The acting Chairman of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry, Priest Kirill Markovsky, paid a working visit to the Ryazan Metropolis.
On the first day of the visit, Priest Kirill Markovsky and the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Ryazan region, Alexander Komkov, discussed issues of spiritual and pastoral care for persons held in penitentiary institutions in the region, as well as the organization of spiritual and educational work with the staff of the department.
On the second day of his working trip, the acting Chairman of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry visited IK-3, a high—security colony where former employees of courts and law enforcement agencies are serving their sentences.
Priest Kirill Markovsky visited the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker located on the territory of the icon, where he led the Divine Liturgy. His Reverence was co-served by the clergy who look after correctional colony No. 3.The service was attended by representatives and employees of the colony, as well as convicts from the Orthodox community.
The guests got acquainted with the activities of the correctional institution, visited an industrial zone, an exhibition of manufactured products — mainly sewing products, as well as metal products. The head of the synodal department talked with the convicts who are in the workplace.
In addition, Priest Kirill Markovsky visited the EPCT, where malicious violators of the detention regime are placed, talked with the convicts there.
At the end, the head of the Synodal Department met with the convicts of the Orthodox community of the institution in the colony club. During a long conversation, Priest Kirill Markovsky discussed with them many issues related to the spiritual life of a believer: knowledge and fulfillment of God's will, humility, the meaning of trials and their overcoming.
"It is very important to remember that God, who loves every person, heals his soul with two medicines: trials and consolations. And if a person accepts all trials with humility, repentance and trust in God, God opens up to man and comforts him. The test is a very powerful drug. But in order for it to benefit us, we must try never to grumble," the clergyman stressed.
At the end of the conversation, Priest Kirill Markovsky answered many of the convicts' questions.
On the third day of the working trip, the head of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry met with Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky. The parties discussed issues of pastoral ministry in places of detention.
Bishop Mark stressed that in prison ministry special attention should be paid to spiritual and pastoral work with juvenile offenders, as well as with those who have committed a crime for the first time and have not yet been infected by the criminal subculture.
Priest Kirill Markovsky emphasized that prison priests have the most difficult flock, so it is advisable to send the best clergymen to work in colonies and pre-trial detention centers. That is, those pastors who are ready to sympathize with a person in prison, have a desire to provide spiritual assistance to him, understand the importance of the priest's ministry in places of human sorrow, which were and still are places of forced detention.
A meeting-seminar was held between Priest Kirill Markovsky and the prison clergy of the Ryazan Metropolia. The event was held in the diocesan administration of the Ryazan Diocese.
The head of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry discussed with priests who perform spiritual care of institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Ryazan region, issues of spiritual and pastoral work with suspects, accused and convicted persons, as well as with employees of the penitentiary department.
Priest Kirill Markovsky told the audience about the spiritual tasks facing the prison clergy, stressing that the Lord entrusted them with a difficult flock, among which there are many lonely and embittered people, and often it is the priest who is the only one who does not condemn the prisoner and sees in him only a suffering person. It is especially important for a prison priest not to condemn a criminal, to help him see God's providence in the events of his life, to remind him that the Lord accepts anyone who turns to Him with repentance and prayer.
Completing his familiarization with the organization of prison ministry in the region, the head of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry visited IK-2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Ryazan region, a high—security colony where persons who previously served their sentences in places of deprivation of liberty are held.
The clergyman visited the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary located on the territory of the colony, in an industrial area, and held talks with convicts.
After visiting IK-2, Priest Kirill Markovsky met with the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Ryazan region, Alexander Komkov. The meeting summed up the results of the visit to the region, considered the organization of spiritual, pastoral and educational work of the clergy in them, identified areas that, with their further development, will contribute to improving the moral and psychological climate in institutions, will have a positive impact on the prevention of terrorism and extremism in places of detention, as well as on the prevention of suicidal behavior among prisoners.