On April 9, 2024, the scientific and practical conference "The Russian Church Today" was held in the Elizabethan Hall of the Moscow Theological Academy. On the 15th anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia." The conference, held as part of the events of the Scientific Educational Theological Association, was attended by representatives of Moscow theological schools and students of all master's degrees of the Academy.
In his welcoming speech, Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, noted that from the very first days of his Patriarchal ministry, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church identified spiritual education and theological science as one of the most important areas of this ministry. Achievements in this area include the state accreditation of the bachelor's degree program and the emergence of a variety of master's programs, strengthening networking both within the community of theological schools and with the secular university and scientific community, as part of a large-scale project, new relevant textbooks are being created in all bachelor's disciplines. Behind all this is the blessing and lively interest of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.
In the first report of the conference, delivered by Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov), Doctor of Theology, Honored Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, new semantic horizons in the Christian gospel of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill were considered. According to the author of the report, the Good News brings to the world an unconditional and life-affirming recognition of existence with its deep transcendental hope for the coming universal resurrection and eternal life in God. It is reflected in the historical space of the new era in the destinies of millions of people. The Good News has become one of the central themes of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill's theological reflections. On the eve of the Second Glorious Coming of Christ, His Holy Church remains the institution in which the Good News is revealed to the people of God as the key to comprehending the eternal human destiny, as a semantic horizon for understanding existence.
In his report "The political concept of "American Primacy" and its refraction in modern Inter-Orthodox relations", the head of the Laboratory for Research of Church Institutions of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's University for the Humanities, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Priest Pavel Ermilov, stressed that during the Patriarchate of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill there was the most widespread crisis of inter-Orthodox relations in recent church history.
Archpriest Oleg Korytko, Head of the Reference Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. Russian Russian World as a Historiosophical Concept and its Connection with Russian Religiosity, PhD, Associate Professor of theology at the Moscow Theological Academy, presented a report on the topic "The Russian World as a historiosophical concept and its connection with Russian religiosity." Russian Russian Russian Russian World concept is a complex set of ideas and narratives (the Russian idea, Holy Russia, "Moscow — the Third Rome", etc.), united by the idea of a special spiritual space formed by Russian culture, as well as a special historical and geopolitical vocation of the Russian people. Russian Russian World reflections on the historiosophical dimension of the "Russian world" occupy an important place in the public speeches of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, for whom the "Russian world" is nothing more than a "community of shrines", a single space of common spiritual and cultural values formed under the influence of the Christian faith and Orthodox tradition.
The message of Archpriest Dionysius Basov, senior lecturer at the Department of Church and Practical Disciplines of the Kolomna Theological Seminary, concerned the issue of relations between the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates in the XXI century. These relations have deteriorated significantly in the 21st century compared to other times and are undergoing a profound crisis.
M.V. Kovshov, Associate Professor, Candidate of Theology, Associate Professor of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Moscow Theological Academy, researcher at the Perervinsk Theological Seminary, spoke about the activities of the Academy's scientific school in the report "The Legacy of the Apostle Paul in Patristic Exegesis, Russian Pre-Revolutionary and Modern Biblical Studies" during the patriarchy of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (2009-2024)".
L.I. Marsheva, Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of the Department of Ancient and New Languages of the Sretensky Theological Academy, and K.A. Tsyrelchuk, Master of Theology, graduate student of the Sretensky Theological Academy, presented a joint report on the topic "The liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2010-2020: comprehension, teaching, popularization."
In a message from the assistant of the Department of Church History of the Moscow Theological Academy, Master of Theology, Priest Vladislav Przybyshevsky, the visits of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra over the 15 years of his ministry were analyzed.
I.N. Slyunkova, Doctor of Architecture, Professor of the Department of History and Theory of Church Art at the Moscow Theological Academy, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences, made a presentation accompanied by a report "Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the 200 Temples program and new ways of developing church architecture."
The topic of church art was continued in the report of the senior lecturer and researcher of the Department of History and Theory of Church Art of the Moscow Theological Academy I.M. Zubrenko "Patriarchal Museum of Church Art in modern culture and educational programs of the Russian Orthodox Church". The Patriarchal Museum presents a unique collection of monuments of church art of the V-XX centuries, donated to the Primates of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Oleg Shabalin, a graduate student at the Department of Church History of the Moscow Theological Academy, reviewed the practice of canonization of saints in the Russian Orthodox Church over the past 15 years. The report reflected the activities of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in glorifying the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, and presented a list of names of ascetics of piety who were canonized during this period for both local and church-wide veneration.
According to the materials of the press service of the Moscow Theological Academy