Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev (1946- ) of Moscow and all the Russias
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Russias considers it important to give a boost to Orthodox intellectuals so that we can develop an Orthodox intellectual élite in modern Russia. “We need, as a people and as a Church, to form an Orthodox intelligentsia”, Patriarch Kirill said Wednesday evening at a solemn meeting of the Orthodox St Tikhon Humanitarian University (PSTGU) at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. In his view, the accumulated miscalculations of our intelligentsia were a major cause of the tragic developments in Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries, because, he said, “The intelligentsia bears a special responsibility to the people and to our common future”. According to His Holiness, “The lack of communication between the intelligentsia and the Church” was one of the major reasons for this crisis.
The patriarch also pointed up the importance of expanding the nationwide network of Orthodox gymnazias, whose purpose was to bring up “a body of academics, scientists, politicians, administrators, and journalists capable of transmitting the Christian message through their lives”. He thanked PSTGU for their development of a multi-confessional standard for theology, stressing at the same time, the need to improve it. In his words, the implementation of this standard should help the Church to reach its goal of “gaining academic respectability for academic degrees in theology and, most importantly, giving theology its proper place in the sphere of scientific knowledge”. Patriarch Kirill recounted that there are nearly 50 theological faculties in both public and private universities active today in Russia. Over 17 years, several thousand graduates of PSTGU have gone forth to work throughout Russia. More than 300 clergy are PSTGU graduates, according to the patriarch.
19 November 2009
Interfax-Religion
