Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic called a threat to national security

A scandal has erupted in the Czech Republic over the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia (OCCLS). At a closed presentation at the Czech Academy of Sciences, and later in Czech media publications, the Church was presented as a threat to national security, the economy, and even potentially criminal activity. The accusations linking the OCCLS to the «pro-Russian threat» were made without providing specific evidence, which provoked a sharp reaction from the Church’s representatives.

According to the Nabozensky Infoservis website, this refers to the report «Security Risks of the Orthodox Church», which was presented on January 14, 2026, at the site of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Subsequently, religious scholar Zdeněk Vojíšek published an article titled «The Czech Orthodox Church as a Security Threat» on the Dingir website, in which he refers to this report. The article claims that the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia allegedly poses serious risks to the state.

The alleged risks cover the areas of security, economy, and crime. The author of the article connects Orthodox structures in the Czech Republic with support for Russian policies, the spread of pro-Russian narratives, questionable property management, and even possible criminal activities such as smuggling, money laundering, or the abuse of secret confession by clergy and laity. However, as emphasized in the publication, no specific case, court decision, or official conclusions of the investigating authorities were cited.

The only «evidence» of the alleged pro-Russian orientation of the Church in the article is a photograph of Archbishop Mikhail taken in 2023 with representatives of the Russian motorcycle club Night Wolves. The author uses this episode as a symbol of the political position of part of the church leadership, despite its three-year oldness.

Jakub Jiří Jukl, a member of the Diocesan Council of the Prague Orthodox Diocese, reacted sharply to the publication. In a commentary to the UOJ, he expressed «serious objections» to Zdenek Wojtyszko’s article. «I am especially outraged that extremely serious accusations are made against the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands, but at the same time no evidence is provided. Except for one thing — that Archbishop Michael took a picture with the Night Wolves three years ago. This, in my opinion, is desperately small,» said Yukl.

According to Yukl, despite the author’s reference to the report on «security risks,» the reader does not get a clear idea of what facts and evidence it contains. «One could have expected that it would be further explained why our Church allegedly poses a threat to the Czech Republic, but this did not happen,» the diocesan representative emphasized.

Jukl also said that if the Orthodox Church really posed a threat to the security of the state, its members would have the right to know about it. «If such a threat really existed, we, as members of the Church, would like to know about it in order to counter it. I am convinced that the vast majority of our Church does not want to be a threat to anyone,» he added.

In addition, the representative of the Prague Diocese denied the allegations of allegedly «significant property assets» of the Orthodox Church. According to him, the property of the Church is very modest and incomparable with the property of most other registered religious organizations in the country, including dioceses, parishes and monasteries.

As a reminder, Ukrainian schismatics formed a «chaplaincy mission» on the canonical territory of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. The actual parish of the OCU in the Czech Republic will operate in the city of Brno, and the first religious event was held on August 23, 2025. The OCU is not deterred by the fact that the opening of parishes abroad is expressly prohibited by the «Tomos of Autocephaly», which provides for the organization’s functioning only within Ukraine.