Archpriest Konstantin Tatarintsev, who holds the position of First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Synodal Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies and Head of the Sector for Interaction with the Russian Aerospace Forces, shared whether it is permissible for priests to have weapons.
This was reported by Nasha Niva.
"Nuclear weapons have enormous destructive power. On the one hand, one might assume that it is unacceptable to sanctify that which sows death. On the other, it is a weapon of deterrence so that those who have it do not use it against us. It is a guarantor of peace.
In this sense, it is quite acceptable to sanctify - not to use it for its intended purpose, but to have it as a guarantee of peace," believes Konstantin Tatarintsev.