With the blessing of Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, celebrations dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Prison Ministry Department of the St. Petersburg Diocese took place on September 15, 2026.
The celebration began with the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, located in the complex of historical buildings of the former "Crosses" pre-trial detention center No. 1. The divine service was led by Bishop Veniamin of Kronstadt, vicar of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
His Grace was co-served by the chairman of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry, Priest Kirill Markovsky, the chairman of the Department for Prison Ministry of the St. Petersburg Diocese, Archpriest Oleg Skomorokh, Assistant to the Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region for organizing work with believers, as well as clergy caring for institutions of the region's penal system.
At the end of the Liturgy, Bishop Benjamin addressed the worshippers with an archpastoral address. Then, church awards were presented to clergymen who serve in places of detention, and to Orthodox volunteers who help carry out prison missions in colonies and pre-trial detention centers.
The celebrations continued at the Svyatodukhov Spiritual and Educational Center of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Vladyka Veniamin read out the greeting of Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga and congratulated the audience on an important date in the history of the revival of the Church's prison ministry in the Northern capital.
The chairman of the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry, Priest Kirill Markovsky, thanked the clergy, employees of the penitentiary system, representatives of public organizations and volunteers who bring the light of the faith of Christ to places of detention and help prisoners find spiritual support.
Fr Kirill noted that over the past decades, cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the penal system has developed significantly. An important stage was the introduction of the institution of full-time prison clergy, which gave a new impetus to church service in penitentiary institutions.
"All these transformations became possible thanks to the zealous efforts of prison pastors, primarily those clergymen who were the first to visit institutions of the penal system. They went to a place where unbelief and despair reigned, and they became a light for many people who had stumbled," the priest emphasized.
The revival of the Church's prison mission in St. Petersburg began in the late 1980s. Since 1988, clergymen have been regularly visiting correctional institutions and pre-trial detention centers in the city, conducting religious services and providing spiritual support to prisoners.
In May 1990, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Novgorod, the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, laid the foundation stone for the first prison church in honor of the Holy Martyr Veniamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd, in correctional colony No. 5 in the village of Metallostroy. In September 1992, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II consecrated the newly built church.
Archpriest Vladimir Sorokin, the first prison priest of the St. Petersburg Diocese and rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, made a great contribution to the development of prison ministry. On his initiative, the ministry of the clergy in pre-trial detention centers and correctional institutions became permanent. In 1996, the diocesan Department for relations with correctional institutions was established and a cooperation agreement was concluded with the regional Department for the Execution of Sentences.
Today, the department's ministry covers 15 institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service, a temporary detention center for juvenile offenders, medical and special educational institutions in St. Petersburg. The spiritual care of suspects, accused and convicted persons is carried out by 36 Orthodox clergy.
The anniversary events were attended by the clergy of the St. Petersburg Archdiocese, representatives of the city administration, the leadership and staff of the regional Federal Penitentiary Service, veterans of the penal correction system, representatives of the University of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, public organizations and Orthodox volunteers.
At the end of the solemn meeting, Priest Kirill Markovsky presented awards from the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry to the clergy, staff of the Federal Penitentiary Service and lay people who had made a significant contribution to the development of the prison mission of the Russian Orthodox Church.