Metropolitan Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk (in the world Leonid Emelyanov) made a report in which he revealed positive sides the reign of Joseph Stalin and condemned the film “The Death of Stalin” by the British director Armando Iannucci, banned by the Ministry of Culture.
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Metropolitan of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Tikhon (in the world Leonid Emelyanov) made a report in the conference hall of the Berdsk administration in which he revealed the positive aspects of Joseph Stalin’s rule and condemned the film “The Death of Stalin” by the British director Armando Iannucci, banned by the Ministry of Culture. The speech took place before representatives of the clergy of Novosibirsk and Berdsk, employees of the city administration as part of the III Parliamentary Christmas readings at the church and public forum, the official website of the city of Berdsk reports.

Metropolitan Tikhon, who heads this forum, stated the theme of his report was “Moral values ​​as the basis of national unity.” Talking about the close intertwining of spirituality and statehood, morality and ethics, he quoted statements by Academician Dmitry Likhachev, President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill that the basis for a successful future of the country is morality, and the spiritual guideline is Orthodoxy.

"Spiritual bonds are National unity, these are moral principles human life. They need to be strengthened, not weakened. As the sacred testaments of our wise ancestors, spiritual bonds must be passed on to a new generation of Russian citizens. And the words of the Russian anthem remind us of this: “Given by our ancestors, the wisdom of the people,” the metropolitan’s report said.

“Our loyalty to the Fatherland gives us the strength to create the future - this is loyalty to the spiritual, moral, cultural, historical values ​​and traditions of Russia,” said Metropolitan Tikhon.

The priest did not limit himself to general words about morality, but revealed this concept in the context foreign policy RF. According to the publication "Berdsk Online", in Western countries confessions, according to Tikhon, “capitulated under the pressure of immorality,” and in Russia, on the contrary, the church became a stronghold of morality.

Tikhon condemned young people who, according to opinion polls, put love for the Motherland last in the list of their priorities, admitting the possibility that they will begin to love the Motherland if it gives them a good education and various material benefits.

In addition, according to the priest, a criminal subculture is being instilled among young people, “tattoos, swearing and same-sex relationships” are becoming fashionable (this is how the thesis looks in the broadcast of the Berdsk Online publication), in modern world The “new religion” has become the desire for comfort, in pursuit of which people forget about the spiritual, complained Metropolitan Tikhon. At the end of his lecture, the Metropolitan called for “strengthening, and not shaking, spiritual bonds.”

The Metropolitan revealed the positive sides of Stalin and condemned the film "The Death of Stalin"

The main part of the report was structured in this style, the leitmotif of which was the idea that faith strengthens the state, until the Metropolitan moved on to discussions about history, answering a question young man from the hall. Pavel asked the Metropolitan how he assessed the activities of Joseph Stalin “from a moral point of view.”

“Joseph Vissarionovich is a seminarian, although he did not complete his studies. He loved very much scriptures and, according to the recollections of his daughter, he always had books about the life of Jesus Christ in his house. And when his daughter asked him: “Dad, was Jesus Christ?”, he said: “I believe that Jesus Christ is historical figure“That is, he did not question this,” Metropolitan Tikhon concluded.

“Well, the fact that he didn’t succeed in everything to, so to speak, conform to morality...” he continued. “Well, since he left the church, declared himself a person of atheistic ideology, then, probably, he had his own ideas about morality. But now we’re not even talking about that. we're talking about".

“I understand that there is a discussion in society about who is right, who is wrong and what to do. But our task is not to give a damn about our history. And it’s good to talk about what has been done well,” Tikhon said.

The priest said that his father, who is now 101 years old, participated in the Great Patriotic War and, in his opinion, “Stalin actually defeated fascism.” “No one can deny that he is at the forefront of the victory over fascism,” Tikhon agreed.

Mentioning Stalin’s persecution of the church, the priest remembered Peter I and his order to remove the bells from churches and melt them down for cannons. "To say that this person (Stalin) was so bad... Firstly, he was not alone. It was a whole ideology. And when more favorable times came, churches and monasteries began to be opened in the occupied territories. Stalin gathered members of the sacred Russian Synod Orthodox Church and told them: “Take the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, open churches in the returned territories.” That is, he immediately corrected it all,” the Metropolitan retold the story.

According to Metropolitan Tikhon, one cannot speak unambiguously about the Stalin period. “Although, as they say, if you now arrange a moral trial over any person, then any person has both positive and negative sides", he added.

He condemned the banned film by British director Armando Iannucci, “The Death of Stalin,” calling it American. “You can’t, of course, do what the Americans did now. A film about Stalin, which the Ministry of Culture banned. They humiliate his (Stalin’s) personality and dignity. He was, after all, the head of our state,” said the head of the Novosibirsk Metropolis.

Parliamentary meetings with Metropolitan Tikhon are being held in Berdsk for the third year in a row. Last year he gave a report on “The Evolution of Morality,” in which he outlined the church’s view of the events of the 20th century. At the end of the current readings, the mayor of the city, Evgeny Shesternin, presented the metropolitan with a memorial album published for the 301st anniversary of Berdsk and souvenirs with city symbols.

On January 23, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation decided to revoke the distribution certificate of the film “The Death of Stalin” by British director Armando Iannucci, notifying the film’s distributor, Volgafilm LLC.

The Human Rights Council called the ban on “The Death of Stalin” “blatant censorship” stemming from “political taste.” There are no signs of extremism in the film; it is “purely political taste,” said human rights activist Ilya Shablinsky. The ban on the show is dictated solely by political preferences official, which decided not to show the film to a wider audience, noted a member of the HRC.

The head of the metropolis shared with journalists his thoughts about the eternal and the urgent

Photo: Vlad KOMYAKOV

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At a meeting with journalists, Metropolitan Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk summed up the results of 2017, spoke about plans for the coming year and talked about the most different topics: both about the eternal and the vital.

“Like reports from the front”

Nowadays the basics of religious culture and secular ethics are taught in schools and universities. What do parents most often choose for their children? - the journalists asked the Metropolitan.

The numbers across the country are very different. In some dioceses, such as Kursk, for example, 98 percent of students choose the basics of Orthodox culture. In Moscow, which used to even lag behind us, now about 50 percent choose this subject, although many non-Orthodox people currently live in Moscow. In Novosibirsk, the subject of the fundamentals of Orthodox culture is not studied in 62 schools. By comparison, basics were not taught in 51 schools last year. That is for last year There are more schools where this subject is not taught. The figures for the region are also different: in the Moshkovsky district, 90 percent chose the basics of Orthodox culture, in the Ordynsky district there is not a single such school.

- Why, in your opinion, do schoolchildren need this subject?- we couldn’t resist asking the question.

I remember that in the Ordynsky district the head was Pavel Petrovich Ivorovsky. I talk to him: “Why don’t your children study their national spiritual culture? This is not the study of religion; this subject is introduced by the Russian Ministry of Education, not the church. We can only act as consultants when choosing this item and tell you what it is.” He answered me: “We have a secular state, that’s why we have secular ethics!” Two months later he calls me: “Vladyka, our children destroyed the cemetery. Come talk to high school students! It’s such a disaster that children don’t understand the sanctity of graves.” And I had to meet the guys and talk to them.

- Simply put, does teaching this subject help schoolchildren maintain moral principles?

You yourself know what is happening in schools now. Military information comes mainly from Syria, Ukraine and from schools: they were stabbed there, they were hacked to death there. And we simply cannot cope with this growing flow of immorality if spiritual culture is not taught. If you ask a secular person: why can’t you steal? He will tell you: “They’ll put you in prison!” If you ask a believer about this, he will answer: “Because it is a sin!” Morality is a person’s internal code; he himself observes the rules of human society. And there is no need to assign a police officer to him. And again, moral concepts are also relative. If you ask a non-church person: what is good? - he will answer: “Good is when I feel good!” And look at the etymology of the Slavic word “happiness” - this is part of general well-being. A person cannot be happy if there are unhappy people around him. And children at school should receive immunity to everything evil. The person understands: “Yeah, it smells like evil here - it’s not for me!”

“Conscience should sound like an alarm bell”

- Spiritual and moral education - everyone is talking about this now...

The same Makarenko said: “Only proper upbringing makes a person happy." And only religions are engaged in the education of the entire people: older and younger, and grandparents. What is this process? In the sanctification of a person's personality. The personality must unite with divine energy, with the divine spirit. Then she is raised as a god-like person. Otherwise, she is brought up as a demon-like person. Moral laws act for humans like the laws of physics, chemistry, and mechanics. How does a person feel this? Through your conscience. If he did something bad, his conscience condemns him. He did well - his conscience encourages him. Why does it happen that big criminals themselves admit to what they have done and say: “I can’t live with this burden!” And the church works with the conscience to cleanse it, so that its voice sounds like an alarm bell: you cannot steal, you cannot kill, you cannot not honor your parents, you cannot covet the things of others!

- Why does the Russian Orthodox Church pay great attention to the date of the 100th anniversary of his death? royal family?

Nicholas II is a tsar, God's anointed, he is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. Believe me, when it comes to canonization, we carefully study the person’s biography and his actions. His death says a lot about a person. And the death of Nicholas II is as follows: by that moment he was no longer in power, he abdicated the throne. He posed no danger to the Bolsheviks. But nevertheless, he was shot as a symbol of autocracy and as a symbol of Orthodoxy. Because he is God’s anointed, he was appointed king by the church. Why did he recant? Because in order to stay in power, he would have to carry out repressions. But not every person can carry out repression. He refused. Maybe he showed weakness. But he remained faithful to Russia and did not go anywhere. For us, he still remained a king; we do not consider him to have abdicated. And in the Orthodox community this man is greatly revered for his moral example. We read his last diaries, we read the diaries of his daughters. And what's there everywhere? Forgiveness to enemies, forgiveness to those who mock them, forgiveness to those who humiliate them. There is no aggression, no malice...

Monuments to Nicholas the Wonderworker and Vladimir - Baptist of Rus'

As Metropolitan Tikhon said, two new monuments will appear in Novosibirsk. One of them is to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It is likely that this monument will be opened and consecrated closer to the 125th anniversary of Novosibirsk - May 22.

This monument is ready, but now the location of its installation is being agreed upon,” the Metropolitan said.

And on July 28, 29, near the Trinity-Vladimir Cathedral on the left bank, a monument to Saint Prince Vladimir will be consecrated. The installation of this monument was timed to coincide with the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. Metropolitan Tikhon explained to journalists why it is important to convey to today’s youth the significance of what Prince Vladimir did.

Prince Vladimir laid the foundation civilizational choice Rus',” the Metropolitan of Novosibirsk and Berdsk reminded reporters. - And Rus' followed exactly this path of development, began to adopt everything from the center of civilization - from the 1000-year-old Byzantine Empire. The first clergy arrived, began to make translations of the Holy Scriptures, textbooks, and the Slavic world began to be enlightened, the birth of Orthodox culture. And the reason for the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century is that many emigrants moved to the territory of Rus', bringing their culture with them. Prince Vladimir laid the foundation for our civilization, our history, our national identity. And young people should definitely know about his feat. This year we will widely celebrate the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', in order, first of all, to convey to young people historical information about where the Russian land came from. This is very important because these are our roots. And if a young man does not realize these roots, he will not become a patriot. We cannot divide patriotism into Soviet, tsarist or democratic. Patriotism is love for our people, for history, culture, for the heritage that we have been collecting for a thousand years.

Restoration of the temple in Kolyvan is nearing completion

The Metropolitan told how the restoration of the temple in Kolyvan is being carried out. The architectural monument Trinity Cathedral is being restored by the Russian Orthodox Church together with the government of the Novosibirsk region.

Last November marked the 150th anniversary of the consecration of this cathedral, but, unfortunately, we did not make it to this date; we decided not to rush,” Metropolitan Tikhon explained to reporters. - Now the finishing work has been completed inside. I think in two months we will begin to restore the iconostasis. In February, all the ordered bells were delivered.

According to the head of the metropolitanate, funds for the bells and iconostasis were donated by Novosibirsk businessmen. This year all that remains is to build a porch, blind areas and arrange a park near the temple. The Metropolitan is confident that help could be useful in this last matter regional authorities, as it was in Iskitim.

Another large construction site is in Dzerzhinsky’s garden. There on for a long time The construction of the Church of St. Macarius of Altai stopped because the soil at the construction site turned out to be bad, as Metropolitan Tikhon said.

But now the first floor has already been completely completed. We have moved up and have made great progress over the past year,” said the head of the metropolis.

For seminarians - gym

According to Metropolitan Tikhon, the theological seminary in the city of Ob is one of the main construction projects of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Novosibirsk region. After the construction of the dormitory, enrollment in the seminary increased significantly.

“We have completed the main, educational, building,” the Metropolitan stated. - Last year we built a dormitory where students have already moved. And immediately, of course, the enrollment increased. Previously, the guys lived 12 people in a room - now there are 4. We have not only a seminary there, but also a boarding school and a preparatory department.

According to the head of the metropolis, work is now being completed on the administrative premises, which will house a large sports, gyms, a self-study hall with a library, as well as an assembly hall and a large refectory - for 100 people.

I asked: “Which hall do you need first?” Everyone said: “Gym!”, the Metropolitan says with a smile. - The guys are young. Of course, after studying they want to go play sports. In the meantime, the guys have to train in sports schools city ​​of Ob.

Orthodox youth will have their own home

In 2018, it is planned to commission the House of Orthodox Youth in Novosibirsk, where finishing work is now being completed. Metropolitan Tikhon said that he will be located in the building at the address: Sibrevkoma Street, 20. It is already known that, among other things, there will be a chapel, as well as a hall with 100 seats, where Orthodox youth will gather.

I think that this building will have everything that is interesting to Orthodox youth: for example, circles will work there, the offices of some of our youth departments, which do not yet have their own premises and work at churches, will be located there,” Metropolitan Tikhon described the plans. - When Bishop Seraphim Lyuberetsky, who heads the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Youth Affairs, came to us, he said that this is the only project in all of Russia - there is nothing like it anywhere else in the country. He didn’t even immediately believe that we had a separate three-story building for these purposes.

Metropolitan Tikhon also noted that work is now underway to make the Orthodox youth camp in the village of Borovoe, where youth sessions are organized for children from all over Siberia, year-round.

Specifically

Metropolitan - about the results of last year

I consider the most significant event in the life of Novosibirsk in 2017 to be the opening of the historical park “Russia. My history". For those who have not been there yet, I recommend that you definitely go and see it. There, on the most modern multimedia media, the history of our country is presented, starting from the time of the Baptism of Rus'. And history is not edited out - it is presented as it is,” emphasized Metropolitan Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk. - As you know, there were many anniversaries in 2017. We celebrated the centenary of two Russian revolutions, the centenary of the restoration of the patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church. And it seems to me that these two events left their mark on the whole year. And the theme of the International Christmas Readings, which took place in Moscow and here, was the results of this past century: what changes have occurred in our country over 100 years. And of course, our reports at the Christmas parliamentary readings were devoted to the study of this period of time.

Also among the most important events last year, the head of the metropolis called the 80th anniversary of the Novosibirsk region and the International Christmas readings “1917 - 2017: Lessons of the Century,” which took place in the Grand Kremlin Palace in January 2017 and in which employees of the Novosibirsk diocese took part.

Let's name just some of the memorable dates that Tikhon highlighted at the meeting with journalists.

On July 16, 2017 - on the 99th anniversary of the execution of the royal family - the opening and consecration of the monument to Tsar Nicholas and Tsarevich Alexy took place on the territory of the cathedral in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky. The event was dedicated to the youth procession, in which about 6 thousand people participated.

According to tradition, in August the ship-church “Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called” set off on a missionary voyage, and in October the missionary train “For the Spiritual Revival of Russia” started.

On October 29, 2017, celebrations were held dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the school of bell-ringers at the Novosibirsk St. Macarius Orthodox Theological Institute, the 15th anniversary of the philharmonic project “Ringings of Russia”, the 10th anniversary of the magazine “Siberian Belfry”, the 5th anniversary of the Siberian Center for Bell Art.

Last year, the Archangel Michael Monastery of the Novosibirsk diocese in the village of Kozikha, Ordynsky district, Novosibirsk region, celebrated its 20th anniversary.

On December 4, the 130th anniversary of the consecration was celebrated by the Alexander Nevsky Church of the Intercession Diocesan Convent in Kolyvan. The revived temple was consecrated in our time, in 1992.

The sports department of the Novosibirsk diocese held 65 sporting events in many sports among professional athletes, convicts, former drug addicts, as well as among clergy and parishioners of churches in Novosibirsk.

Only numbers

The Novosibirsk Metropolis today has 207 churches, 7 monasteries, 69 chapels and 78 indoor chapels, 168 worship crosses. There are 174 clergy in the metropolis, 35 deacons, 103 monastery residents, and 82 nunnery residents.

Having spoken out against Tannhäuser, he earned a shout from the Ministry of Culture.
Now an entire episode of Vesti is dedicated to him.

But only a deacon can be punished for “shocking statements,” right, Your Holiness? Calling Tchaikovsky an occultist is not at all the same as Metropolitan Nikodim - uh, Tchaikovsky.

In Novosibirsk, it seems, Tannhäuser-2 is planned. Metropolitan Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk, at whose instigation the play was removed from the repertoire and the director was fired, found new goal. Somewhat, frankly speaking, unexpected: “The Nutcracker” is Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, without which many cannot imagine New Year. As you know, it was written based on Hoffmann’s fairy tale and has been a success on stage for decades. The premiere took place on December 6, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. And here is the verdict of Metropolitan Tikhon: “The production is occult, because the prince is a werewolf.” And if any logic can be traced in the definition of the prince, then Hoffmann the occultist was categorically not accepted. Here is the reaction of candidate of philological sciences Elena Masolova in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda (this is about the fairy tale “Ryaba the Hen.” “Just think - the chicken is talking there! She also consoles the helpless grandmother and grandfather. This is also occultism.” You can feel it, of course , irony. But the experience of "Tannhäuser" is alarming. Moreover, a replacement for "The Nutcracker" is already ready - the opera "Nativity" commissioned by the Novosibirsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The premiere took place. The composer is Tikhon's wife Iraida Salnikova.

It's good to watch a classic anyway. The Nutcracker ballet is on the playbill of all federal opera houses countries. But new productions of that same opera “Nativity” are not yet planned - neither instead of, nor together with “The Nutcracker”.

Two hundred artists, a ballet, two choirs, rich scenery and costumes - an opera about the Nativity of Christ was staged in Novosibirsk, by order of the local diocese. The premiere was sold out. But this news would have remained only in the cultural columns if not for the interview that Metropolitan Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk gave before the performance. “We decided to make a production that could be shown every day during Christmas time or on Christmas Day for the New Year, because they usually show “The Nutcracker,” but they still believe that the prince is a werewolf, and such an occult production,” he said .

To this, the director of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Urin, replied that Metropolitan Tikhon does not have the right to impose and dictate his opinion. Theater experts also supported him. “The excitement that is felt in the theatrical environment is dictated by the fact that a powerful person is speaking out, who will be able to impose his personal point of view on society and make it automatically public, as was the case with the opera Tannhäuser,” says theater critic Pavel Rudnev.

The bishop’s words were enough to open a case two years ago about the desecration of religious symbols in “Tannhäuser” directed by Timofey Kulyabin. There, the plot of Wagner's opera - how a blasphemer came to faith and was forgiven - was illustrated with a poster with an image of the crucifixion in the background female legs. As a result, the director of the Novosibirsk Opera, Boris Mezdrich, was fired. Since then, in the regions the feelings of believers have been treated more than reverently. To such an extent that in the fall the famous play “Jesus Christ – Superstar” was canceled in Omsk and Tyumen. Just in case - after local religious activists called it blasphemy and contacted the prosecutor's office.

At the same time, in Perm, patriotic bloggers saw in the play “The Blue Room” depraved behavior against the backdrop of an icon - in fact, it turned out to be a secular picture. And now the “demonic “Nutcracker.” “On the Russian stage, “The Nutcracker” was staged not from Hoffmann’s fairy tale, but from the French retelling, this has been proven, that is, the fairy tale has already come to us in a softer, processed form, without Hoffmann’s mysticism,” - notes ballet critic Leila Guchmazova.

“Occult production” - did Vladyka Tikhon know how afraid Tchaikovsky himself was of such a review? “What if it turns out that... The Nutcracker is disgusting...,” the composer wrote to his brother in 1891. Composing music was difficult - at that time he was experiencing the death of his sister. And what came out, according to musicologists, was the deepest and good fairy tale about the Christmas miracle.

Novosibirsk "The Nutcracker" is a reconstruction of Vasily Vainonen's 1954 classic version. In the repertoire - since 2013. It is so popular that it even runs twice a day in January. The composer of the opera "Christmas" Iraida Salnikova, the wife of a priest of the same diocese, also watched it. “We go with the children, I went, I’m a composer, I love Tchaikovsky’s music, wonderful ballet!” - she thinks.

The play "Christmas", with which the Metropolitan proposed to replace "The Nutcracker", by the way, is a little reminiscent of it in terms of scenography. On the stage there is a Christmas tree, a traditional symbol of the holiday, but in Russia in the 19th century it appeared precisely thanks to Hoffmann’s fairy tale and the general fascination with German romanticism, as philologist Svetlana Adonyeva believes, for example, in her work “The Soviet Christmas Tree: The Genesis of Modern Ritual.” This study is referenced on the website of the Novosibirsk Metropolitanate.

Literary critic Igor Volgin generally sees Christian subtext in the fairy tale. “Children are waiting for a miracle - this echoes the biblical expectation of a miracle, this is a Christian miracle,” he says. “By the way, there is a nut that the hero must chew, and in the Middle Ages a nut is a symbol of Christianity to some extent.”

In any case, the story is harmless, which cannot be said about attempts to influence the repertoire policy of theaters. According to the law, it is not that clergy - the state - do not have the right to interfere in the creative activities of citizens, with the exception of cases of propaganda of violence and religious intolerance

Metropolitan of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Tikhon (in the world Leonid Emelyanov) made a report in the conference hall of the Berdsk administration in which he revealed the positive aspects of Joseph Stalin’s rule and condemned the film “The Death of Stalin” by the British director Armando Iannucci, banned by the Ministry of Culture. The speech took place before representatives of the clergy of Novosibirsk and Berdsk, employees of the city administration as part of the III Parliamentary Christmas readings at the church and public forum, the official website of the city of Berdsk reports. Metropolitan Tikhon, who heads this forum, stated the theme of his report was “Moral values ​​as the basis of national unity.” Talking about the close intertwining of spirituality and statehood, morality and morality, he quoted statements by President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill that the basis for a successful future of the country is morality, and the spiritual guideline is Orthodoxy.

“Spiritual bonds are national unity, these are the moral foundations of human life. They must be strengthened, not undermined. Like the sacred covenants of our wise ancestors, spiritual bonds must be passed on to the new generation of Russian citizens. And the words of the Russian anthem remind us of this: “To the Ancestors given, people's wisdom," the metropolitan's report said. "Our loyalty to the Fatherland gives us the strength to create the future - this is loyalty to the spiritual, moral and cultural-historical values ​​and traditions of Russia," said Metropolitan Tikhon.

The priest did not limit himself to general words about morality, but explained this concept in the context of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. According to the Berdsk Online publication, in Western countries, confessions, according to Tikhon, “capitulated under the pressure of immorality,” while in Russia, on the contrary, the church has become a stronghold of morality. Tikhon condemned young people who, according to opinion polls, put love for the Motherland last in the list of their priorities, admitting the possibility that they will begin to love the Motherland if it gives them a good education and various material benefits.

The main part of the report was structured in this style, the leitmotif of which was the idea that faith strengthens the state, until the Metropolitan moved on to discussions about history, answering a question from a young man from the audience. Pavel asked the Metropolitan how he assessed the activities of Joseph Stalin “from a moral point of view.” “Joseph Vissarionovich is a seminarian, though not a half-educated one. He loved the sacred scriptures very much and, according to the recollections of his daughter, he always had books about the life of Jesus Christ at home. And when his daughter asked him: “Dad, was there Jesus Christ?” he said: “I believe that Jesus Christ is a historical figure.” That is, he did not question this,” Metropolitan Tikhon concluded.

“Well, the fact that he didn’t succeed in everything to, so to speak, conform to morality...” he continued. “Well, since he left the church, declared himself a person of atheistic ideology, then, probably, he had his own ideas about morality. But now that’s not even what we’re talking about.” “I understand that there is a discussion in society about who is right, who is wrong and what to do. But our task is not to give a damn about our history. And it’s good to talk about what has been done well,” Tikhon said.

The priest said that his father, who is now 101 years old, participated in the Great Patriotic War and, in his opinion, “Stalin actually defeated fascism.” “No one can deny that he is at the forefront of the victory over fascism,” Tikhon agreed.

Mentioning Stalin’s persecution of the church, the priest remembered Peter I and his order to remove the bells from churches and melt them down for cannons. "To say that this person (Stalin) was so bad... Firstly, he was not alone. It was a whole ideology. And when more favorable times came, churches and monasteries began to be opened in the occupied territories. Stalin gathered members of the sacred Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and told them: “Take the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, open churches in the returned territories.” That is, he immediately corrected all this,” the Metropolitan retold the story.

According to Metropolitan Tikhon, one cannot speak unambiguously about the Stalin period. “Although, as they say, if you now hold a moral trial over any person, then any person has both positive and negative sides,” he added.

He condemned the banned film by British director Armando Iannucci, “The Death of Stalin,” calling it American. “You can’t, of course, do what the Americans did now. A film about Stalin, which the Ministry of Culture banned. They humiliate his (Stalin’s) personality and dignity. He was, after all, the head of our state,” said the head of the Novosibirsk Metropolis.

Parliamentary meetings with Metropolitan Tikhon are being held in Berdsk for the third year in a row. Last year he gave a report on “The Evolution of Morality,” in which he outlined the church’s view of the events of the 20th century.

Date of Birth: June 2, 1948 A country: Russia Biography:

Born on June 2, 1948 in Voronezh. After 8th grade high school worked as a factory worker and studied at night school. After completing secondary education, he entered extramural College, which he successfully completed, then served in the army. After demobilization, he served as an altar boy in the Intercession Church of Pereslavl-Zalessky.

On December 4, 1978 he was ordained a deacon. In the same year, he was appointed head of the “Church Life” department of the editorial office.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 27, 2011 () he was confirmed in the position of rector (abbot) monastery in the name of the Archangel Michael, the village of Kozikha, Novosibirsk region.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 28, 2018 () His Eminence of Vladimir and Suzdal, head, with release from management of the Novosibirsk diocese.

Education:

Moscow Theological Seminary.

1981 - Moscow Theological Academy (PhD in Theology)

Place of work: Metropolis of Vladimir (Head of the Metropolis) Diocese: Vladimir Diocese (Ruling Bishop) Scientific works, publications:

Byzantine writer Niketas Acominatus (Choniates) and his works (PhD thesis).