A Russian priest who held Navalny’s memorial service is suspended by Moscow church

By The Associated Press

A priest who oversaw a memorial service for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been suspended for three years by the head of the country’s Orthodox Church. Dmitry Safronov held a memorial service at Navalny’s gravesite in Moscow on March 26 to mark 40 days since the politician’s death, an important ritual within Russian Orthodox tradition. An order on the Moscow diocese website demoted Safronov from his position as priest to that of a psalm-reader and stripped him of the right to give blessings or to wear a cassock for the next three years. No reason was given for the decision, which was signed by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.