Metropolitan Kirill meets with the students of the Youth Ministry School of the Patriarchal Centre for spiritual education of children and youth at the Danilov monastery in Moscow

On 31 January 2006, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for external church relations met with the students of the Youth Ministry School in the conference hall of the Patriarchal Centre for spiritual education of children and youth at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.

Taking part in the meeting also were the abbot of the Danilov Monastery archimandrite Alexi (Polikarpov) and the leader of the Youth Ministry School of the Patriarchal Centre for spiritual education of children and youth hegumen Petr (Meshcheryakov).

Metropolitan Kirill spoke about Christian understanding of freedom, Christian resistance to secular tendencies of the contemporary Western society and about moral and spiritual responsibility of Christians for their lives. He also spoke about the presence of the Church in politics and the system of education. He shared his vision of the problems, tasks and responsibility of the Orthodox youth organizations in their ministry to the Church and answered many questions.

Youth ministry school was set up at the Patriarchal Centre of spiritual education of children and youth in 2003 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

Studying in the school are young people aged 16-27 who want to become church people and who have an acknowledged wish to serve the Orthodox Church. They study the ‘Foundations of Christian philosophy of life’ in the School, which also trains active young people for educational, social and missionary work and catechization, organization of leisure time and holidays of children and youth.