A Simpsons episode in which Homer plays a version of 'Pokemon Go' in a church service has been pulled by a Russian TV channel after clerics said it was offensive.

The ban comes after a popular Russian vlogger was imprisoned to three-and-a-half years in jail after he filmed himself playing Pokemon Go in a Russian Orthodox Church.

In the Simpsons episode, Homer wanders into the local church, playing 'Peekimon Get' with the character Jeffrey Albertson, known as 'Comic Book Guy'. When the two are asked to refrain from their game, Albertson says 'Look, this game is – or at least was – bigger than Jesus'.

Reverend Lovejoy responds: 'Hmm. It's a pretty low bar these days'.

Leaders from the Russian Orthodox Church complained to the cartoon channel 2x2, who then withdrew the episode, according to Russian news source RBC, cited by the Daily Mail.

The incident comes after Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, last August posted a video online of himself playing Pokemon on his mobile phone inside Yekaterinburg cathedral, a church built on the spot where the last Russian tsar and his family were killed in 1918.

In the video, which contains strong language mocking Christianity, Sokolovsky likens Jesus Christ to a Pokemon character and says he had decided to play the popular game inside the church because he had seen a news report saying people who did so could be fined or jailed.

Sokolovsky, an atheist, was then charged by state prosecutors with inciting religious hatred. He told the court he was 'in shock' at the prosecution.

'I have been in jail, I was there for three months, and it is the doorway to hell,' he said.

'I do not consider myself an extremist, maybe I'm an idiot, but not in any way an extremist.'

Amnesty International described his detention as 'a farcical attack' on freedom of expression, and Russian Orthodox church leaders called for his release.

The court is expected to issue a verdict on Sokolovsky on May 11.