A press conference was held in Moscow on the forthcoming Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church ft.com

November 22, 2017 in the International Multimedia Press Center MIA "Russia Today" held a press conference on the upcoming Bishops Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bishops' Council dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church of 1917-1918. and the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church, will take place at the cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia from November 29 to December 4, 2017. The press conference was attended by: Metropolitan Tambovsky and Rasskazovsky Theodosius ; V.R. Legoyda , chairman of the Synodal Department for the relationship between the Church and society and the media ; Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov) , Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate; Protopriest Nikolai Balashov , Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; priest Alexander Volkov , spokesman for the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The press conference was conducted by the head of the department "Religion and Worldview" of the MIA "Russia Today" O.V. Lipich. V.R. Legoida spoke about the historical context of the Bishops' Council: "It is clear that for our peoples, the year 2017 is the year when we recall the events of a hundred years ago and what followed. Of course, this is the general context of everything that is happening now. For the Church, this is primarily the time of the beginning of persecutions against the Russian Orthodox Church. " "His Holiness the Patriarch, after a service in the Donskoy Monastery on Saturday, on the day of the election of St. Tikhon to the Patriarchal throne, said that St Tikhon once knew perfectly well what times are coming, because the hard times for the Church have already begun. By the time of the election of St. Tikhon, Father John Kuchurov, the first New Martyr of the Russian Church, had already suffered, and there was an awareness of the advancing complex times, "VR recalled. Legoida. - The holding of the Cathedral is timed to the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate and the 100th anniversary of the Local Council of 1917-18. That historical context, which I have already mentioned, will also be reflected in the speeches at the Council of Bishops, and we try to ensure that everything that is important for society as a whole, not only for the Church, not only for the believers, as the church-public agenda also will be considered at the Council, so that all this is as quickly as possible with your help to everyone who is interested in it. " Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov) said that all the countries of the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church will be represented at the Council. It can be attended by 377 ruling and vicar bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as bishops who are at rest. Archpriest Nikolai Balashov added that in addition to the bishops from Russia, the Archbishops of the Russian Orthodox Church living in 22 countries will attend the Council. In particular, all the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , with the exception of one, confirmed their participation. Metropolitan Theodosius told about the significance of the Cathedral for the development of church life in the dioceses by the example of the Tambov diocese . Answering one of the journalists' questions concerning the topic of education, V.R. Legoeda noted: "The church, believers are concerned about the general state of education in our society, and not only by teaching the basics of religious culture and secular ethics. It is wrong to reduce church concerns in the field of education to teaching "own" (in quotes) subject. I repeat that we understand the importance of understanding the importance of development and education, and the scientific sphere. And this is something that you do not need to justify: you know perfectly well about the initiatives of the Church, about the attention that the Church and personally His Holiness the Patriarch devotes to this issue. In general, the educational theme, in particular, at meetings of the Supreme Church Council, is cross-cutting. That is, at each meeting of the Supreme Church Council, one of the governing bodies of our Church, issues related to education are considered. " The Chairman of the Synodal Department for the Relations of the Church with the Society and the Media drew attention to the positive aspects of the possible expansion of the teaching of the subjects of the module "Foundations of Religious Culture and Secular Ethics" in the cultural and practical aspect. "Let me remind you that these are six subjects today, of which parents choose - of course, in the 4th grade, not children still choose, but their parents: these are the four traditional religions for Russia, as well as the Basics of secular ethics - I recall that it was a proposal of the Russian Orthodox Church - and the Fundamentals of World Religions. It is clear that it is almost impossible to study this in one year. Imagine that our literature would be taught at school one year out of eleven. Therefore, naturally, we would like the study of the religious foundations of culture to be presented in the educational process broader. At the same time, we understand the congestion of the educational process, all this is taken into account in our dialogue with the Ministry of Education. " At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the study of the disciplines of this educational module allows us to master important basic concepts, so this process is comparable to mastering the language of culture, which is necessary for its perception. This is the culturological aspect. "The second point is purely practical. Knowledge of traditional religions, good knowledge of the foundations of traditional religious cultures, is, of course, the best vaccination against extremism. Because when you know this well, then it's harder to confuse you with some sort of pseudo-religious innovations, "VR explained. Legoida. "Therefore, we are in constant dialogue with the Ministry of Education and look forward to continuing and deepening this topic, but, I repeat, with an understanding of all the features that exist in the educational process," added the chairman of the Synodal Department. "There is no lobbying for church or religious interests, there is an understanding of what a modern young man should be like." Archimandrite Savva recalled that the last regular Council of Bishops was held in 2013, and last year's Council of Bishops was devoted primarily to a specific topic - the Council, which was then being prepared in Crete. "According to the Charter, the Council must meet every 4 years, first of all, in order to comprehend what happened during this period in the Church, in its internal life, in church-state, church-social issues, relations with other Churches, non-Orthodox community. These are the main tasks of the Council. Therefore, the coming Council will consider issues related to the whole palette of those by which the Church lives, "said the deputy administrator of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Council will consider the documents prepared by the Inter-Sobornaya Presence. This advisory body, which promotes the supreme ecclesiastical authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, is working on the comprehension of various topics. For many years, the Inter-Council Presence prepared, in particular, two documents - the Regulations on Monasteries and Monasticism and On the Canonical Aspects of Church Marriage. "Regulations on monasteries and monasticism" is being processed and publicly discussed since 2010. "It included thoughts about the modern monastic life, in particular, such a moment as the Internet in monasteries. Before it was not, and monasteries now live in completely different conditions than a century ago, "said Father Savva. "The Holy Synod also submitted to the Council a question about the general church glorification of some saints who used to be glorified as local people," the priest added, explaining that this issue is the prerogative of the Council of Bishops, so he will also be included in his program. V.R. Legoyda pointed to the full openness of the discussion of documents of general church significance. "They often ask about the openness of the Church. The situation with the preparation and adoption of documents that determine the life of the Church is unprecedented not only for the practice of our Church or other Orthodox Churches, but in general for the modern world, "said the chairman of the Synodal Department for the relationship between the Church and society and the media. "The project prepares an Inter-Sobornoye Presence , then a commission with the involvement of experts works on it for a long time, then it is made public for a general, general church and public discussion. The comments collected during the nationwide discussion, if relevant, are accepted and considered by the drafting groups, and then by the Inter-Council Presence. And only then the document is submitted for discussion by the Holy Synod or the Bishops' Council. Thus, the draft is filtered through an intellectual sieve of discussion, "VR noted. Legoida. Returning to the topic of church marriage, Protopriest Nikolai Balashov noted that various aspects of the council will be discussed at the Council. "How many times is it permissible to marry and whether it is necessary to consider only marriages that were consecrated by the church wedding, or those that were made in civil order in the registry office? There is no clear answer in the existing ecclesiastical law, but how to interpret the existing canonical norms in the new conditions, when there are much more marriages than are consecrated in the Church, there are different answers. The decision will be made at the Council, "Father Nikolay said. Priest Alexander Volkov told about the work of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the report, the program of the Council of Bishops, divine services and solemn events that will take place during the Council. "As for the preparation of His Holiness the Patriarch to the Council, then, of course, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church is preparing in the most serious way, first of all, to his report, which is the core component of the entire Council, setting the whole tone for discussions and discussions. Always the Patriarch, as we know, is very attentive to his public appearances, to his appeals to fellow archpastors, "said the head of the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. "Now he is getting ready for his report, he is already working with documents, with some texts that he is being offered for consideration before he makes his appeal." "I must say that for the Most Holy Patriarch the theme of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the persecutions, the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate, the 100th anniversary of the Sanctified Local Council is part of his personal history, because his family, his grandfather and father experienced persecution to our Church, "Father continued. - The Primate, on the experience of his family, knows the tragedy that the Russian Church encountered in the twentieth century. And therefore for him it is, of course, the theme of personal experiences, reflections and prayers. " The Head of the Press Service of the Patriarch also noted that the topic related to the organization of the internal church life, which Metropolitan Theodosius touched during the press conference, is also very significant for the Primate. "I want to say that this year the Patriarch visited 20 dioceses of the Russian Church, and for him it is so important to immerse himself in the diocesan life that on recent visits he changed their format and, when he comes to this or that metropolitanate, the Patriarch sets a task to visit not only the main city but also necessarily to come to other cities that are part of the metropolia in order to communicate with the inhabitants on the spot, to see the structure of church life in the newly created dioceses and metropolises of the Russian Orthodox Church and to see how much the decisions that s taken including the Council of Bishops, reach the flock, to those people to whom they are addressed. Therefore, the Patriarch, I think, will have something to share with his fellow archpastors regarding the practical implementation of those tasks that are now facing the Church, "Father Alexander said. The priest informed that on November 29, on Wednesday, before the Bishops' Council, a prayer service will be held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with the participation of all the participants of the Council. Then on 29 and 30 November, on 1 and 2 December, plenary sessions will be held. "For the most part, they will be closed to all but the members of the Council of Bishops and the smallest list of admitted persons," added the head of the Patriarch's Press Service. - I must say that, according to the experience of past Soborov, very lively and open discussions take place at these meetings. All the participants of the Council have the opportunity to express themselves, formulate their point of view and present it to their fellowmen for discussion. Sometimes there is not enough time planned by the Organizing Committee of the Council for plenary sessions, because the line from the bishops standing to the microphone is quite long and they want to share their opinion on this or that document very much. " "The Patriarch insists always on this open discussion, on the fact that the Council was precisely an exchange of views," Father Alexander said. On December 4, on the Feast of the Presentation into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the one hundredth anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Tikhon, the Council of Bishops will end with a solemn festive divine service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in which all members of the Council, the entire episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church, will take part. "The ministry of this festive Liturgy will be led by the Primate of the Local Orthodox Churches who will attend the celebrations associated with the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church," said the head of the Patriarch's Press Service. Archpriest Nikolai Balashov spoke about the participation of the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches in the final part of the Bishops' Council. "The Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church is likely, if the Holy Synod decides this way, the meeting of which will take place on the eve of the opening of the Council of Bishops, will pass its judgment on the Council held in the summer of 2016 in Crete," the deputy chairman of the DECR also noted. - For a number of reasons, as was already noted by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, that Council did not become the All-Orthodox Council, which, of course, should be regretted. At the same time, the communion of the Orthodox Churches among themselves - and those who participated in the Cretan Council, and those who abstained from such participation - continues, and a good sign of this is the arrival of the majority of the Primates of the Local Churches in Moscow. " Participants of the press conference, responding to a number of questions from media representatives, in particular, presented in detail the alleged agenda of the Bishops' Council, which will be finally approved by the Council itself. According to Protopriest Nikolai Balashov, the Council will consider the possibility of general church glorification of saints, who before that were revered only in Ukraine. "Among the saints who, perhaps, will be glorified as a church-wide worshiped at the upcoming Bishops' Council, as we expect, a number of devotees who have worked in Ukraine," the DECR representative said. Father Nicholas also answered questions related to the intensification of persecutions against Christians. "Attraction of the world's attention to the tragic situation of persecuted and persecuted Christians in a number of countries, especially the Middle East and North Africa, during the period between the Bishops' Councils will undoubtedly be the subject of consideration at the Council," the representative of the DECR believes. "The Council must evaluate what has already been done by the Russian Orthodox Church in this area and what must be done." "In addition, the presence of the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches representing the Middle East region at the closing of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church is an additional motivation to address this very important issue for our Church," the cleric concluded.