Anatoly Strelyany:

At the end of last year, the World Russian People's Council took place in Moscow. Muslims, Jews, communists, and almost outright fascists spoke, but it was organized by the Russian Orthodox Church, and most of the participants declared themselves Orthodox. However, this was not a church council in the strict sense of the word; bishops and priests were in the minority. First of all, the attitude towards the West and everything in Russian life that comes from the West was discussed. The democratic public reacted coolly to the event, and the speeches of high church officials were said to be unnatural, even mocking. What's the matter here? Where is that conciliarity, that special unanimity, which Slavophiles of all times interpret as an exclusively Russian property and phenomenon? How does ideal conciliarity relate to real Councils?

Yakov Krotov:

For the first time, the World Russian Council, then without the addition of “people’s”, was convened in December 1993. Then his meetings came almost unnoticed, because they were too stormy political events in the fall of '93. For the first time, the public and newspapers paid attention to the World Russian Councils at the end of 95, this was the third World Russian Council. Then, for the first time, the Prime Minister of the country, Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin, took part in the meetings of the Council. There were also sharply negative reviews about the Council at that time, and there were also apologetic ones in (mostly) government newspapers. And now - the sixth World Russian People's Council, the first at which Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke. Of course, attention to the Council increased accordingly. But here’s the difficulty: who should we ask for an opinion on what happened at the Council? After all, this is not a council of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, but still the majority of speakers are hierarchs, the patriarch himself opened the council. And people who are loyal to the patriarch, of course, think before criticizing him, and before praising him. And therefore, our program today will feature people who are members of alternative Russian Orthodox churches. There are quite a lot of them in Russia now, they are not only Old Believers, there are also arch-conservative Orthodox groups, for example, the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church "Renaissance" arose, among its members are priest Gleb Yakunin and Archbishop Kiriak Timertsidi. And another participant in our program is Hegumen Innokenty Pavlov, in the early 90s an employee of the Department of External Church Relations, biblical scholar and theologian.

When it comes to the World Russian People's Council, the first question that arises is: how free is this meeting? After all, it was the church people during the 60s, 70s, 80s, as they themselves later admitted, who were not free, the Soviet, Bolshevik, atheistic system dominated over them, and people made compromises in order to They explained that ordinary believers could retain the opportunity to attend churches and pray with others. But if a person has been unfree in one situation for many years, to what extent can one talk about freedom now? And what has changed qualitatively, to what extent was this reflected in the meetings of the World Council?

Innokenty Pavlov:

A person is spiritually free to the extent that he strives for it. And I, for example, knew people in those years, including people who held certain church positions, but who were spiritually free, and there was this field of freedom around them. As for those characters who participated here, I will tell you about this that, if we speak along the line of Metropolitan Nikodim, but Metropolitan Kirill, who is responsible for the organizational side of these parties, he really is both his successor and the continuer of his line. Sometimes in intellectual circles you can hear: oh, he deviated from his line, he was such an ecumenist, so open, but this one is instilling in us something so contrary to this. This is wrong. The fact is that Nicodemus was (in a certain sense) a political opportunist, let’s call things by their proper names. Another thing is that, for example, in the Catholic Church he liked, I would say, what I would call the term hierarchism. In fact, I agree with Bishop Vladimir Krivoshein, he did not know the Catholic Church, and not in the sense that he did not know its history, the names of the popes, the dates of their pontificates, no, he knew that, he had a good memory, but did not know her inner life. And his ideal was an influential church with strong centralized power. Now we are also strengthening the power vertical. This prospect awaits us sooner or later, and there will also be the idea of ​​strengthening the vertical of church power. At the same time, he understood that in Russian conditions, own strength There’s not much to count on: neither in terms of material and human resources, nor in terms of historical tradition. And the same Kirill once told me that in a narrow circle of his people he sometimes liked to say (in the mid-80s): “Wait, we will live to see the time when Politburo meetings will begin with the “King of Heaven”.” . That is, his hope was for a change in the historical paradigm, when the place of Marxism-Leninism would be taken by what I call “Orthodoxism,” not to be confused with Orthodoxy.

In the new historical conditions, now (first of all to name Metropolitan Kirill) they are trying to pursue this line. Moreover, as we see, it finds understanding in the government leadership that we need something to fill the so-called ideological, sometimes called spiritual, vacuum. People, apparently, did not read the Gospel, because in principle there cannot be a spiritual vacuum. Because, you know, if the upper room is swept out, then seven evil demons will come.

Yakov Krotov:

It just so happens that in today’s Russian Orthodox Church there are primarily two factions fighting. And the names of Cyril and Methodius personify this struggle. Cyril and Methodius are two bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bishop Kirill is the Bishop of Smolensk, Bishop Methodius is the Bishop of Voronezh.

For the general public, this struggle manifests itself in the form of an exchange of feuilletons. Vladyka Methodius of Voronezh is represented in the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" by journalist Sergei Bychkov, and so he speaks sharply critically about the World Council, because he does it (as he writes): "an Orthodox showman, Vladyka Gundyaev." “And at the same time,” writes Sergei Bychkov, “ important detail at the opening of the Cathedral, there was a greeting from President Vladimir Putin,” emphasizes Sergei Bychkov. “It is known that he is a church-going person, and when meeting with the Patriarch, he always accepts the blessing. Having met Comrade Gundyaev at the presidium of the Council, he shook his hand and once again emphasized that he perceived him, first of all, as a successful businessman.”

Journalists representing Metropolitan Kirill in the press are more numerous. This is Alexander Korolev in the newspaper "Trud" and the newspaper "Arguments and Facts". Many people know Metropolitan Kirill from his television speeches about faith and the church. At the same time, Bishop Kirill’s side refrains from such aggressive attacks on Bishop Methodius of Voronezh. There is no unity in the Russian Church, and there is great concern about unity. The President, opening the Council, said: “It is not enough to unite the efforts of states; we need social unity. I consider the direction of the work and basic ideas of the Council as a clear manifestation of the positions of Russian civil society.” The representatives of the church themselves at the Council said - His Holiness the Patriarch: “Russia and the entire Orthodox civilization should become one of the decision-making centers in the world.” And here are the words of Metropolitan Kirill: “Russia should become one of the centers of the modern world order.” What do such speeches say and how realistic are such tasks?

Gleb Yakunin:

After all, I was also in politics then, starting in 1990, I was an influential deputy in the Committee on Freedom of Conscience. And I know Yeltsin’s position. The authorities are to blame, of course, and Yeltsin is largely to blame for dissolving them. I cannot say everything in detail, but I once had a personal conversation with Boris Nikolaevich, despite all his mistakes, I deeply respect and honor him. And yet, you know, there was an opportunity to truly reform the church, but he clearly did not go for it, although he perfectly understood what the Moscow Patriarchate stood for, what it was. But do you understand what Yeltsin did? Yeltsin, not being able to quickly reform the country, having colossal positions, decided to do with the church the same way as he did, for example, with the military, with officials, that is, excuse me, he gave the opportunity to steal to anyone who was not too lazy. Do you remember this scandal with the Torpischevsky Sports Fund, and a similar situation occurred with the Moscow Patriarchate? Oil exports opened up, then diamonds, and they were almost involved in fishing. Banking system of the Moscow Patriarchate?

The specificity of a person’s religious life is when he receives some enormous benefits, he believes that the Lord God strengthens him, he receives some kind of power. For a believer, this charm is understandable, and people think that they are really gaining some kind of enormous authority, influence, and that God is calling them. And it is not for nothing that the highest hierarchy of the Russian Church is at the head of the World Russian Council, and they spiritually lead this World Russian Council.

The communists dreamed first of the USSR, then of taking over the whole world, but they failed. But maybe through our president Putin, who became a devout Orthodox Christian? As stated, for example, by the Izvestia newspaper, Archimandrite Tikhon is called the president's confessor. And, apparently, they are now dreaming of creating such a model, President Putin, maybe he will implement such an idea. Moreover, this will no longer be just a clericalization of Russia, of the whole world, but it will be something theocratic - as if governing the whole world under the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. All these speeches (especially by Patriarch Alexei at the last World Russian Council) speak of such incredible claims, such a spiritual haze, which our church leaders are obsessed with. But I’ll tell you that all this is terribly reminiscent of “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish.” And there is our church, which was broke. It was not enough for her that she received a house, became a pillar noblewoman, she needed a goldfish, and in this case, the function of a goldfish should be performed by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, so that he would be on her errands, and the Moscow Patriarchate is would be the mistress of the sea. This is the picture that is emerging.

Yakov Krotov:

At the Council there were many statements that said that the church is called to be the leader of the people. Here is Metropolitan Gideon of Stavropol: “The ancient godless principle is turned against us: divide and conquer. This is not how the Lord teaches, this is not how Orthodoxy teaches, calling us to unity.” I note that here, in a strange way, separated by commas, as if these were some separate phenomena, it speaks of Christ and Orthodoxy. And further - Metropolitan Gideon: “Terrible temptations are far from being overcome. They will not be overcome until we overcome divisions in society, until we unite around holy Orthodoxy. Those who do not want unity in Christ will inevitably come to godless unity in Antichrist." And, of course, the question arises: “Why then were Muslims, representatives of the Jewish community of Russia, invited to the Council?” How did it feel for them to hear the words that “those who do not want unity in Christ will inevitably come to godless unity in Antichrist”? Is this why many reviews of the Council, even in print, said that there remained a feeling of some theatricality and insincerity. It's as if people don't say exactly what they mean. How sincere were such speeches?

Kiriak Timertsidi:

The insincerity lies in the fact that everything here is built on sand, because it does not correspond to the universality. First, the Russian Orthodox Church controls a very small percentage of the population. These symposiums, these councils, they began in 1948, when it was the 500th anniversary of autocephaly. Then it was gathered by Stalin - they wanted the Moscow Patriarchate to take all Orthodoxy under itself. They wanted all Orthodox cathedrals under the auspices of the restored patriarchate. And then - under all the changing regimes, in the sense of managers, both under Khrushchev and under Brezhnev, they gathered in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and invited representatives of all religions under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate. And they boasted that they had great influence not only on the Soviet Union, but also on the Eastern bloc and so on. And here they are - the bearers of truth. How can any part of the church, even if it is legitimate, be the bearer of truth? And this is great pride, this is fundamentalism, which does not understand its place both in the church and in the world. And, of course, it’s a terrible thing if the first impression, when you turn on the TV, and the same audience is sitting there, is that if such influence goes to Putin, he will be a big loser. Because this public is known to everyone both in the Orthodox world and in the Christian world, it has no respect and trust, relations with the Greek Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, not to mention others, are very strained. Because there is hypocrisy and pride, and even the idea is being hatched that, of course, Moscow is the Third Rome. Islamic fundamentalists have the same exorbitant claims, contrary to the Koran, contrary to classical Islam, Islam. Of course, they will lead to the collapse of public life, if they want to lead, and, of course, to the collapse of real faith.

Yakov Krotov:

Muslims and Jews were invited to the World Russian People's Council, but representatives of Russian Catholics were not invited, and Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz was not present. Perhaps because the Russian Islamic community is deeply divided. And Imam Tajuddin, whom many Muslims do not recognize, was invited, but Imam Gainuddin was not there. There was one of the chief rabbis of Russia, Adolf Shaevich, but there was no alternative chief rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazer. There were no Catholics at all. The resolution, the address of the Council says, for example: “Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists survived great troubles: wars, revolutions, atheistic persecutions, emerging from them as a united people.” What, Catholics didn’t experience these troubles? It turns out, according to this terminology, that if a religion is not folk, but purely personal, then it does not count. And so Archbishop Augustine of Lvov, representing the Russian minority in Western Ukraine, spoke at the Council. He sharply criticized nationalism, Ukrainian nationalism, against the fact that in Ukraine “state structures were proclaimed to be the highest value. The national idea,” said Bishop Augustine, “is not the basis on which the issue of unity and reconciliation of Christians can be resolved. There is no other way.” there would be a need for a New Testament and the coming into history of our Lord Jesus Christ." And suddenly, at the end of his speech, the same Bishop Augustine said: “Russia will only attract other nations, including Ukraine, when it remembers Bogdan Khmelnitsky.”

Where then is our Lord Jesus Christ? Or was he eclipsed by Bogdan Khmelnitsky? Why involve other nations? The World Russian People's Council did not adopt any specific resolutions; it adopted only one appeal. And therefore it is difficult to say whether he will be able to influence real life Russian society. But what was said at the Council certainly reflects the ideas and sentiments of very real church leaders, although they relate directly to the dogmatic, doctrinal content of the Christian faith.

The speeches at the Council caused internal and often external resistance among many Orthodox Christians in Russia, and caused delight among some. A conflict situation is created. How should a believer act in it? How should atheists respond?

For the first time such meetings attracted public attention in December 1995. Now the Council was devoted primarily to discussing the problems of terrorism and civilizations. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk, speaking at the Council, said: “It is worth talking about the conflict of traditional values, including religious ones, with secular-humanistic ones. It is the non-religious, de-ideologized liberal standard that is offered to the world community as a universal model for organizing the life of a state or an individual.”

At the same Council, Chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia Ganichev said: “Our fellow citizens, under the guise of civilized enlightenment, have been attacked (in books, television films) under the guise of the latest manifestations of culture by a clip of mysticism, murders, horrors, robberies, pornography, violence that corrupts people, "especially young people, bringing them to a state of bestiality. It's time to start preparing society for a new September 11th, which will not be prepared for us by the bin Ladens." I note that here, from the point of view of a religious person, it is quite strange that mysticism is on a par with pornography, robbery and horror, because, in fact, faith and religion are mysticism. But the very idea that all troubles are primarily due to Western secular humanism, how can it be assessed?

Gleb Yakunin:

What is secular humanism? The world is developing, really developing in the sphere of the rights of society, the rights of the individual, the rights of the people. The great turning point occurred after the collapse of the totalitarian fascist regime. Speaking about secular humanism, our conservatives are trying to fence themselves off from European values, because (ultimately) the question is: are we a European country or not?

Peter the Great still tried to prove that this European country. Putin now faces this most difficult problem. There is no turning back for Putin; it is no longer possible to retreat. Therefore, they also understand this very well; they resist as much as possible. The Moscow Patriarchate itself has now actually turned, I would say, into such a totalitarian sect with a powerful vertical of power. The Council took place, which speaks about freedom of conscience, which is absolutely unacceptable for the world community. “The affirmation of the legal principle of freedom of conscience indicates the loss of religious goals and values ​​by society, mass apostasy, that is, retreat, and actual indifference to the church’s cause of victory over sin.”

We agreed to such terrible things.

Putin took a great step, a courageous step, when he said that America is the greatest country, that New York is a great city. He struck at the very heart of our fundamentalism. Because, starting from our, excuse me, “father of the Taliban,” Metropolitan John, they kept saying - 666, New York, these are all Jewish Masons, Zionists. They are all against the world, against Russia! The Jews want to destroy Russia! These are literal quotes.

If the civilized norms of the United Nations declaration, the European Declaration of Freedom are implemented here (including freedom of conscience), the Moscow Patriarchate will not be able to exist in these conditions. That is why they so stubbornly resist all these reforms and try to portray that their path is special, that under no circumstances should we follow the path of unity with Europe. Although our great Pushkin, look, we can see in the personality of this great, brilliant poet how a Russian person, a Russian patriot can be at the same time one hundred percent European. This is the path our Galina Starovoitova walked, who was baptized, who became a believer before her death. There are a lot of intellectuals, not to mention our Chaadaevs, Slavophiles, who followed this path of combining, for example, Russian ideas with European ones.

Yakov Krotov:

It was widely reported in the press that the Council discussed the problem of international terrorism. But this discussion was quite specific. Here is the speech of Archbishop Augustine of Lvov: “The terrorist attacks were remembered here, but somehow it all seemed one-sided. I think it should have been on a larger scale, in the context of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to remember, in the context of Vietnam, how enriched uranium was dropped on people.” Speech by cinematographer Burlyaev: the Taliban were punished - it’s good, but “the time has come to punish with the same severity those who kill a person spiritually, taking hostages, corrupting his consciousness.” And here is the appeal of the Council, the final document: “Whoever claims that only his worldview is universal, progressive and universal to mankind is opposing himself to other people, for he is trying to push them to the margins of history. It is unacceptable to suppress the will of humanity and society for the sake of a vague future prosperity, provoking thereby creating an inevitable response." Then it turns out that all the troubles are the result of the provocations of Western secular humanism. That the Taliban were merely provoked, and thus their guilt is reduced, is a response from people who are defending their culture. How justified is this formulation of the question?

Kiriak Timertsidi:

In the West, there are big problems with spirituality, and big problems with the cadre of clergy in all faiths. But here we have only one arrogance: that we are Orthodox, that we protect Orthodox values. We have lost these values. We don’t care about people socially, and at the same time we don’t feed them any spiritual values. Therefore, we kind of open our mouths and say that all this rot came to us from the West - this is completely unfair. Works there Catholic Church, Protestant churches they work, they feed the people, they have a truly public ministry, a real liturgy in action. But we don’t have this. And in difficult years, they went by all means to meet our persecuted Christian world and transported here the Bible, the Word of God, and literature. Very positive. Why then do millions of people go there in order to liberate themselves and work creatively? People are running away from a terrible totalitarian regime, from a hopeless regime. And not only for the sake of physical food, but also, of course, to live creatively and develop.

Yakov Krotov:

Speaking at the World Council, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensky said: “The world will soon demand the ideals of self-restraint, the priority of the spiritual over the material, sacrifice and duty over consumerism and selfishness that are characteristic of Russian civilization.”

Innokenty Pavlov:

They say that people are completely incapable of sacrifice. I know Kirill very well as a typical consumer, a lover of comfort, a lover of good cars, good clothes, in modern youth language, good church gadgets. So, when all this sounds, I, like Stanislavsky, could shout: “I don’t believe it!”

Why are these conversations happening? This is a demonstration of an inferiority complex. That is, I want to be a consumer myself, I want something good to be produced, and for it to be enough, so that it is accessible to the broad masses, so that everything is quiet and calm. But it doesn’t work. Moreover, these conversations are not clear to whom they may be addressed? The people will not understand this, we will call a spade a spade. Well, they hang out among themselves, don’t trust each other, perform literary etiquette, in the words of Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev. What about going out and being with these people? Go to military unit, go to the factory, go to the dead state farm and talk there about sacrifice!

Yakov Krotov:

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk said: “The conflict between liberal humanism and the so-called civil faith, that is, patriotism, is obvious. We, and not only us, but most nations modern world believes that it is better to die defending the homeland by force of arms than to allow it to fall apart or be enslaved. This means that in our society there are values ​​that morally exceed the price of our life. We have a lot to teach the current fast-paced world."

Innokenty Pavlov:

A person would rather sacrifice his life for his home, for the country where he is the owner, and for the country that protects him. The ideology of our sovereignty did not give morale. Let's remember how in the first days and months after Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, entire formations of Red Army soldiers surrendered. Let's remember this real facts, no one denies them, everyone knows and everyone recognizes them. So here everything is exactly the opposite. The more freedom a person has, the more he values ​​it, first of all, economic freedom, that is, what makes a person an owner, when a person has something to fight for.

Yakov Krotov:

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said in an interview with the newspaper “Arguments and Facts”: “The revival of morality is not only a matter for those in power. This should become the concern of each of us. Society will change if we turn off the TV when there is a film promoting debauchery, crime, hostility if we stop a reckless drunkard, a drug addict, a hooligan, or a lewdly dressed woman on the street.” Of course, this call to rein in a lewdly dressed woman is something new; until now the Holy Patriarch has not called for such a thing in his speeches. Leaving aside the legality of such calls, can toughening state policy, personal attitudes, and personal behavior help cope with the bad things that are coming from the West? Yes, by the way, is this rot coming only from the West?

Gleb Yakunin:

We had all this in one form or another (even during the harshest Stalinist dictatorship). The Lord Jesus Christ came to the Ancient world when it was probably in the very stage of its final moral decay. That's all it was in Ancient Rome, and in Ancient Greece. The Lord allowed it, and the gospel basis is that he said: “let both the wheat and the tares grow until the appointed judgment.”

They definitely want to eradicate the tares and build the Kingdom of God under the leadership of the World Russian People's Council, to build such an iron structure in the style of the Great Inquisitor.

Yakov Krotov:

Many Orthodox Christians have left the Moscow Patriarchate over the past ten years. As they themselves say, they could not stand the mockery of themselves, they could not stand the fact that church leaders make irrational statements and try to command in areas where there is no need to command. They are trying to enter into an alliance with the government that the Christian conscience cannot approve of. I note that most people leaving the Moscow Patriarchate go nowhere at all, they simply don’t go anywhere, they just stay at home and quietly pray to God there. Moreover, in the provinces it is often impossible to find any alternative Orthodox group, and not everyone wants to go to the heterodox, to Protestants or Catholics. People prefer to remain inside the Moscow Patriarchate, to endure with clenched teeth. By what criteria can Orthodox Christians advise their co-religionists to determine and build their relationships with church hierarchs when a person’s conscience dictates that one or another hierarch violates some ideas of decency, rationality, mocks common sense and is drawn into a political showdown?

Kiriak Timertsidi:

I’ll say it straight out, categorically, or so it sounds, but the way I feel is that, of course, a self-respecting person cannot be in this structure. This should not be a structure, not an organization, but a real organism of the body of Christ. Why does the Lord say: He who has ears, let him hear? We must have ears, eyes, and see. When there is such a terrible atmosphere, when, okay, the KGB men, the FSB men are doing their own thing. But when the hierarchy is widespread, are the highest hierarchs involved in this snitching? Terrible behavior that cripples souls and future shepherds by its example - this is a terrible thing. A self-respecting person will not be in this. Another thing is Father Gleb and Father Alexander Men, other wonderful clergy, they were at one time in the bosom of the Moscow Patriarchate, but, as they say, “they came from us, but they were not ours.” We had a protest from the student bench, normal person the one who reads the Word of God cannot, because everything diverges from the covenants of Christ. How can a normal person perceive? You can’t speak badly about the dead when, for example, it’s the millennium of the baptism of Rus', there’s a press conference, foreign journalists are here, His Holiness Pimen is dead, Gromyko is sitting on one side, and the dead man is calling on us all to return to Leninist standards of life, not to the covenants of Christ. And this continues. This is groveling before the authorities, or such pride that the rulers are next to us.

But the church must be above politics, not of this world. The persecuted church, on the contrary, wins. What is it famous for? Here all rottenness grows by leaps and bounds. Yes, we can tell who comes to us. Let me give you an example. An intelligent person, graduated from foreign language, smart, about forty years old. I am his confessor, but he had to go to church. He went to confession, the Nativity fast, it was recently, and the young priest tortured him: “How do you fast, by what rules?” He says: “I’m fasting, I’m cleansing the body, I’m fasting and adding it to Christmas or Lent.” “How? Are you doing this? This is demonic! But how did Christ go hungry for forty days? What is Christ, what are the apostles?” And he couldn’t restrain himself, he said: “Fuck you, you goat!” I say: “Why didn’t you know?” This is what this shepherd got, he should be a psychologist, see who came, how to talk to whom. This is a terrible picture.

We, of course, propose, the Orthodox Apostolic Church "Renaissance", made a declaration that, of course, we are not inventing anything, we must return to the sources, that is, to the scriptures, to the words of Christ, which should be, check everything and sift through sieve of Christ.

Gleb Yakunin:

The situation may be completely different in different cities, in different villages, but somewhere in a village or city, where there is no alternative, a person can walk. Despite all the harsh criticism, for example, they excommunicated me from the church because I told the truth, demanded that the money that was stolen be returned, demanded that those who collaborated with the State Security repent. But, nevertheless, I, like most alternative churches, because in Orthodoxy there are many very small, perhaps, but alternative churches that believe in the same creed, and we still recognize grace. The most important thing is that in the Moscow Patriarchate we do not deny the presence of grace. No matter how bishops, patriarchs, clergymen sin, no matter what moral level is seductive, grace still flows through it. Therefore, we must proceed from this. Therefore, when there is a need, you have to go. The one in the catacombs, I don’t remember, either Bishop Afanasy or Alexey Mechov, said this: “You know, you go to church, take communion, communicate less with priests who teach you what is contrary to your Christian principles ".

Yakov Krotov:

These were the opinions of people who left the Moscow Patriarchate. But here is a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate, albeit a supernumerary one, Father Innocent. If a hot-tempered young man comes to confession to a priest of the Patriarchate and says: “Father, I can’t stand this mockery, I can’t. I’m about to leave, don’t be angry.” What advice could you give to such a young man?

Innokenty Pavlov:

Now I don’t often have to engage in pastoral practice, mainly among my own people and a narrow circle. But I remember my parish ministry, when these parties were just emerging; perhaps they were not very noticeable then. They came to me different people, and these were people of different views, relatively speaking, patriots, and, relatively speaking, liberals, although it is not clear why a liberal cannot be a patriot and vice versa. And you know that I can say that to the extent that people were nevertheless sufficiently churchly, they very much separated their spiritual life and the actual mystical life of the church from all this scum. It’s hard for me to imagine such a situation, although I fully admit that it could happen now. As a church historian, I can say: “Dear friend, there were long periods in the history of the church, and periods when there were holy fathers-teachers and devotees of piety, but in which there was much, much more tempting than what we see now ". It is true that it was said, if I am not mistaken, by Friedrich Engels that history has a tendency - once as a tragedy, another time as a farce, but now we are dealing with a farce, and we will treat it accordingly.

November 1, 2016 in the Hall church councils cathedral of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, the opening ceremony and plenary session of the XX World Russian People's Council on the topic “Russia and the West: dialogue of peoples in search of answers to civilizational challenges” took place.

The meeting was chaired by the head of the VRNS, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Present on the presidium of the Council were: Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna; Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate; Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk; First Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Deputy Head of the VRNS, Bishop Savva of the Resurrection; First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation S.V. Kiriyenko; Chairman of the Writers' Union of Russia, Deputy Head of the VRNS V.N. Ganichev; Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation V.D. Zorkin; Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu.Ya. Gull; Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation V.R. Medinsky; Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation I.A. Yarovaya; State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation G.B. Karasin; Deputy Head and Head of the VRNS Secretariat O.A. Kostin; Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations S.A. Gavrilov; Chairman of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Grand Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin; rector of Moscow state university them. M.V. Lomonosova V.A. Sadovnichy; executive director for manned space programs State Corporation "Roscosmos", Hero Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the ARNS, cosmonaut S.K. Krikalev; other officials.

Hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, leaders of factions were invited to participate in the work of the Council political parties State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, representatives state power, law enforcement agencies, leaders of public associations, senior clergy traditional religions, figures of science, education and culture, delegates of Russian communities from near and far abroad, numerous representatives of the public.

The meeting was broadcast live on the Soyuz TV channel.

The moderator of the Council is the deputy head of the VRNS V.N. Ganichev made an opening speech and announced the XX World Russian people's council open. The National Anthem of the Russian Federation was played.

Then His Holiness Patriarch Kirill made a report.

Greetings from the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin was announced by the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation S.V. Kiriyenko. Then he gave a short speech in which he noted the importance of the VRNS as an important discussion platform where current problems of public life in Russia are discussed.

On behalf of the participants of the Council, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill congratulated S.V. Kiriyenko with his recent appointment to the post of First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia.

Greetings from the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev was read by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation V.R. Medinsky.

Presentations on the theme of the XX World Russian People's Council were made by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation V.D. Zorkin and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation I.A. Yarovaya.

State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation G.B. Karasin announced the greeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S.V. Lavrova.

V.N. Ganichev read out the decision of the Bureau of the Presidium of the World Russian People's Council to award the VRNS Prize for 2016 “For contribution to the preservation of peace, the fight against international terrorism and Christianophobia” to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S.V. Lavrov.

Greetings from the Mayor of Moscow S.S. Sobyanin was read by the head of the Department of National Policy, Interregional Relations and Tourism of the City of Moscow V.I. Suchkov.

Presentations on the theme of the Council were also made at the meeting by: Executive Director for Manned Space Programs of the Roscosmos State Corporation, member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the ARNS S.K. Krikalev, leaders of Russia's largest political parties G.A. Zyuganov, V.V. Zhirinovsky, S.M. Mironov, member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the VRNS, first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media A.V. Shchipkov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on International Affairs L.E. Slutsky, Chairman of the Board of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Education and Science V.A. Nikonov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations S.A. Gavrilov, Supreme Mufti, Chairman of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia Talgat Tadzhuddin.

In conclusion, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church again addressed the councilors:

“At the end of our work, I would like to sincerely thank all participants for the words that I heard, for the mood that was present in the hall.

Next to me is Valery Dmitrievich (Zorkin - ed.), since the beginning of the 1990s we have been at various World Russian People's Councils, and we agreed that everything that we see now is fundamentally different from what was in the past. Valery Dmitrievich said wonderful words: “The country has become different.” And indeed it is.

We still face many problems, but it is clear that a worldview consensus is emerging in society, which did not exist in the 1990s and even in the early 2000s. We went through this internal struggle worldviews, views, approaches, which was akin to a civil war. By the grace of God, we were able to prevent a bloody civil war in the early 1990s, but these internal contradictions weakened our people and our state. Today, under the influence of many factors, which were also discussed here, the mentality of our society has radically changed. This does not mean that everything has calmed down, that there are no contradictions. They exist and, of course, they will exist, but the vast majority of people unite around those values ​​that were so wonderfully formulated today in the speeches of the majority of our speakers. I would like to sincerely thank both the World Russian People's Council and our people for all this.

The Bureau of the Council has prepared the text of the conciliar word, which fully corresponds to everything that we heard here today. In addition, the sections that met yesterday also sent some amendments and proposals that were included in the text. We do not now have the opportunity to hear this document, but I can testify that it reflects the absolute unanimity that was demonstrated here, within these walls, at the 20th World Russian People's Council, which reflected on the difficult topic “Russia and the West: dialogue of peoples” in search of answers to civilizational challenges."

God grant that the thoughts expressed here, our aspirations, our hopes and prayers come true, and that the threat of war recedes, so that people understand the simple thing that it is possible to live in peace only if the God-given moral nature of man is not destroyed. Everything is secondary, this nature is primary, from which laws, philosophy, and thoughts grow that can unite people. But if a person challenges this nature and destroys it, he takes the path of self-destruction. It is remarkable that today, at the beginning of the 21st century, the World Russian People's Council said what it had to say to its people. For this I sincerely thank you and close the meeting of the 20th World Russian People’s Council.”

As a result of the forum, the Council Word of the XX World Russian People's Council was adopted.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

Photo by Vladimir Khodakov

Description:

The World Russian People's Council is the largest Russian public forum. It has existed since 1993, over the course of these years it has been a public square and a meeting place for people, some of whom are not for-vi-si-mo from political views, united by a single goal - for-concern about the present and the future Russia plays a significant role in the formation of civil society.

Its meetings are traditionally attended by representatives of all branches of government, leaders of public associations, the highest clergy of traditional religions of Russia, military leaders and military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and representatives of other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, teachers and students of the largest educational institutions countries, scientists and cultural figures, delegates of Russian communities from near and far abroad, numerous youth representatives.

According to the charter of the VRNS, the head of the Council is His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', with the blessing and under whose chairmanship annual council meetings are held.

From the moment of the creation of the Council until December 5, 2008, the head was. Since February 1, 2009, the head of the Council has been His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

The deputy heads of the VRNS are O.A. Kostin.

The Presidium and Council of the VRNS include well-known Russian politicians and public figures, representatives of the world of science, culture and education, military leaders, compatriots from near and far abroad. In the work of the VI ARNS, held in December 2001 and dedicated to the topic “Russia: faith and civilization. Dialogue of eras”, the President of the Russian Federation took part. The activities of the Council find a lively response among many compatriots; Currently, there are several regional branches in Russia.

On July 21, 2005, the World Russian People's Council was granted special consultative status with the United Nations. At the same time, the VRNS Representative Office to the UN was created, designed to ensure interaction between the Council and this international organization.

On March 14, 2015, a meeting of the First Kaliningrad Forum of the World Russian People's Council (VRNS) was held in Kaliningrad. The opening of the meeting was led by the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. The portal's regular author, Deacon Vladimir Vasilik, shares his impressions of this event with the site's readers.

On March 14, I had the opportunity to participate in a meeting of the World Russian Council, held in Kaliningrad. This place was not chosen by chance. By expression His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, here are the boundaries of our Fatherland, not only physical, but also spiritual. Indeed, the former Koenigsberg, the heart of East Prussia, the center of German militarism, has become Kaliningrad, a Russian city, for 70 years now. However, we see that over the past 20 years the pressure of a united Europe, primarily Germany, has been increasing on it in order to occupy it, if not militarily, then spiritually.

The Russian Federation made a significant contribution to the preservation of Kaliningrad as a Russian region. Orthodox Church, and first of all, His Holiness the Patriarch, then Metropolitan of Kaliningrad, on whose initiative dozens of parishes were built and opened.

Patriarch Kirill’s speech pleased with its clarity, clarity, sincerity, but above all, its content. He clearly defined the core of Russian civilization - the Russian people, and called Orthodoxy its spiritual heart in the integrity of its teachings. The latter is extremely relevant, given the repeated attempts to distort and replace Orthodoxy in Lately.

The moral and spiritual guidelines of Orthodoxy, according to His Holiness the Patriarch, prevent the suppression of the freedoms of other peoples. Orthodoxy has always stood on the defense against proselytism, but has not pushed the Russian people to deprive other peoples of spiritual freedom. Orthodoxy has never encroached on the freedom of people professing other religions. It is with attempts to trample on God-given religious freedom that, in the opinion of His Holiness the Patriarch, the catastrophe in fraternal Ukraine is connected. The religious origins of the conflict are clear enough.

The basis of culture is not monuments, not stones, not roads. These are people

A special place in His Holiness’s report was occupied by the theme of the 70th anniversary and the national-religious identity of the region. According to the Patriarch, the Germans owned this land for 700 years. And Russia has owned it for only 70 years. The German past has a serious influence - there are different monuments, place names, and traditions. And there is a temptation to build an identity on a German basis. But the basis of culture is not monuments, not stones, not roads. These are people.

Many of the achievements of the “gloomy German genius” are associated with the Drang nach Osten ideology, which is unacceptable to us. It was with this ideology that the Germans approached Grunwald and Lake Peipsi. The German consciousness, the Patriarch noted, is characterized by a division into higher and lower races. The aggressor blasphemously covered himself with the sign of the Cross, on which the Savior died for all nations.

And His Holiness the Patriarch asks the question: how could a substitution of values ​​occur? How did the priority of a proud mind arise over an open heart, the will to power over humility?

In the year of the 70th anniversary Great Victory we cannot follow this deceptive path - pushing aside spiritual values ​​​​under the onslaught of material and material values. A person without the priority of spiritual values ​​turns into an animal, because all the taboos laid down by God in human nature are destroyed.

The stones lying here cannot be given more importance than the people who live here, and the material cannot be preferred to the spiritual.

Seventy years of Victory is the seventieth anniversary of the Kaliningrad region, Kaliningraders are the heirs of the Victory.

The Kaliningrad region is not only a strategic outpost against the German Drang nach Osten, but also a place of dialogue with the West, introducing our spiritual values ​​into the dialogue.

Russia retains its Christian foundation. She has something to say to the world

We are for an honest dialogue, the Patriarch noted. The once common Christian foundation is being destroyed in Western Europe. Russia still retains its Christian foundation. She has something to say to the world.

His Holiness the Patriarch did not at all call for rejecting Western experience. , Lomonosov, Bolotov show that you can learn a lot of useful things from the West. However, useful things can be learned from both the Chinese and the Arabs. However, when borrowing, we must resolutely protect our identity.

The Kaliningrad region is Russian land, rightfully belonging to the Russian people, who have made enormous sacrifices in the name of saving the whole world, including Germany. It is necessary to develop this land as Russian, without rejecting, but also without emphasizing the German heritage, said Patriarch Kirill.

To carry out the Russian beginning, His Holiness proposed a number of measures, namely: the creation of Russian landscapes and, in particular, the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in honor of His Nativity.

The Patriarch called on Kaliningrad residents to be not just an outpost, but also a creative laboratory, because this region is the island of our testimony to the Christian values ​​by which the Russian people lived. His Holiness expressed the hope that this will help return Europe to its Christian roots.

The speech of His Holiness the Patriarch was met with warm support and was repeatedly interrupted by applause. In fact, they were offered the creation of a creative laboratory where a genuine meeting of the West and the East would take place with the goal of churching the West. The Patriarch drew the attention of the forum participants to the fact that St. Petersburg is only a Western city in appearance, but in essence it is Russian, Orthodox. Kaliningrad should become the same.

In the speech of Deputy Chairman of the State Duma A.D. Zhukov, who announced the greeting of State Duma Chairman S.E. Naryshkin, the following thought came through: we must give a proper response to Europe, first of all spiritual. And the activities of the World Russian People's Council are of particular importance in this matter. A second important idea was also voiced: Kaliningrad must definitely feel support in Russia and Russia’s care for itself.

The speech of the mayor of the city, the mayor of Kaliningrad S. A. Yaroshuk was interesting and profound. He recalled the deep connection between the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory and the storming of Koenigsberg. As the commandant of Koenigsberg, General Otto von Lyash, once said, the loss of Koenigsberg is the loss of a fortress and stronghold in the East. It is symbolic that the assault on Koenigsberg took place on . Just as the Annunciation is a harbinger of Christmas, so the storming of Konigsberg is a harbinger of Victory.

A. S. Yaroshchuk said that the Soviet experience of history is the invaluable experience of our people. However, not everything should be borrowed from it, in particular the ban on private initiative. We believe that everyone owes us - the governor, the president, God. And we often recall the nine lepers who did not thank Christ for their healings. To receive, we must give - work, profession, skills, culture. And only if we give, we have the right to ask.

The speaker called for an active fight against evil. For the triumph of evil, he noted, only one thing is needed - for good people to sit with their hands folded. It is our duty to teach people to resist evil. For seventy years our people have shown an example of active struggle against evil, brotherly love, and self-sacrifice. We must be worthy of our ancestors.

S. Yu. Glazyev’s speech was of an economic nature. He touched upon the status of Kaliningrad as a free economic zone, which is poorly compatible with the provisions of the Eurasian Economic Community. The speaker also touched upon changes in relations with the European Union: of course, they represent problems and challenges, but also a reason for developing competitiveness.

Europe, as a Christian region, has exhausted itself. And not all Europeans like it

The presidential adviser noted that, although he is ready to go to war with us, not all members of the European Union share this opinion. And in this situation, Kaliningrad can become a center of spiritual resistance and development, based on our traditions. Europe as a Christian region has exhausted itself. The Kaliningrad region is surrounded by anti-Christian Europe. And not all Europeans like it. Under these conditions, the Kaliningrad region can become a center of attraction for those Western Christians who want to leave Eurosodom. Accordingly, it becomes possible to overcome the technological embargo. Kaliningrad can become a center for the creation of new technologies, where joint research centers and universities will be created, open to those specialists who feel bad in Eurosdom.

According to S. Yu. Glazyev, the way out of the current political impasse is the implementation of the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation on a single economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

The report of Lieutenant General of Foreign Intelligence, Director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, L.P. Reshetnikov, was devoted to political and national problems. According to the speaker, war has been declared on Russia both by the United States and America’s closest allies. We face difficult years of confrontation. We are not just a country, we are not just a state, we are a civilization. We are rising as a possible alternative to the crumbling post-Christian world. That's why they won't leave us alone. We will experience pressure, being drawn into an armed conflict.

Unexpected murders are already happening, we may be threatened with coup attempts, information campaigns, sensationalism, gross interference in our internal affairs.

To be Russian means to be one not by blood, but by spirit

According to the speaker, the most main question– this is the “Russian question”. To be Russian means to be Russian not by blood, but by spirit. The Kaliningrad region is, of course, a Russian region. The whole question is: how will we behave in this situation?

The speaker cited Ukraine as a negative example. He wondered where the 25 million Russians in Ukraine had gone? Why did they disappear, dissolve? And he answered: they experienced a loss of identity. IN Soviet years residents of the Ukrainian SSR were raised as representatives of a republic separate from the rest of the Union, in fact, residents of a separate state. L.P. Reshetnikov shared with the participants own experience, telling how his classmates at the Kharkov school - Armenians, Jews, Russians - perceived their separateness, and then, in the 90s, demonstrated hostility. The speaker urged not to get carried away by the peculiarities and specifics of the region. As a result of this hobby, young people can and do leave the national idea and issues, as they did in Ukraine.

The lieutenant general recalled that the Kaliningrad region is the historical homeland of the dynasty (boyar Andrei Kobyla was from Prussia, whose son Fyodor Koshka is the founder of the House of Romanov. He was nicknamed Prus). Three Russian emperors visited Konigsberg. The fields of Prussia are stained with the blood of Russian soldiers in the First World War. The speaker especially noted greatest feat of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War, adding that we have a thousand-year deep history.

The Church's efforts alone to preserve the Russian people are not enough.

A federal program to support the Russian people is needed

According to L.P. Reshetnikov, the greatest modern task is caring for the Russian people. Revolution, Civil War, repressions, the Great Patriotic War led to huge human losses. Transcaucasia, middle Asia The Baltic states absorbed a lot of Russian human resources. The efforts of the Church alone to preserve the Russian people are clearly not enough. A federal program of support and savings for the Russian people is needed.

The task of supporting the Russian people is of global importance. Other nations are waiting for the Russians to take their place, since Russia from time immemorial has fulfilled its purpose as the Holder. However, for this it is necessary that Russians become Orthodox, since, according to Dostoevsky, a non-Orthodox Russian is rubbish, not a little man.

The speaker cited the very characteristic words of Henry Kissinger: “We must stop making Europeans out of Russians. They still don't format." When asked what should be done with Russia then, Kissinger replied: “Russia should be divided into 15 states.” To prevent this from happening, the Russian people must be united and Orthodox.

The report of Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin was interesting and conceptual. He asked a fair question: to what extent is Europe as a community capable of clearly positioning itself in relation to the values ​​that shaped it? In Russia, the answer to this question is given: our politicians say that there are values ​​that are unchangeable. We need to offer our own spring, the “European Spring”. And this will be the spring of Christianity, where Christian values ​​will be revealed.

A Christian lives not by calculation, but by truth.

It would seem, how is this possible? The chill of social pessimism may stop the coming of this spring. However, many times in the history of our people, pessimism reigned in the souls of our fellow citizens. But it was not the pragmatic, but the ideocratic formulation of the question that changed the situation. It is necessary to reject despondency and fight it in the media. Of course, we may be asked: “Who are you to revise the axioms modern life? And our answer will be simple: we are Orthodox Christians, we are strong because of what is eternal. By the way, it is precisely due to eternal values ​​that Muslims defeat Western intellectuals in discussions. Many countries are strong in military and economic terms, while others more money, higher ratings (however, the question arises: who are the judges?), but we have the right to say - a Christian lives not by calculation, but by truth.

We may lose information war– enemies have stronger resources. But people see the truth. Dialogue with Western elites is a dialogue without preconditions. We will not conduct it in the value format that the West offers us. We will unpack prohibited concepts - freedom, faith, conscience, democracy.

In his report, a specialist in the field of state-confessional relations, Chief Editor portal “Religion and Media” A.V. Shchipkov touched upon the national issue, in particular such a sensitive and hushed topic as its political and academic aspects.

In 2012, S. E. Naryshkin, justifying his decision not to go to the PACE session, said: “Russophobes are unlikely to hear my word.” In the West, Islamophobia and Judeophobia are concepts recognized as existing. But Russophobia is not. Meanwhile, the history of this concept stretches back to the 19th century, from the treatises of F.I. Tyutchev. Accordingly, we need to take action to protect Russians both from the outside and from the inside. Similar tasks were set by V.V. Putin in his article “Russia and national question"and in his Crimean speech. The Russian people are the greatest of the divided peoples. During the Great Patriotic War, Russians suffered the greatest losses - from 18 to 20 million, of which at least 8 million died from ethnic cleansing during the occupation. ABOUT Leningrad region the Germans said: “When the Russian Ivan comes, he will not find anything here.” The amount of losses of the Russian people during the ethnic cleansing of the perestroika period and its genocide in the 1990s has not yet been calculated. Therefore, the status of Russians as a victim people and a divided people is necessary; compensatory measures are needed, in particular, measures to support Russian business. It should be clearly said about the Russophobic nature of the current sanctions. It is also necessary to archive data on Russophobia within Russia, the speaker believes.

However, an affirmative action program is also needed. On the agenda - Scientific research Russian identity, the Russian world as a kind of integrity and its affirmation, including through the means of art. And according to the speaker, there are problems with this in the Kaliningrad region. In Kaliningrad there is a monument to Schiller, but there is no monument to the hero of the Great Patriotic War - the foundation stone has been gathering dust for ten years now. And this is just one example. Of course, this tendency must be overcome.

A. S. Mironov, director of the Kaliningrad Reserve of Cultural and Natural Heritage, devoted his speech to the problems of cultural activity and cultural landscape. He wondered: how did the Russian landscape arise in the first place? At first, a Russian man came to an uninhabited place and began to sing and pray. Then temples arose, where the voice of the Church sounded, then necropolises - places of prayer and memory of the dead. Our memory is first of all immaterial, only then is it clothed in stone and metal. Reliance on classical art is necessary, on the rooting of Russian literature, Russian classical art among schoolchildren and youth in order to put a reliable barrier to modern so-called “provocative” art aimed at overcoming ethical and aesthetic canons. According to the speaker, it is necessary governmental support theatrical productions classical works in Youth Theaters (People's Theatres).

Here the speaker noted with regret that there is no pilot region for work in this direction, and proposed starting this process in Kaliningrad. Unfortunately, the system of club and leisure amateur activities repels young people, because they feel that they are a counterfeit of folk art. Meanwhile, there are wonderful, truly youth projects. But this is not noticed, since government support goes to amateur activities. Considerable public money is spent on contemporary art, and folk art is also modern because it is eternal. This means that scientific study of the prospects of folk art is necessary.

Youth movements to monitor Heritage should be supported. There is a website where volunteers post information about monuments. Necropolises and places of military glory, both during the Great Patriotic War, need special care.

After the plenary session, a number of round tables were held. The author of this message spoke at the round table: “The Kaliningrad region in the space of humanitarian sovereignty.” Taking this opportunity, the author of this article presents his speech.

“Dear friends, your wonderful speeches have evoked a whole series of thoughts and suggestions. Firstly, regarding the Great Patriotic War and the concept of the Great Patriotic War. It is worth remembering that Hitler did not fight alone, that all of Europe was against us. We remember about 24 thousand French partisans, but for some reason we kindly forget that 195 thousand French fought as part of the SS legions in eastern front. In October 1941, there was a battle near Borodino, and again the French and the Russians. True, the result was somewhat different. The French were so battered that they had to retreat to the rear to reorganize. Accordingly, it is necessary to emphasize the concept of European guilt for crimes on the territory of the Soviet Union and the concept of guilt of leading Western European states for nurturing Hitler. There are enough factual materials.

Second, what, in our opinion, is needed not only by the Kaliningrad region, but, in general, by the whole of Russia, but by the Kaliningrad region in particular. In a kind of (no need to be afraid of these words) monumental propaganda associated with the Great Patriotic War. The plot with General Dmitry Mikhailovich Karbyshev was voiced. The Kaliningrad region needs monuments to Chernyakhovsky, Rokossovsky, Vasilevsky, it would be nice to erect a monument to the same Marinesko who drowned “Wilhelm Gustloff”. What is needed is not individual monuments, but a whole program. We need to revive memory books not only for Kaliningrad, but also for the regions. These books of memory should include not only the names of those who fell in the Great Patriotic War, but also the names of all worthy people who have proven themselves in one way or another in the field of construction Armed Forces, industry, Agriculture, science and culture. Another initiative that we have in St. Petersburg is the All-Russian commemoration, namely a collection of the names of those who fell in the war and suffered in repressions, and simply worthy people, if it is known about them that they were of the Orthodox confession, and their church commemoration is not only in memorial days, but also constantly. This is one aspect, the memory preservation aspect.

The second aspect is related to the fact that it is important and dear to me not only as a clergyman, but also as an associate professor at St. Petersburg University - higher education. Zbigniew Brzezinski stated the following: “Higher education in countries that are not allies of the United States is dangerous.” What's happening now in higher education, including at my native St. Petersburg University, which can only be described as a pogrom: they switched from a 5-year to a 4-year course, and the “specialization” in the first year is being destroyed. In fact, in my native history department, the department really no longer exists. There is, excuse me, some kind of homeless people, some kind of traveling circus based on Jacques Attali. And today a student goes to the ancient theater, tomorrow to medieval life, the day after tomorrow somewhere else. The result is a pie with nothing. It is necessary to restore “specialization,” which is possible even in the context of a bachelor’s degree, because at Moscow State University, thank God, this issue has already been resolved: the master’s degree there is a superstructure of the bachelor’s degree and thus a 6-year line of “specialization” is being built.

Next: it is necessary to stop the process of merging universities, destroying and merging departments. It is versatility, it is “specialization” that has always been the strength of both Russian and world science. And now there is a “worldwide mixing”, in Leontiev’s language, as a result of which chaos is simply created in universities, and we get unspecialized bachelors and unspecialized master’s students, because often in 2 years they are feverishly forced to master everything that they did not receive at bachelor's degree.

It is necessary to overcome the bureaucratization of higher and secondary education - this wonderful scientometrics, huge reports, control, control and control, which simply does not give the teacher time to work with pupils and students, to engage in scientific creativity.

The task of education is to accompany man on the divine-human path

Next is a very important point: abandoning the concept of education as providing a service sector to the consumer. The objectives of education are different - the formation of a Russian specialist, a Russian citizen, Russian man. And, as for the spiritual and moral component, the task of education is to accompany a person on the divine-human path, which, ultimately, is what education should be devoted to. It is necessary to return the educational line to our education, because now, according to existing documents, it has been practically eliminated. We don't do education, we provide information Services, as a result of which the teacher turns out to be a lackey at the barchuk’s beck and call, which, of course, is harmful for the students themselves, and, of course, this is the problem with current education.

Regarding the problem related to the theater and the “Tannhäuser” scandal. In my opinion, “Tannhäuser” is a political provocation that somehow amazingly coincided with the assassination attempt on Nemtsov, with the goal of arousing the liberal electorate on the one hand, and the right-wing conservative one on the other. Unfortunately, some of our artists live by the principle: “Let’s drink so that we have everything and we don’t have to pay anything for it!” People forget not only about responsibility to the state, but also about responsibility to the Criminal Code. First of all, it is necessary to comply with the laws. And this requires well-known monitoring. The idea is the following - the creation of supervisory public councils at theatrical institutions, which would make a verdict in the case of observing any offenses already at the preparatory stage, at the stage of dress rehearsals. Do not react after the fact, but stop it at a preliminary stage, so that such scandals simply do not happen. And, in this case, of course, it is necessary to monitor the situation and close coordination of public forces and the state, including law enforcement agencies.

About the Russian language. Unfortunately, a problem really arises, but not of sovereignty, I don’t really like this term, but rather of our autocracy, autocracy of the spirit, as Bishop John (Snychev) said. Because, unfortunately, we are forgetting how to speak our own language under Anglo-Saxon influence. The expression “brand, branding” comes to light. There is even such a joke - “sbrEndil” from the word “brand”. There are a number of good Russian terms, well-established ones, perhaps foreign ones, like “this is our brand, this is our symbol.” You can even still speak Russian – “point one”.

Second, I was very good idea, associated with dictations, but I would put it more broadly - festivals of the Russian language and Russian literature associated with major church and social events, in particular, the development of the Cyril and Methodius movement: holidays, . And these are not just some formal, for show, but live church-social, church-folk events associated with worship, and with school, and with the theater.

And finally, the most important thing. We see that churches in the Kaliningrad region are spiritual, educational, and cultural centers. It is a well-known truth: “The more churches, the fewer prisons.” Therefore, the Kaliningrad region needs a program for building churches with step-by-step accessibility, similar to the one that exists in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The temple shapes the landscape and spiritual space of the Russian world. And who needs a road that does not lead to the temple? In our opinion, it is temple construction that will create the appearance of the Kaliningrad region as a Russian land.”