Krasnoyarsk, Russia, September 25, 2020
The Russian Orthodox Church is reaching out to offer spiritual support to members of a long-running cult whose leaders were arrested on Tuesday in the Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Sergei Torop, Vadim Redkin, and Vladimir Vedernikov led the so-called Church of the Last Testament from 1991 until their arrest. Torop, under the name of Vissarion, claims to be the reincarnation of Christ. The three will be charged with “creating a religious association whose activities involve violence against citizens, causing serious harm to two or more persons,” reports RIA-Novosti.
The “Church’s” teachings are an apocalyptic mix of paganism, veganism, Orthodoxy, Hinduism, and many other influences.
“The Church expressed its concern about this man’s activities from the very beginning. So what’s happening now was expected. We are concerned about the people there, who fell under the influence of this man… If necessary, specialists will provide moral and spiritual support,” said Andrei Skvortsov, the head of the Krasnoyarsk Diocese press service.
The Church of the Last Testament was founded in 1991 by Sergei Torop. In 1995, his followers founded a settlement in the Kuraginsky District, the so-called City of the Sun. Members of the community also live in many localities of the Kuraginsky and Karatuzsky districts in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Krai.
According to investigators, Torop, Redkin, and Vedernikov used religious activities to take people’s money and also used psychological violence against their followers, which resulted in some suffering serious long-term effects.