Presidential Representative in the Urals Federal Region and the Urals dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church sign an agreement on cooperation

PRESIDENTIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN THE URALS FEDERAL REGION AND THE URALS DIOCESES OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH SIGN AN AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION

Presidential Representative in the Urals Federal Region, Peter Latyshev, and the Russian Orthodox dioceses of Cheliabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Tobolsk and Kurgan signed an agreement on cooperation on December 15 at the Yekaterinburg ruling bishop’s residence.

Present at the ceremony were Metropolitan Job of Cheliabinsk and Zlatoust, Archbishop Vincent of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, Archpriest Alexy Sidorenko as representatie of Archbishop Dimitry of Tobolsk and Tyumen, and Archpriest Nicholas Chirkov as representative of Bishop Michael of Kurgan and Shadrino.

The preamble of the Agreement states that it was signed “in consideration of the age-old historical ties of the Urals Region with Orthodoxy and taking into account the outstanding monuments of Orthodox architecture and painting existing in the region and for the purpose of promoting the spiritual revival of society and cooperation in education, culture, healthcare, social service and charity. The Agreement is based on the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the legislation of the Russian Federation and international agreements”.

The Agreement lists about two dozens areas in which the Church and the State will seek to find ways for cooperation and mutual aid. The parties agreed in particular

– to take part together in the development and realization of regional and local programs and projects in the areas of education, moral formation, religious enlightenment, culture, charity, healthcare and social work, aimed to promote the rebirth of the spirituality of the individual and society;

– to promote, at citizens’ request, the creation of favorable conditions for introducing optional courses on basic Orthodoxy, Russian and Orthodox History, pedagogy and history of religion on the basis of Orthodox studies in general, vocational and higher education institutions and the bringing of Orthodox values in teaching the Russian language and literature, Russian history and culture, ethnic studies and ethics;

– to join efforts for raising the level of educators’ skills in Russian literature, history, pedagogy, philosophy, morality, aesthetics, cultural studies, religious studies, social psychology and other disciplines;

– to hold on a regular basis joint conferences, seminars and round tables on education, spiritual enlightenment, moral formation, culture, healthcare and charity;

– to work out a set of measures to promote the revival and consolidation of the spiritual traditions of the family as the basis of society;

– to maintain cooperation in studying and exposing the totalitarian sects acting in the region, which destroy the family way of life, threaten the integrity of national self-awareness and damaging people’s spiritual-moral and physical health;

– to help enhance the level of business ethics, morality and charity in entrepreneurial activity on the moral principles of Orthodoxy;

– to promote the religious educational work in the Army, law-enforcement and military organizations, the revival of the traditions of faithful service of the Fatherland and the spiritual and moral preparation of youth for military service, on the basis of the joint statement signed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Minister of Defense, as well as earlier agreements on cooperation reached by military control bodies and dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church;

– to cooperate in identifying, preserving and using the historical and cultural heritage of the region;

– to promote further the efforts to return the buildings, icons, liturgical books, church vessels and other property which used to belong to the Russian Orthodox Church;

– to help equip public and university libraries reserves with books on Orthodoxy and traditional spiritual morality;

– to maintain cooperation in the area of mass media with the purpose to initiate joint educational programs and publications promoting people’s spiritual and moral education and to work out legislative measures aimed to restrict television and radio programs propagating depravity, violence and non-spirituality;

– to promote the religious educational work and the construction of Orthodox churches in penitentiaries;

– to hold joint events devoted to national, historical and Orthodox feasts and commemoration days in the history and culture of the region;

The draft of the Agreement was preliminarily considered and approved by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. It is the first agreement to be concluded on the level of a federal region and several dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the parties, the Agreement will initiate a new stage in church-state relations in the Urals region.

After the ceremony, P. Patyshev, Metropolitan Job, Archbishop Vincent, Archpriest Alexy Sidorenko and Archpriest Nicholas Chirkov gave a brief press conference for journalists.

Then a prayer to the Imperial Passion-Bearers and all the Russian new martyrs was said at the place where the Imperial Passion-Bearers were executed and where a Church-on-the-Blood dedicated to All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land is being built.