A document adopted at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on December 27, 2024, aims to streamline the practice of banning clerics from service or deporting them to staff, as well as clarify the status of clergy deporting them to staff with the right to transfer to another diocese when changing diocesan bishops. In addition, it talks about the formation of a single database of banned and minor clerics.
The Regulation on the Practice of Banning Clerics from Ministry and the Removal of Clerics from the Staff states that when a cleric is punished with a ban from the priesthood, the following must be specified in the relevant decree: the reason for the ban, the church's legal justification (reference to canons or other church legal sources), the period for which the ban is imposed. When a prohibition is imposed on the basis of a decision of the diocesan court or the diocesan council, the relevant information is included in the decree.
If an accusation is made against a cleric, the confirmation of which may lead to an eruption from holy orders, or in other exceptional cases, a pre-judicial prohibition may be imposed on the cleric, and the relevant information is included in the bishop's decree. A meeting of the diocesan court or the lifting of the ban in the priesthood due to the lack of evidence of the charge must take place within two months from the date of the issuance of such a decree (an extension of the period is possible in exceptional cases with a notification of the circumstances to the Moscow Patriarchate Affairs Department).
Upon the expiration of the period of prohibition, the cleric is prohibited from serving by decree of the ruling bishop. However, if the cleric remains unrepentant, the term may be extended by a separate decree. In case of persistent unrepentance, the diocesan bishop may initiate the issue of defrocking a cleric. If, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop, the cleric has brought worthy fruits of repentance before the expiration of the sentence, the punishment may be lifted prematurely.
If a cleric submits a request for his removal from the staff with the right to transfer to another diocese, the diocesan bishop issues a decree stating, in particular: "You hereby resign from the staff of such and such a diocese with the right to transfer to another diocese, but without the right to serve outside the diocese entrusted to me until I send a temporary business trip document or a letter of leave to another diocese. If you are unable to serve for three months, you are prohibited from serving with the right to apply for reinstatement in the clergy of the diocese entrusted to me or for an extension of your stay with the right to transfer to another diocese."
If a bishop is ready to accept a minor cleric from another diocese into the clergy of the diocese entrusted to him, but intends to test him beforehand, he sends a corresponding request to the diocesan bishop of the cleric. In case of a positive response, a temporary business trip order is issued. In case of successful completion of the probation period, the diocesan bishop requests a letter of leave for the cleric and his personal file.
A cleric may also apply for his retirement due to illness or age. In granting the request, the diocesan bishop indicates in the decree that, as the clergy retire, they are blessed to perform divine services in a certain church in consultation with the rector. When moving to the territory of another diocese, a cleric may ask the local diocesan bishop to accept him into the clergy of the diocese as a retired cleric. In this case, the local diocesan bishop may request a letter of leave and a personal file for the cleric, and then issue an appropriate decree.
The Regulation adopted by the Synod clarifies: "Letters of leave with the right to transfer to another diocese may be issued to clergy solely on the basis of a written request from the diocesan bishop wishing to receive a cleric to the diocesan bishop in whose canonical jurisdiction the cleric is located. If a letter of leave is issued without a written request from a bishop who wishes to receive a cleric, such a letter is declared invalid, and the cleric must continue to serve in his former place."
A letter of leave is not issued to a cleric, but is a document sent from one diocesan bishop to another. When sending a letter of leave, the original of the cleric's personal file is attached, and a copy of the personal file remains in the archive of the diocese from which the cleric received the letter of leave. The letter clarifies that the cleric is not under ecclesiastical court, investigation or prohibition in the priesthood.
The document reflects the specifics of the status of clergy discharged from the staff with the right to transfer to another diocese in the event of a change of diocesan bishop: if, by the time of the relevant decision of the Holy Synod, a letter of leave has not yet been issued on the basis of the bishop's decree, it is annulled, and the reissue of the order remains at the discretion of the newly appointed bishop. Control over compliance with this procedure is assigned to the Moscow Patriarchate's Affairs Department as part of the procedure for handing over and accepting cases in dioceses when a bishop is replaced.
In order to form a unified database of banned and minor clergy, when a cleric is banned or de-staffed, diocesan bishops will have to send a copy of the relevant decree and the cleric's track record to the Moscow Patriarchate's Office of Affairs. If a letter of leave is sent to a minor cleric in another diocese, the Moscow Patriarchate's Office of Affairs must be informed about this in order to exclude the cleric's name from the database.