Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov refused to say whether he is the Russian president's spiritual adviser amid concerns about church power in the country.
Tikhon, who presides over the Sretensky Monastery, quickly changed the subject when The New York Times asked him if he acted as President Vladimir Putin's guide to salvation.
"It would be cruel of me to answer this question, to say yes or no and take away the bread of journalists," he said. "Although, of course, one doesn't answer such a question about anyone."
The Rev. Georgy Mitrofanov, a St. Petersburg priest, said in September Tikhon told him personally he is not Putin's spiritual adviser.
"I think that our president's main spiritual father is he himself," Mitrofanov said.
The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the government has been put under the microscope following the recent conviction of three members of the punk band Pussy Riot, the Times reported.
The group staged a stunt at Moscow's largest cathedral, criticizing Putin and Patriarch Kirill I, the head of the Orthodox Church.
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