The seminar was conducted by the head of the service for spiritual and psychological assistance to those who returned from the front and their families of the Synodal Department for Charity, Priest Evgeny Lishchenyuk
With the blessing of Metropolitan Panteleimon of Lugansk and Alchevsk, a seminar on spiritual, psychological and social support for combat veterans and their family members was held in Lugansk on August 24. The meeting was hosted by the head of the service for spiritual and psychological assistance to those who returned from the front and their families of the Synodal Department for Charity, Priest Evgeny Lishchenyuk. The event for the clergy of the Lugansk Diocese was organized with the participation of the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission.
During the seminar, practical approaches to helping veterans, the specifics of pastoral support for people who have experienced combat experience, as well as support for their families and friends were discussed.
The format of the meeting was built not as traditional lectures, but as an understanding of the pastoral experience of priests living in the conflict zone. As part of the mini-training, one of the participants asked acute and problematic questions from the veteran, as well as his wife or mother, and the second priest offered answers to them. The clergy in the audience actively shared their existing experience of real answers in these difficult situations.
"There was an atmosphere of trust, affection and mutual support throughout the event. It was a meeting of like-minded people and practitioners. The priests of the Lugansk diocese asked questions with sincere interest and treated everything we discussed with pastoral responsibility," said Priest Evgeny Lishchenyuk. –First of all, I would like to thank Metropolitan Panteleimon for understanding the importance of the topic and for the fact that, despite the summer period and the great logistical difficulties in the region, the clergy gathered in such numbers to discuss one of the most important and relevant topics of modern pastoral practice."
Special attention was paid at the seminar to the importance of church participation in caring for veterans of the SVR, as His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has repeatedly said.
According to the organizers, holding such meetings helps the clergy to better understand the needs of veterans and their families, as well as to build systematic and careful assistance to those who especially need the support, attention and prayerful participation of the Church.