DMITRY DOODKO

August 4, 2001, 8.10 AM, Moscow

I've received a question about the fate of Fr. Dmitry Dudko; I think this is an important piece piece of information. Fr. Dmitry became famous in the beginning of 1970-s.

Dudko (born February 22, 1922, was a soldier during World War in 1943-1944, after the war studied in the Moscow Theological school, arrested January 20, 1948 and condemned to 10 years for anti-Soviet propaganda (falsely accused!) After Stalin, in 1956, he was released, graduated Theological Academy and was ordained in 1960.

He became a usual priest in Moscow. In 1972 he dared to include in his sermons the answers to the hot topics of the day. He even asked to call people to write to him about their questions and continued a sort of catechism through sermons. It was completely new, because other Moscow priests at that time feared to say anything about modern problems in their sermons. A lot of Moscow intellectuals came to him and were baptism by him. They saw in the position of Dudko a sort of anti-Communist opposition and appreciated this.

Bolsheviks decided that Dudko is a dissident, because he'd spoken with intelligentsia (which often was anti-Soviet) and he blamed such vices as alcoholism, and Bolsheviks stated that there is no any vices under their rule.

Dudko was arrested on January 15, 1980, when Bolsheviks decided to exterminate dissidents on the eve of Olympic Games. In June of 1980 Dudko he publicly (on TV) denounced his previous activities as "anti-Soviet." He was released. Most of his former parishioners decided that he betrayed their ideals and waited that Fr. Dmitry will repent.

Dudko never repented. Moreover, in 1990-s he became very right-winged, praising Bolsheviks and Stalin, criticizing his former friend Fr. Gleb Yakunin. He is the "spiritual director" of the most nationalistic and pro-Communist newspaper Den' (former "Zavtra".) He states that Ivan the Terrible and Stalin were the great builders of Russian State and there atrocities were the acts of Christian love.

I've visited one of the meetings of Fr. Dudko in 1973--it was in his flat, because sermons have been already prohibited. Five years ago his evolution (or devolution?) seemed a sort of exception, something exotic, but now, when Russia is ruled by KGB-man and most people think this is normal, Dudko seems to be only too typical a person.

On my site there is (in Russian only) the article of Alexander Nezhny, one of those intellectuals who've been baptised by Dudko in 1976, with bitter and just criticism of Dudko.

Yakov Krotov