Without fail, when one finds a homophobic holy man, there is a good chance he is a con artist using anti-gay sentiment to increase power and fortune. Never has this been more true then in Russia, where Patriarch Kirill I was busted for not exactly living like Jesus. According to the New York Times:
Editors doctored a photograph on the church’s Web site of the leader, Patriarch Kirill I, extending a black sleeve where there once appeared to be a Breguet timepiece worth at least $30,000. The church might have gotten away with the ruse if it had not failed to also erase the watch’s reflection, which appeared in the photo on the highly glossed table where the patriarch was seated.
The church apologized for the deception on Thursday and restored the original photo to the site, but not before Patriarch Kirill weighed in, insisting in an interview with a Russian journalist that he had never worn the watch, and that any photos showing him wearing it must have been doctored to put the watch on his wrist.
The controversy, which erupted Wednesday when attentive Russian bloggers discovered the airbrushing, further stoked anger over the church’s often lavish displays of wealth and power.
If this wasn’t bad enough, the excuse for the cover-up was a disgrace:
The church, after removing the doctored photo, blamed photo editors in its press service for the “technical mistake.”
“A gross violation of our internal ethics has occurred, and it will be thoroughly investigated,” the church said in a statement. “The guilty will be severely punished.”
Yeah, whatever.
So, basically this creep is working to ban homosexuality in St. Petersburg in the name of morality, while stealing the peoples’ money to enrich himself and wear king-like jewels. Then he and the church blatantly lie about the watch and botched cover-up.
Have these disgusting hypocrites no shame?
Will someone arrest this thief and put him in jail?
