In Finland, Pastor Juha Molari defrocked for criticising "Kavkaz-Centre"

The leadership of the Lutheran Church of Finland has dismissed the Finnish pastor, doctor of theology Juha Molari for his criticism of the website "Kavkaz-Centre", which is close to the terrorist leader Dokku Umarov. Human rights activists from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) offer Molari to move to Orthodoxy.

"Today, by decision of the Spiritual Chapter of the city of Espoo, Juha Molari was dismissed from his post of the rector of the parish of the Lutheran Church in the Finnish city of Raseborg; he was deprived of his churchdom and lost every means of subsistence," Johan Beckman, Chairman of the Antifascist Committee of Finland, told the "Interfax" on April 14.

The grounds for his dismissal were in the fact that being a priest Molari "had no right to criticize the legal activities of the website 'Kavkaz-Centre' and assert that the site was the mouthpiece of Chechen terrorists."

On April 15, the Moscow Patriarchate expressed solidarity with the Finnish Pastor Juha Molari, who was defrocked by the Lutheran Church. "The Human Rights Centre of the World Russian People's Council is indignant with his dismissal for the pastor's criticism of the site, which is the main mouthpiece of Chechen terrorists," says the Centre's release.

In the opinion of Orthodox rights defenders, Russia should express its official attitude to what happened, give evaluation to attempts to criminally prosecute the pastor, and if necessary, to ensure his safety, the "Newsru.com" writes.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly accented the inadmissibility of the website "Kavkaz-Centre", which "is openly inciting violence, kindling interethnic and inter-religious enmity." However, in Finland the operation of this Internet resource is considered legal and permissible.