Veronika Leontieva, Head of the Department of assistance to People with Disabilities at the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, spoke at the XXIX Bogorodichno-Christmas educational readings of the Kaluga Archdiocese.
On October 1, 2026, the Kaluga Regional Special Library for the Blind named after N. Ostrovsky hosted a round table "Christian attitude to illness and the role of modern technologies in the lives of people with disabilities."
In her speech, Veronika Leontieva spoke about the experience and prospects of using technology in parish work with people with disabilities. She noted that modern technical solutions can help people with disabilities participate in church life, while it is important to maintain lively communication and personal participation. "Any technologies that appear in society and do not contradict the Christian worldview can become a tool that helps a person with disabilities to really participate in the sacraments and community life, rather than being an "observer from the outside." Also, even minimal technical and organizational solutions in the temple (assistance at the entrance, clear navigation, translation into Russian sign language, typhlocommentation) they are already becoming a visible sign that "a person is needed here." Often the most important thing is not expensive equipment, but willingness to meet, help, explain, and talk to people with disabilities and their families," Veronika Leontieva noted.
The round table was attended by more than 30 people from Moscow, Moscow and Kaluga regions. Among them are employees of the commission for church charity and social service of the Kaluga Archdiocese, heads of state social institutions for people with disabilities, representatives of neuropsychiatric boarding schools, speech pathologists, teachers, parents of teenagers with mental disabilities, sisters of the sisterhood in honor of St. Elizabeth, representatives of non—profit organizations and people with disabilities. The participants discussed the use of modern technologies in the light of Christian values, the preservation of human dignity and the development of an accessible environment in church and social life.
The Professionals Nearby 2.0 project is aimed at helping church NGOs that support families with children or young people with disabilities. The project is being implemented using a grant provided by the Presidential Grants Foundation.