Information Statement of the Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Astana and Almaty Diocese

Dear brothers and sisters,

We ask you to exercise vigilance and caution. On the Internet, a person calling himself “Priest John” and posing as an Orthodox clergyman is actively carrying out activities.

We inform you that under this name appears a resident of the city of Almaty – Ivan Mikhailovich Krauz (Marshansky), a former deacon who was previously defrocked by the Ecclesiastical Court for committing grave canonical crimes, including adultery.

Ivan Krauz (Marshansky) is not a clergyman, does not belong to the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, and does not have the lawful right to wear priestly vestments or to carry out any church activity. All his public statements are made solely on his own behalf. The actions performed by him have no grace-filled power.

We call upon you to preserve spiritual discernment and to exercise caution, not trusting information or appeals coming from the aforementioned person.

Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Astana and Almaty Diocese Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese.