A congress of the Orthodox youth to take place in Moscow

A CONGRESS OF THE ORTHODOX YOUTH TO TAKE PLACE IN MOSCOW

With a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, a Congress of the Orthodox Youth will take place from May 13 to 15, 2001 in Moscow. It will be a major event in church and society life in Russia in the first year of the new millennium of the Christian era.

Responsibility for preparing and conducting the Congress has been placed on the Synodal Department for Youth led by Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich. The Congress will be attended by representatives of all the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, the leaders responsible for youth policy in the regions of the Russian Federation and representatives of public organizations.

The aim of the Congress is to define the principles of common work for all those concerned for forming children and youth in the spirit of Orthodox traditional spiritual and moral values. One of the tasks of the Congress is to establish a Public Association of the Orthodox Youth. The new organizations will promote the personal, creative, spiritual and moral potential of the Orthodox youth and children in their service of God and their neighbors, their Fatherland and Church.

President Putin has supported the aims and tasks of the Congress.

The Congress will be opened on May 13, 2001, with the Patriarchal liturgy at the Church of Christ the Saviour. About ten thousand young people are expected to attend. After the Divine Liturgy, a plenary session will be held at the Church Councils Hall. With the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, the miracle-working Fedorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, one of the greatest shrines of the Russian Orthodox Church, will be brought over from Kostroma for the service. This icon is venerated by the Orthodox people as a protectress of the family, children and youth. It was before this icon that sister Martha entrusted her 16-old son, Mikhail Romanov, to God when he began his service of the Fatherland.

The Congress will mark the beginning of a new spiritual upsurge in society as it enters the third millennium of the Nativity of Christ. The Church calls upon all those concerned for the moral strengthening of the family and the spiritual formation of children to do what they can to help organize and conduct the Congress of the Orthodox Youth.

The Planning Committee of the Congress is directed by Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich, chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth. The department is located at the Krutitsky Podvorye, at the address:

Krutitskaya St. 11, Moscow 109044; Fax: 276-3777; e-mail: vpmd@mail.ru.

Planning Committee