On June 14, 2026, the opening of the photo exhibition "The Church Helps" took place in Gorky Park in Moscow. The photographers of the Kommersant publishing house visited church charity projects in different regions to visually present the social service of the Church.
"The photos show the charity projects of the Church. Of course, there are many more, but the purpose of the exhibition is not to tell about all the projects. We want to show that there is such a life when one person chooses to help another. Not just to sympathize, to support with words, but to do a concrete deed," said Archpriest Mikhail Potokin, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service.
"I think that good deeds should be shown. To talk about the fact that such projects exist in our country," Mikhail Lukin, editor—in-chief of Kommersant, said at the opening. "I hope that we will continue our cooperation and gradually expand it."
The pictures show church aid projects: the Moscow Salvation Hangar and the Yekaterinburg Mercy Bus for the homeless; rehabilitation centers for addicts "Monastery of Healing" in the Leningrad region and "Rainbow" in Kimry (Tver region); the social center "Tenderness" in Vyritsa, St. Sophia social house of Orthodox service "Mercy" in Moscow, House Deafblind people in Puchkovo (Moscow region), where they help children and adults with disabilities; St. Spiridonevskaya Almshouse of the Orthodox Mercy Service for the lonely elderly in Moscow. The pictures also show the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow; St. Basil the Great St. Petersburg Center, where they help difficult teenagers; the church humanitarian aid center in the Nizhny Novgorod region. In addition, the exhibition presents the assistance of volunteers from the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission.
This is the third exhibition of the Synodal Department of Charity in Gorky Park. Last year, the exhibition was dedicated to the help of Russian Orthodox Church volunteers to civilians in Donbas.
"It's great that an exhibition is opening in such a place. People gather here, regardless of the degree of church membership. And it unites everyone. It is becoming a common platform that reminds us of the need to do good," Irina Mersiyanova, Director of the Center for Civil Society and Non—Profit Sector Studies at the Higher School of Economics, said at the opening of the exhibition.
"The main thing in these photos is truth and love. I am sure that passers-by will stop in front of these pictures, which show the real deeds of love. And, for sure, they will be inspired to do something good themselves," said Priest Igor Palkin, head of the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, at the opening of the exhibition.
The exhibition "The Church helps" is located in the Muzeon Art Park next to the building of the New Tretyakov Gallery: Krymsky Val St., land plot 2.
Today, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the largest non—governmental organizers of social assistance in Russia. Church aid projects include shelters for the homeless, addiction centers, shelters for single moms, projects for people with disabilities, humanitarian aid centers, and more. The church helps not only in large cities, but also in small towns. Many church initiatives have become examples for the creation of similar public services, and some projects still remain unique to the country.
The Synodal Department for Charity coordinates all social services of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Department will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2026.