A senior bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church has reportedly been defrocked due to allegations that he used money from the church to play poker. Metropolitan Nestor oversaw parishes in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and France before the church’s head, Patriarch Kirill, announced the defrocking on Saturday.
As first reported by PokerNews, Nestor has been in religious life since 1998 and received his most recent prestigious appointment in 2022 to oversee the church’s missions in large swathes of Western Europe.
his best live cash to date was $8,076
His profile on The Hendon Mob indicates that Nestor is a keen poker player. He has entered tournaments in several countries so far in 2025, including the Netherlands, France, and even Cambodia. His total live earnings are $47,182, and the best live cash to date was $8,076 at a tournament in Paris in September 2023.
Other rumors are swirling that the true reason for the defrocking was Nestor’s opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
