V People’s Council of Smolensk Region Citizens held in Smolensk.

The V People’s Council of Smolensk region citizens was held in Smolensk on 21 March. The theme of the largest public forum in the region was ‘Meaning of a family in forming spiritual and moral values of society.’ Taking part were representatives of the Church, local and state authorities, people of science, culture and art, public and religious leaders, businessmen and workmen of Smolensk region.

The participants were greeted by His Holiness Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, G. Poltavchenko – representative of the President in the Central Federal District and other public and political figures.

Greeting the participants Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk noted the topicality of the Council’s theme.

‘I thank the Council Committee for choosing family as a theme of the V People’s Council. Family and family values – what is that? What is their place in people’s life?

There are different values. Values have greater or smaller meaning for the life of a person, state, nation and all mankind. Each nation has its own values that have been formed during long years of history. Values are always formed under the influence of religious traditions as well as the moral sense and life experience, which speak about the meaning of the nation’s spiritual and cultural traditions, about values, which were formed under the influence of morality, religion, experience and which are recorded in the nation’s living tradition.

Which values are recorded in our millennium tradition? Only those values which are common form the nation’s originality and face. What differs us from the other nations are our common values. But if one tries to further this thought, he should say that there are values common for all nations, for all mankind. And national values should never contradict common universal values, because in this case national values turn into dangerous nationalism.

What is that – common values? They form the foundation of our national being. That is why they are called basis values apart from additional values which are aimed at solving current problems. It is of utmost importance that the political system does not destroy the society’s basis values. Politics should deal only with additional values. If all parties agree that their politics would never change the nation’s basis values, then they have a room for a maneuver, for political action in additional sphere. If this is so our society will always remain stable.’

According to Metropolitan Kirill, a family is not only a basis value, but also a mechanism for transmitting basis values to other generations. That is why family is so important. Today family faces a challenge not only from ideology, but also from non-spirituality and aspiration for satisfying lower instincts which use the mass-media for its purposes. Religion along with culture and education are means of deterring non-spirituality. Their joint actions have to return a family its meaning and strengthen its role. And if there’s lack of such cooperation all economic measures aimed at supporting a family would have no permanent success.

The theme touched upon by Metropolitan Kirill was supported by other participant of the Council who proposed a range of measures to raise a family’s prestige in Smolensk region. These proposals were reflected in the final statement of the Council.

During the Council there also was granting the awards of the ‘Patron of Smolensk Region Arts’ Charity Foundation and the affirmation of the calendar of memorable dates of Smolensk region.

DECR Communication Service