CAPELLAN CASTRENSE DEL EJERCITO RUSO MUERE EN ACTO DE SERVICIO CUANDO ADMIINISTRABA LOS SACRAMENTOS A HERIDOS EN COMBATE, UN CASO PARECIDO AK DEL P, HUIDOBRO EN DESPAÑA

 ES UNA INFORMACION DEL CANAL ORTODOX TODAY

CHAPLAIN OF RUSSIAN AIRBORNE FORCES DIES IN KHERSON

Kherson, November 7, 2022

Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev. Photo: kp.ru    

Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev, known as the “paratrooper Batiushka,” died in Kherson yesterday morning while carrying out his pastoral duties among the troops of the war in Ukraine.

Fr. Mikhail, 51, was a cleric of the Moscow Diocese, serving as rector of the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara and St. Ilia of Murom at the headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces in the village of Vlasikha, outside of Moscow, reports the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to Hieromonk Dmitry Pershin, editor-in-chief of the Sretenie TV company, Fr. Mikhail was hit by shrapnel.

He was a “courageous, resolute, and self-sacrificing pastor,” says Patriarch Kirill in his condolences. Fr. Mikhail “did a lot to affirm soldiers in the Orthodox faith and introduce them to Church Tradition,” the Russian primate notes.

“The deceased fulfilled his pastoral duty to the end, never abandoning his spiritual children, even at the cost of his own life,” Pat. Kirill writes. Fr. Mikhail served as a chaplain and on various peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, Bosnia, Abkhazia, Kyrgyzstan, the North Caucasus, and Syria.

Just two weeks before his repose, Fr. Mikhail was the guest on “Answers From a Priest” on the Orthodox TV channel Spas, encouraging Russian men to embrace the call to military duty.

“How can you relate to a woman who, having conceived a baby, kills him instead of giving birth? How should we relate to a man who shirks his military duty?” Fr. Mikhail asked rhetorically in the context of the mobilization that was announced in Russia in September and which led to thousands of men fleeing the country.

“In the same way, this man is quite likely, I dare say, to shirk his marital duties,” Fr. Mikhail said.

And turning to mothers who fear the loss of a son, Fr. Mikhail said: “I understand perfectly well that in most cases, the Lord has given every lady by nature to give birth to many children. If a lady, fulfilling this commandment of God to be fruitful and multiply therefore refuses the wide array of artificial means of pregnancy termination, then obviously she’ll have more than one baby, in most cases. This means it won’t be so painful and scary for her to part with a son, even for a while.”