Primate of the Russian Church presided over the meeting of the Chamber of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize

March 28, 2017 in the Red Hall of the Cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia led the meeting of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after St. Cyril and Methodius. The meeting was attended by: Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk , Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church - Secretary of the Chamber of Trustees; Bishop of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky Pavel , chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church ; Archimandrite Nestor (Somenok), Professor of the Kiev Theological Academy ; D.M. Volodikhin, historian, writer, literary critic, publisher; V.A. Voropaev, literary critic, professor of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University; Yu.P. Vyazemsky, writer, philosopher, TV presenter, head of the Department of World Literature and Culture of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, writer, professor of the Institute of Journalism and Literary Creativity; N.V. Kotrelev, literary critic, senior researcher of the department "Literary Heritage" of the Institute of World Literature named after A.M. Gorky; S.Yu. Kunyaev, poet, publicist, editor-in-chief of Nash Sovremennik, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Award of 2013; Yu.M. Loshchits, writer, publicist, literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize 2013; V.N. Nikolayev, writer, laureate of the Great Literary Prize of Russia, member of the Writers' Union of Russia, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Award of 2012; O.A. Nikolaeva, poet, prose writer, essayist, professor of the State Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2012; B.N. Tarasov, writer, professor of the State Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky; V.V. Fedorov, President of the Russian State Library, member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art, member of the Union of Culture, Science and Education at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; S.I. Chuprinin, literary critic, publicist, editor-in-chief of the journal "Znamya"; A.V. Shchipkov, publicist, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for the relationship between the Church and society and the media . Representatives of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church also took part in the event. Opening the meeting, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who is the Chairman of the Chamber of Trustees of the Literary Prize, read out the agenda and addressed the audience with an introductory statement. "This year is a jubilee year," His Holiness said in his speech. - We recall the restoration of the Patriarchate and, at the same time, the mournful bloody events connected with the revolution of 1917. It so happened that the revolutionary events overshadowed the election of the Patriarch - in fact, the second institution of the Patriarchate, because the Russian Church elected the Primate after more than 200 years of interruption, and in the most difficult year of its history. Therefore, within a year we will keep track of the chronology of the events of that terrible time, turn to eyewitnesses, re-read documents, trying once again to comprehend the events that took place one hundred years ago. " "The revolution led to the loss of historical continuity and a lively cultural tradition. But the main tragedy of our people in the last century is the loss of the ability to correlate one's thoughts and actions with God's law, the loss of an absolute moral principle in people's lives, "the Most Holy Vladyka emphasized. "Having been subjected to a cruel social experiment, our people passed through the greatest suffering in the 20th century, and the Russian Church completely drank a bitter cup of suffering, showing many martyrs and confessors who witnessed their loyalty to the Lord and Savior, in spite of threats, torture and even death." "A serious blow was inflicted on those whom we would today call the creative intelligentsia - poets, writers, artists, thinkers. Suffice it to recall even the infamous "philosophical steamer" of 1922. However, most of them remained at home and tasted all the bitterness of ideological persecution. But all that happened in the twentieth century, this meat grinder, which grinded the whole intelligentsia, is not an organic consequence of the terrible crimes that the intelligentsia committed against faith, against God, against their people, against their country? After all, the intelligentsia was primarily responsible for the terrible events of 100 years ago, "said the Primate of the Russian Church. "Unfortunately, today we see a few significant literary works about the new martyrs and in general about the victims in the period of persecutions, although a fairly large volume of relevant documentary materials is open. I am convinced that society needs cognitive and, at the same time, morally verified works, in an accessible form, telling about this historical epoch. It is important that worthy books appear that tell about the ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church in the past century, "believes Holy Holder. "As a rule, our contemporary is more or less familiar with the names and exploits of generals and heroes, but is much less aware of the activities of those who made a significant contribution to preserving the faith and spiritual culture of our country in the harsh years of persecution. But these are also heroes! And their heroism is multiplied by the fact that they ended their lives not in the eyes of tens, hundreds or even thousands of people, but perished in torture chambers, without any hope that the truth about their martyr's death will ever be revealed, "the Patriarch continued. - Early Christian martyrs perished in circuses, and thousands of people saw it. As they say, the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity, because many have been struck by the courage of believers. But no one saw, heard, knew about the feat of the new martyrs. Therefore, it is very important that highly artistic works appear that reflect the feat of the new martyrs, so that the modern reader can understand both the depth and significance of their suffering for us living in another era. " "Unfortunately, the war of historical arguments continues even now," complained the Most Holy Vladyka. - The society has not yet been fully reconciled with regard to the evaluation of the events of a hundred years ago. Probably, the interpretations will remain different, but it is necessary to do everything so that their diversity does not provoke new civil conflicts. Too much blood was spilled, too much price was paid so that we could overcome in our current realities the consequences of the former turmoil, exclude the possibility of its impact on our lives. " "Literature for children and young people is of particular importance. Today, children and youth are immersed in their gadgets, and nothing affects social psychology in the same way as social networks. Therefore, we need to think about how the best works can be displayed in social networks, but without real participation of writers it is impossible to do this, - said the Primate of the Russian Church. - Unfortunately, our writers, as a rule, have nothing to do with what is happening in social networks. It's easy to understand, but maybe someone should step over their critical attitude and begin to act more actively in this area of ​​communication. " "Writers are the core of the intellectual and creative elite of our people. They played and should play a significant role in the processes of shaping the mindsets of our people. The great work that is carried out within the framework of our award should influence the minds and hearts of our contemporaries. God grant that it was so, "added His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Then the floor was given to the chairman of the Council of Experts of the Patriarchal Literary Prize OA. Nikolaeva, who reported on the work of the Council of Experts and submitted a short list of candidates for the awarding of the Patriarchal Literature Prize of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius in 2017 (a long list was approved at a meeting of the Chamber of Trustees on March 6). The short list includes: Bogdanova Irina Anatolievna; Volodikhin Dmitry Mikhailovich; Dvortsov Vasily Vladimirovich; Likhonosov Victor Ivanovich; Hieromonk Roman (Matyushin-Pravdin); Sporov Boris Fedorovich; Tkachenko Alexander Borisovich; Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov. A discussion was held regarding the approval of this list, which resulted in the approval of the list of nominees for the Patriarchal Literary Prize of the Seventh Premium Season. These names will be entered on the ballot paper. The names of the winners of the 2017 award will be known at the award ceremony, which will be held on May 11 this year. In the Cathedral of Christ the Savior of Moscow. Also, the composition of the Counting Commission was approved, which included Bishop Molodechnensky and Stolbtsovsky Pavel, Yu.M. Loschits, Yu.M. The Poles. The draft script of the award ceremony was presented by the Deputy Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Feoktist (Igumnov). Decisions were taken on the order of the ceremony. "I would like to thank Vladyka Clement and all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, for the work done," His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said at the end of the meeting. - I believe that we, as always, will choose the best candidates from the elected candidates by closed but public voting. I am sure that the Prize of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius undoubtedly plays a positive role, primarily in terms of popularizing and supporting our remarkable writers. Intellectual and spiritual charge of their works is very significant. " "God grant that our prize would help our contemporaries keep their faith and not lose their way in life, despite the many trials and temptations of our time," concluded His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.