Vissarion

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Vissarion
Vissarion during the Sunday Teachings
Personal
Born	Sergei Anatolyevitch Torop (1961-01-14) 14 January 1961 (age 63) Krasnodar, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Religion	Last Testamentism
Nationality	Russian
Parent(s)	Anatoly Torop and Nadia Malashenko
Profession	Spiritual Teacher
Organization
Church	Church of the Last Testament
Senior posting
Profession	Spiritual Teacher

Sergei Anatolyevitch Torop (Russian: Серге́й Анато́льевич То́роп, Sergej Anatolʹevič Torop; born 14 January 1961), known as Vissarion (Russian: Виссарио́н, IPA: [vʲɪsərʲɪˈon], "He who gives new life" or "life-giving"), is a Russian spiritual teacher and founder of the non-profit, religious organization Church of the Last Testament, described by many organizations as a cult.^[1][2][3]

According to the followers of Sergei Torop and some of his own explanations, on 18 August 1990, at the age of 29, Sergey had a “spiritual awakening”.[1] He gave his first public teaching after awakening in Minusinsk on 18 August 1991.

He founded the Church of the Last Testament (Церковь Последнего Завета Tserkov Poslednego Zaveta), also known as the Community of Unified Faith, with its head church located in the Siberian Taiga in the Minusinsk Basin east of Abakan, in the small settlement called Abode of Dawn (official name) or The Sun City (unofficial name) near Petropavlovka. Since then, the Christianity-based religious movement has amassed more than 10,000 followers around the world with around 4,000 living in the few settlements in Siberia near Vissarion.[2][3]

As Vissarion, he teaches reincarnation, veganism, and harmonious human relations predicting the end of the world.^[3]

Since 1991, on the basis of Vissarion's meetings, teachings and speeches, a multi-volume text called The Last Testament has been written, outlining a set of principles focused on self-improvement, self-governance and community.^[4]

In September 2020, Vissarion and two of his close students were arrested and taken away from homes by helicopters during an operation by Russia's Investigative Committee. The Russian authorities accused them of “creating a religious group whose activities may impose violence on citizens” — Vissarion's arrest may have been part of a broader campaign against non-conformist religious groups by the Russian government. As of 2021, Vissarion and the two others were being kept in prison in Novosibirsk. No trial has yet been scheduled and the community has continued operations.^[5][6]