“Father Dmitry Smirnov is known for his vivid comparisons and images, and we believe that in this case, while he was in live communication with those who asked the question, he was just joking,” Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy head of the synodal department for church relations with the media and the media, told RIA Novosti.
According to him, Father Dmitry is a gentle person, a kind and responsive shepherd.
“This comic phrase, of course, does not characterize this priest as capable of using violence against children,” Kipshidze noted.
At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church has always opposed methods of education that degrade the dignity of the child or damage his health, he added.
Previously, Archpriest Dimitri Smirnov, while talking with children from the Pavlin orphanage, said that he taught one of the pupils to use foul language “by giving him a mug”.
Smirnov also in an interview with kp.ru commented on his statement that "women are weaker than the mind of men."