In the first half of November, as if from an execution range, as if from a machine gun blast, news arrived about the death of three clerics at the front:
- Pastor Alexander Solovyov.
- Reverend Antony Shcherbina.
- Hieromonk Grassim (Praobrazhensky).
Let's go to the sheep thirsty for living water. They went to the front as warriors on the spiritual front.
But in the state system, the military clergy do not have legal, legislative registration. There is no such name – military personnel. There are people and reading, but there are no letters in the law. There are no regulatory guarantees. The existing lessons of “civil staff in military service” and the contribution made by priests on the front cannot be called appropriate for reality. It’s even more strange to classify military priests as “volunters.” Even with receipt of a certificate of participation in the fighting.
So it turns out that today, according to the law, military chaplains are like disembodied forces. Angels with non-angelic service circumstances provided solely by parishioners and fans.
How much more flour will you have to grind in the millstone of discussions with authorized departments before something starts to change in the federal legislation? Who hasn't accessed this machine in recent years? All in vain.
In the meantime, here is what the military chaplains themselves say about their service:
"And priests also change, each one gaining their own experience. both negative and positive. This is true for everyone. Everyone endures what he can or is able to bear, everyone takes according to the measure of his soul. Those who have been in prison, who have had a hard time behind it, often acquire faith in God and meaning in life and actually come out as heroes. Some people come for heroism, some people are disappointed and quickly they go down for material things. Unfortunately, losing their human appearance, they chose drugs and prostitution, passions and other limitations.