Russian Patriarch Insulted over 'Silver Shoe' Award

The Russian Orthodox Church became insulted with a "Silver Shoe" award, similar to the U.S. Razzie Award, that was given to Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, who during the ceremony was called by his ordinary name Vladimir Gundyaev, Ria Novosti informs.

“Insulting the patriarch, and this is an insult, is an insult to every member of the Russian Orthodox Church, every baptized Orthodox Christian,” Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said.

Spokesman of the Patriarch Deacon Alexander Volkov said that by giving the award, the organizers “crippled their souls.” In his opinion the awards ceremony was “a joke.”

Answering a question if the Patriarch responded to the event and if anyone from the church accepted the “shoe,” Volkov said that “of course, His Holiness Patriarch did not respond to such buffoonery. And even more there is no need to take something of their unscrupulous clowns' creativity,” the head of the Patriarch's press service added.

Patriarch Kirill won the Silver Shoe for “the immaculate disappearance of his watch.” In April on the website of the Patriarchate, there appeared a retouched image of the Patriarch without his luxury Breguet watch worth some $30,000. At the same time a reflection of his watch could be seen on the table top.