understand, you won’t talk in class I say: "Okay, sit down. But you don’t have to miss classes. " According to the teacher, Chaplin achieved what he aspired to, and this causes her respect. Sometimes she sees him at the bus stop in Golyanovo. Apparently, Chaplin comes there to visit his mother, although, according to other sources, he continues to live in the same area where he was born. "He grew fat, became such a respectable archpriest, and before that he was an elegant, thin, fragile boy, modest, well-mannered, exemplary, calm, from a very intelligent family," recalls Galina Vasilievna.

In addition to the fact that Vsevolod Chaplin himself has no children, nothing is known about whether he ever had the intention of marrying. Father Vsevolod, having the rank of archpriest, belongs to the "white", that is, married clergy - the ordination of "celibates", that is, persons who are unmarried, but who have not accepted monasticism, has always been looked askance in the Russian Church. The practice of ordination of "celibates" was repeatedly condemned by Patriarch Kirill. When else about. Vsevolod worked under him in the DECR MP, the question arose more than once about his tonsure and consecration to the rank of bishop, but Fr. Vsevolod every time somehow managed to evade tempting offers. The real reasons for his rejection of monasticism are still not clear. An earlier article about Vsevolod on Wikipedia gave an unambiguously positive answer to the question of whether the priest had a family. Subsequently, however, the record was erased. Her traces lead here, where it is stated that "V.A. Chaplin is married, there are no children in the family." After the sensational statements about. Chaplin about the dress code for Russian women, Internet users are especially actively guessing: "He has no wife, he is the chairman of the synodal department, and there are only those who have the status of celibacy, that is, monks ...". "He is an archpriest, not a hieromonk or abbot. He has a wife, no children..." However, who is the wife of Fr. Vsevolod, if there is one, is unknown; nowhere in the public space were his appearances with his wife recorded. In any case, various statements about. Vsevolod on the topics of family and everyday ethics express a good acquaintance of the archpriest with this issue and give more reason to believe that he had the relevant experience, rather than vice versa. (Especially interesting experience in relations with women was demonstrated by Father Chaplin in his statement that frankly dressed and brightly made-up girls provoke men to sexual violence against themselves).

One way or another, before starting or not starting a family, Vsevolod Chaplin successfully graduated from school in 1985 and, since he was not taken into the army for health reasons (asthma), was accepted into the staff of the expedition department of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, which he now heads the late Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev), who provided patronage to a new talented employee. In parallel, in his spare time, Chaplin studied in absentia at the Moscow Theological Seminary in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he was recommended by the professor of MDAiS, Metropolitan Pitirim. Chaplin graduated from the seminary in 1990.

While serving in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vsevolod Chaplin, apparently, became a more active, sociable and cheerful person than he was at school. For example, as the archpriest himself recalls, during some boring inter-Christian meeting with the participation of foreign guests, he put on headphones for simultaneous translation for appearance, and he himself connected a tape recording with a speech by Gennady Khazanov to them.

During the years of study at the seminary, Vsevolod Chaplin became close not only to official church teachers, such as, for example, Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov), known for his ultra-conservativeness, who wittily explained to subdeacon Vsevolod, when he was late for class, the church origin of the word "bastard" as a synonym for subdeacon, whose duties included "dragging" the mantle behind the bishop. Ever since his school years, from the age of 14-15, Vsevolod was also a member of the "underground", dissident Orthodox communities: and in the community of Fr. Alexander Men, whom he calls "the apostle of the Soviet intelligentsia", and to the community of Fr. Dimitry Dudko, in whose social circle, according to Chaplin, "unlike the circle of Me, it was very easy to get into." Thus, Chaplin took care of both the “Westernizer” Alexander Men and the monarchist Dimitry Dudko, who in the last years of his life became close to the Stalinists. Many of his colleagues and classmates were struck by how Vsevolod was well-versed and informed from a very early age in the various subtleties of church life, both official and unofficial. In this sense, he was a kind of "star" and a child prodigy. Later, in one of the interviews, Fr. Vsevolod admitted that he was once fond of searching for "true" Orthodoxy and was skeptical about the leadership of the "Soviet" Church, but gradually, having figured everything out, he can testify with knowledge of the matter: there was and is no Catacomb Church, there is only one canonical ROC MP.
Vsevolod Chaplin began to speak publicly as an employee of the Publishing Department. His first performance took place in the Teleshev House in 1990, it was dedicated to Patriarch Nikon. In the early 90s, the Teleshev House was a "cult" place of the Orthodox-patriotic movement: various congresses and conferences were constantly held there, the Union "Christian Renaissance" of Vladimir Osipov met, and in the neighborhood there was an Orthodox-patriotic book store, where a lot of such things were sold, which in our time would be unequivocally qualified as "extremist literature". Probably from the circle of followers of Fr. Dimitry Dudko and the meetings at the Teleshev House drew Fr. Vsevolod, as he himself says, his "radical-fundamentalist worldview", which is sometimes quite bizarrely intertwined with the ideology of a high-ranking official church official. It is this interweaving that gives a certain outrageousness to the statements of the archpriest, especially on political topics.

According to Chaplin's memoirs, in his youth he liked to go to the monastery of Patriarch Nikon - the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery on Istra, near Moscow, where many guides were believers and did not conduct atheistic propaganda, as did their colleagues in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. According to the recollections of the listeners of Chaplin's first report at the Teleshev House, emotionally he noticeably lost out to the well-known expert on Patriarch Nikon, Archpriest Lev Lebedev of Kursk who spoke after him, who soon moved to ROCOR and wrote the pamphlet "Why I Moved to the Foreign Section", which was very popular among Orthodox conservatives of that time. Russian Orthodox Church". At that time, Vsevolod's lack of rhetoric was especially evident - he stuttered and his diction was rather fuzzy. However, later, in the late 1990s - early 2000s, Fr. Vsevolod managed to completely recover from stuttering and acquire a characteristic, specially delivered bass.

Climbing the ranks of the Publishing Department, starting to regularly publish small articles (mostly of an official nature - about the services of the Patriarch, various celebrations and anniversaries) in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate and the newspaper Moscow Church Bulletin, Vsevolod Chaplin quickly became a man, with who are consulted in the Church, who is entrusted with important assignments. So, during the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in 1988, Chaplin participated in organizing an exhibition of Christian art in Moscow, on Solyanka. Even then, he, a simple subdeacon of Metropolitan Pitirim, was called home to consult whether to exhibit art from the Patriarchal collection by Abbot Sergius (Sokolov), then Patriarch Pimen’s cell-attendant, later Bishop of Novosibirsk, who died at the age of 50.

After graduating from the Moscow Theological Seminary, the church service status of Vsevolod Chaplin changed dramatically. In October 1990, Chaplin had a falling out with Metropolitan Pitirim, who later, after the failure of the State Emergency Committee in August 1991, Father Gleb Yakunin accused of collaborating with state security agencies and putschists. After a quarrel with Pitirim, Chaplin moves from the Publishing Department of the ROC MP to the Department for External Church Relations (DECR MP), which was under the command of Metropolitan (now Patriarch) Kirill - this is the same department of the ROC MP that oversaw the excise-free cigarette business, about which the media wrote back in 90s of the last century.

Chaplin works as an ordinary employee in the Department for only a year - his talents are noticed by the chairman of the Department. At that time, young Vsevolod could sometimes be met at festive services in the Trinity Cathedral of the Danilov Monastery - fortunately, the DECR MP building is located directly opposite the cathedral. At the end of 1991, Chaplin became the head of the public relations sector of the DECR MP. True, another 7 years had to pass before he became the secretary of the DECR MP with the subsequent elevation to the rank of archpriest, and another 3 years, until in 2001 he was appointed by the decision of the Synod to the post of deputy chairman of the Department, that is, a person from the immediate environment of the current Patriarch Kirill.

Accordingly, the spiritual (priestly) career of Vsevolod Chaplin, after moving to the Department of Metropolitan Kirill, began to develop much faster than in the Publishing Department. In his free time, he is studying at the Moscow Theological Academy (he received education exclusively by correspondence - Father Vsevolod does not like to study. He prefers to teach others), where in 1994 he defended his thesis on the topic: "The problem of the relationship between natural and divinely revealed New Testament ethics in modern foreign non-Orthodox and non-Christian thought". And even before graduating from the academy, Vsevolod Chaplin was ordained first to the rank of deacon (April 21, 1991), and then to the priesthood (January 7, 1992, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ). In 1996, Fr. Vsevolod received the first church award - the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow III degree.