Russian prelate sent to Brazil as police confirm cocaine in car

Metropolitan Hilarion was once considered a front runner to become Russian Orthodox patriarch.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow issued a decree transferring Metropolitan Hilarion from the Czech Republic to Brazil Wednesday, the same day Czech media reported that a white substance found in Hilarion’s car was confirmed to be cocaine.

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev). Credit: Kremlin.ru/wikimedia CC BY 4.0.

Patriarch Kirill decreed June 3 that Hilarion would…