Fr Vsevolod Chaplin (1968- ), head of the Synodal Division for the Relationship of Church and Society. He is one of the closest confidants to Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias.
On Friday, Fr Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Division for the Relationship of Church and Society, at a hearing in the Federation Council in Moscow, proposed that we establish a public body to monitor compliance with business ethics. He said, “I would think it best if we asked businessmen on how to create a council or a panel that would assess the moral conduct of business. That is, to appraise acts specifically with names and facts and to set standards for best practises and worst cases”. In his view, “it would be essential to publicise the evaluations of this body, especially in cases that involved the narcotics trade, the promotion of depravity, and the arms trade. If a business-owner knew that his face would be plastered all over a public website if we found drug trafficking on his premises, and that we would publicise the names of those who are doing it, why, they would act rather quickly, wouldn’t they?” He went on to note, “If we want to ensure that ‘business ethics’ is not an empty phrase, it is necessary to create a mechanism for applying these rules, and it would be best if business itself takes part in it, that is, if it wishes to have any respect from the community”. Fr Vsevolod believes that youth organisations, especially those associated with traditional religious communities and healthy political movements, could play a decisive role here. “That would make the state notice wrongdoing and nonsense. Society has to work on this”, he said.
18 December 2009
Interfax-Religion
