Who is Vissarion, Sergey Torop?
SERGEY Torop, also known as Vissarion, is a Russian spiritual leader and founder of a non profit foundation.
His Christianity based religion has amassed thousands of followers, read on to discover the man behind the religious movement.
Who is Vissarion, Sergey Torop?
Sergey Torop was born on January 14, 1961, in Krasnodar, Russia.
The self proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus did not start out as the second coming of the Messiah.
When he was 18 he began his compulsory service by enlisting in the army.
He worked on building sites in Mongolia, rising up the ranks to become a sergeant.
He then did three years in Minusinsk, Siberia, working in a metal factory.
He last worked as a traffic officer, before losing that job in 1989 as the Soviet regime collapsed.
At the time of the regime’s collapse, Sergey claimed to have had an awakening.
He claims that he was reborn in 1990, taking on the name Vissarion which means “he who gives new life”.
Sergey founded his movement in 1991, which is now known as the Church of the Last Testament.
He gave his first sermon in 1991.
Sergey told the in 2002: “I am not God. And it is a mistake to see Jesus as God. But I am the living word of God the Father.
“Everything that God wants to say, he says through me.”
His movement has been described as a cult, that has several thousand followers living in remote hamlets in the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia.
Some of the members include professionals from across Russia and pilgrims from abroad.
Russian media was said to have reported that the original ideology of the cult was Vissarion claiming Jesus watched over people from an orbit close to Earth.
The original ideology also included that the Virgin Mary was ruling Russia, but he later declared that he himself was Jesus.
Where is he now?
In September 2020, Russian law enforcement descended on the cult leader’s remote home in Siberia.
It was reported that four helicopters and dozens of heavily armed troops in vans and busses swooped into the hamlet he was living in.
Sergey was arrested and taken away by helicopter while his supporters were kept at bay by the troops.
He is accused of running an illegal religious organisation, extortion and possible physical harm to others.
Sergey is believed to still be detained in prison awaiting trial.