Name Vsevolod Chaplin | Parents Anatoliy Chaplin | |
Similar Andrey Kuraev, Anatoliy Chaplin, Dimitriy Smirnov |
The Very Reverend Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin (Russian: Всеволод Чаплин; born 31 March 1968 in Moscow) is a Russian celibate priest of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). He was the chairman of the Synodal Department for the Cooperation of Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate from 2009 to December 2015.
Contents
- Biography
- Committees
- Public statements
- Relationship with Patriarch Kirill
- State awards
- Church awards
- Other awards
- References
Chaplin is a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and rector of St. Nicholas on the Three Hills Church, Moscow. He was also deputy head of the World Russian People's Council until 29 December 2015.
According to opinion polls, Chaplin was the most recognizable person in the Russian Orthodox Church, after the Patriarch Kirill (data from 2013 year) and has a mass media reputation of an ultra-conservative cleric.
Biography

Vsevolod Anatolyevich Chaplin was born on 31 March 1968 to the family of an agnostic professor of radio engineering Anatoly Chaplin . He went to school in Golyanovo, Moscow.

After he finished secondary education in 1985, he joined the staff of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. On recommendation of Metropolitan Pitirim, he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, graduating in 1990.
From October 1990 to March 2009, he was in the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, beginning as an ordinary staffer (1990-1991) before moving into public affairs (1991-1997), then being secretary (1997-2001) and vice-president (2001-2009). At the same time as being in the DECR, he continued studies at the Moscow Theological Academy, defending his thesis and graduating in 1994.

He was ordained to the diaconate on April 21, 1991, and to the priesthood on January 7, 1992. He was elevated to archpriest in 1999. In 2009 he was appointed chairman of the newly created synodal department for the Cooperation of Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate.
On 24 December 2015, by the decision of the Holy Synod he was released from this position of head of the Department for the Cooperation of Church and Society, the latter being merged with the Information Department headed by Vladimir Legoyda. Chaplin was also removed from the Interconfessional Council of Russia.

Shortly after his dismissal, Chaplin gave a series of interviews which were sharply critical of Patriarch Kirill who he said would "not last much longer". In March 2017, he described people who fled to the West as traitors and expressed support for the killing of "traitors".
Committees
In addition to his other work, Fr. Vsevolod was or is a member of:
Public statements
Fr Vsevolod's role as Chairman of the Department for the Cooperation of Church and Society means that he makes public statements on religion and ethics, including:
Relationship with Patriarch Kirill
Vsevolod Chaplin is one of the closest and loyal people of Kirill for many years, said the former Patriarch Alexy II, congratulating him with the birthday in 2008 year. They both were the main developers of The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation calls Chaplin: "Patriarch Kirill's right-hand man" (2014 year).