Features of the Legal Status of the Clergy in Russia

Abstract

The study analyzes the legal status of the clergy in accordance with the external church law, that is, with the current legislation of the Russian Federation. The clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia have all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the state on an equal basis with other categories of citizens. Despite the fact that the Church is separated from the state, the peculiarities of the legal status of clerics are revealed, some are associated with the granting of special rights (for example, the possibility of visiting patients and persons deprived of liberty; clerics cannot be questioned as witnesses about the circumstances that became known to him from confession), some prohibit certain types of activities (for example, the prohibition of election campaigning).