Conference on “Mission of the Church. Freedom of Conscience. Civil Society”

CONFERENCE ON “MISSION OF THE CHURCH. FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE. CIVIL SOCIETY”

A theological conference on “Mission of the Church. Freedom of Conscience. Civil Society” took place on July 12-17 in Belgorod. Its organizing committee was co-chaired by Bishop Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Mission Department, and Mr. S. Karpov, dean of Moscow University’s Department of History. It was attended by hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, staff members of Synodal departments, clergy, theologians, secular scholars, publicists, and church and public figures.

On July 12, the Day of Sts Peter and Paul, the participants attended the solemn divine service in St. Peter’s at the Prokhorovka village near Belgorod. The celebration was devoted to the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Prokhorovka, the greatest tank battle of the Great Patriotic War. The following day the participants visited monasteries and parishes in the diocese of Belgorod.

The conference began on July 14 with a thanksgiving at the cathedral in Belgorod. At the opening session Archbishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, read a message to the participants from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. It stated in particular that “throughout her history the Church of Christ, fulfilling the Lord’s commandment, teaches how to find the right way leading to the Kingdom of God which, according to Holy Scriptures, “is not of this world” (Jn. 18:36). At the same time, the Lord called all His followers to go into the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation (Mk . 16:15). As the divine-human organism and by her very nature transcending the bounds of “this world”, the Church at the same time is called to work in this world and serve people living in it. In the Orthodox understanding this view of the Church’s calling is not contradictory at all; but since the secular world and the Church, while pursuing different directions and actions in this world, co-exist in one historical reality, it is necessary to understand and interpret theologically the interaction and mutual influence of “the ecclesiastical” and “the secular” in order to avoid unnecessary confrontation”. The participants were also welcomed by the head of the Belgorod Administration Ye. Savchenko.

On July 14 the conference worked in plenary sessions, while on July 15 and 16 in the three sections: “The Past and Present Mission of the Church and Its Place in Civil Society”; The Freedom of Conscience from the Orthodox Perspective and as an Object of Civic Law”; Education, Formation, Culture: Interaction of the Ecclesiastical and the Secular”. After the closing session on July 17, the participants attended the Divine Liturgy and the requiem service devoted to the 80th anniversary of the murder of the Imperial family. The services were conducted by Bishop Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, assisted by an assembly of clergy, at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in the town of Gubkin near Belgorod.