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Subject group of the Bishops’ Council-2008 of the Russian Orthodox Church on ‘Work with the Youth, Publishing and Information Activity of the Church’ presents results of its work

25.06.2008 · Архив 2005-2009, Документы  

On 25 June 2008, the working group of the Bishops’ Council on ‘Work with the Youth, Publishing and Information Activity of the Church’ chaired by Archbishop Filipp of Poltava and Mirgorod and Bishop Longin of Saratov and Volsk discussed the tasks and problems of the development of the church mass media, publishing activity and work with the youth.

Taking part in the meeting were twenty-six bishops from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Western Europe and North America with Bishop Serafim of Bobruisk and Bykhov acting as secretary.

Reports were presented by the chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs Bishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich, the chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church archpriest Vladimir Siloviev and the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s press service archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky.

Discussing the reports were Metropolitan Iriney of Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd, Archbishop Gury of Zhitomir and Novograd-Volynsky, Archbishop Feodosy of Polotsk and Glubokoe, Archbishop Ignaty of Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka, Bishop Artemy of Grodno and Volkovyssk, Bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe and Bishop Peter of Cleveland.

Work with the youth. The Church is convinced that spiritual and educational work with the youth demands special methods and forms at present.

The most important task facing the Church is to bring to a successful end the process of integration of the youth’s initiatives into a single programme of the education of children and young people, starting with the work with young families. Programmes for children of all ages will continue the programme that will end with the programmes for students and families.

Bishop Alexander said, ‘It is necessary to change the views of many clergymen on the principles of missionary and educational work with the youth. We should not expect to meet young people in churches, but must rather meet them elsewhere.’

The Yekaterinodar and Kemerovo diocese were cited as examples of successfully running youth centres based on the methods worked out by the Brotherhood of Orthodox Pathfinders and the All-Russian Orthodox Youth Movement.

Orthodox publishing activity. Orthodox publishing activity develops rapidly. The Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church successfully coordinates the publishing activity of the Russian Orthodox Church. It organizes open book competitions thus selecting books that conform to the noble moral ideals of the spiritual and patriotic educations of the readers. Serving the same purpose are exhibitions of the Orthodox literature that have recently become noticeable events in the life of the Church. They took place not only in Moscow, but also in the regions. Another form of coordinating the Orthodox publishing activity is the spiritual examination of the books of different publishing houses and stamping them with the seal ‘Approved for publication by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.’

The following problems were named: the lack of the Catechism in the modern language; the necessity to revive activities of the Commission for the Calendar; the neglect of the copyright by certain Orthodox publishing houses, the necessity of the single register of mass media with the words ‘Orthodox’ or ‘church’ in their title; and putting in order the practice of the diocesan bishops’ blessing to [publications.

Church mass media. Church mass media have become the efficient means of mission. The quality of official church publications has remarkably improved. Many newspapers and journals published by different dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church and by private Orthodox publishers proved themselves good in the work with people striving after the faith. The Orthodox Internet develops rapidly, and this is very important at present as some twenty-five million Russians are web-users and their number steadily increases. Clergymen take part in the TV and radio programmes more often than earlier. They bring to the listeners and viewers the truth of the Christian teaching and the understanding of modern problems based on the Gospel.

However, some questions need clear answer, such as preaching to people who are outside the Church but strive for it. At the same time, the publications on mission should not succumb to temptation of simplifying and secularizing Orthodoxy in order to ‘closer to people.’

The church mass media should pay attention to the contemporary world with all its problems that demand Christian assessment.

One should jot forget that many believers often know only a little about the Church and the faith, and their notion of the church life is perfunctory. It is necessary to use the church mass media as an instrument of education and bringing people to the Church. Discussed on the pages of the Orthodox publications should be topical problems of the life of the Church, theological issues and, most certainly, the problems of the spiritual life of Christians in the secularized society. Special attention should be paid to the training of highly qualifies specialists for the church mass media.