Metropolitan Hilarion was arrested by the Czech police. Drugs were allegedly found in the cleric’s car. The man was sent to a pre-trial detention centre. The bishop himself denies involvement in banned substances and claims that he has recently received threats from unknown persons. In 2024, Hilarion was removed from the diocese due to allegations of molestation. “Moscow Evening” found out what the Metropolitan is famous for and how drugs can end up in his car.
Hilarion arrested in the Czech Republic
Metropolitan Hilarion was arrested in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary on May 24. Police cars surrounded the cleric’s car and stopped it shortly after he left the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul. First, law enforcement officers checked the documents of the Metropolitan and his driver, and then began searching the car.
According to Metropolitan representatives, Hilarion’s car was taken to a gas station convenience store while the vehicle was searched. He was then informed that four small containers containing a white substance had been found in the trunk of the car. The suspicious boxes were sent for examination, and the Metropolitan was transferred to the police station.
— He was formally charged with a crime – possession of drug paraphernalia. On this basis, he was detained and placed in pretrial detention, and all his personal belongings were confiscated.” One of the assistants Hilarion.
At night the lawyer visited Bishop W Russian Consul. On the morning of May 25, the cleric was interrogated again, this time with the participation of the defense lawyer, the prosecutor, the judge, and the consul.
Reaction to Hilarion’s arrest
Hilarion categorically denies any involvement in the white powder found in his trunk. He described the investigation procedures as provocative and demanded verification of the legality of his arrest. The priest also confirmed this Willing to cooperate With investigation within the framework of the law.
“I have nothing to do with illicit drug trafficking and have never had any. For me, as a clergyman, to even assume such a thing is completely wrong. I insist on a complete, independent and procedurally flawless verification of what happened,” the Metropolitan said.
Representatives of the clergy described the police’s actions as suspicious. Security forces allegedly immediately began searching the trunk of the priest’s car, “as if they already knew where to look.” Law enforcement officers also did not invite witnesses and did not record the search on camera, even though they should have done so. In addition, before his arrest, Hilarion began receiving anonymous threats.
— This incident was preceded by a long period of pressure on Metropolitan Hilarion and the Orthodox community in Karlovy Vary. According to the bishop, in recent months he has repeatedly received anonymous threats, including threats of physical harm, demanding that he leave his place of service. These threats, according to the defense, do not appear to be an ordinary internal conflict. It was politically charged: its authors linked Metropolitan Hilarion’s presence in Karlovy Vary to his Russian origin, his affiliation to the church, and his service in the temple of the Moscow Patriarchate, the historian says. cable-Priest channel.
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has not yet commented on the Metropolitan’s arrest. The Czech side has not yet reported the investigation measures against Hilarion to the Russian authorities. This was announced by the press secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov.
To a similar question from journalists, he answered: “We don’t know anything about this.”
What is the Metropolitan famous for?
The secular name of Metropolitan Hilarion is Grigory Alfeev. Born in 1966 in Moscow. He graduated from the music school, entered the Moscow State Conservatory, but in the same year he was called into the army. After the service, he returned to his studies, but after less than a year he dropped out and entered the monastery. Later, he graduated in absentia from the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy. Alfeev also studied at Oxford University and obtained a Ph.D.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Alfeev was at various times rector of four churches in the Vilna Diocese and the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Lithuania, and taught in Russia, Sweden and Vilnius. In the early 2000s, he served as bishop in Great Britain, Belgium, and Austria-Hungary. He also hosted the programs “Peace in Your Home” on the TVC channel and “Church and Peace” on the “Russia 24” channel.
In 2009, Alfeev became Archbishop, and a year later – Metropolitan. From 2009 to 2022, he headed the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church and was Dean of the All-Church Graduate School. In the same period, he was rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” on Bolshaya Ordynka Street in Moscow. He has also been a member of the Supreme Council of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2011, and in 2018 he became President of the Scientific and Theological Educational Society, which united the leading universities in Russia where there are theological programs.
In 2022 FIFA Appointed manager Hungarian Archdiocese of Budapest, Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary. He was named in church circles as a possible successor to Patriarch of All Russia Kirill. Alfeev was a media personality and often gave interviews to various media outlets. For example, in December 2025, he talked about how he baptized American actor Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa, who starred in Mortal Kombat.
Harassment allegations
In July 2025, Metropolitan Hilarion found himself in the middle of a scandal. Georgi Suzuki, the 18-year-old cell guard, accused the man of harassment. According to the young man, the cleric allegedly stripped him of his underwear and slept with him in the same bed. When Suzuki wanted to leave the temple, Hilarion began to threaten him.
The Metropolitan called Suzuki’s words slander and blamed his mother for everything. According to Hilarion, the woman sent her son to him specifically to collect incriminating evidence and subsequent blackmail.
– After offering me her son, she hoped to sneak out herself and live out the rest of her days at my expense. When I realized it wasn’t going to work, I made a plan to cut off a large sum of money from me through criminal means,” he says.Kommersant» Hilarion’s letters.
Budapest and the Hungarian Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate as well He denied the accusations Concerning Hilarion Despite this, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church remains DC removed From the diocese. His new place of service was the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary.
In October, the court arrested Sverdlovsk priest Yevgeny Pinchuk on charges of justifying terrorism. He allegedly expressed his “respect” for the Russian Volunteer Corps*. He had previously been fined for defaming the army.
*The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.