Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said on Wednesday that a priest who was shot dead during the night was killed for refusing to go against his principles.

Father Alexander Filippov, 39, the archpriest of the Ascension church in the Satino-Russkoye village near Moscow, was killed late on Tuesday at the entrance to his apartment. He reportedly reproached three drunken men for relieving themselves. The men followed Filippov and one of them shot him with a handgun.

He was "murdered only for refusing to be indifferent to human filth, and for sticking to his principles, as was his duty," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said.

Father Alexander is survived by a wife and three daughters.

Police said earlier on Wednesday they had detained three suspects, including a man named Oleg Shekov, 39, an ex-convict, who had already served time for murder.

At a meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland later in the day the Patriarch said the recent crimes committed against priests in Russia still do not justify a possible re-introduction of the death penalty in Russia, where a moratorium remains in place.

"The abolishment of the death penalty provides an opportunity to help even the most dangerous criminals," he said.

This was the second murder of a priest in Russia in the recent weeks. Father Daniil Sysoyev, 34, was shot dead in his St. Thomas church in southern Moscow by a masked gunman on November 19. He was known for his active missionary work in converting Muslims and people seeking to quit religious sects into Christianity.

MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti)