The Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission and the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service have prepared a practical guide "Pastoral ministry in a military hospital." The author of the publication is Deacon Igor Kulikov, Director of the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission; consultants: Archpriest Sergiy Klyaev, Priest Vladimir Sukhanov, Priest Evgeny Lishchenyuk, N.V. Shakuro.
The manual is addressed to hospital priests. It is based on the book "The Return. Spiritual and practical aspects of supporting the participants of the SVO and their loved ones" and supplemented with thematic materials useful for hospital priests.
The first part briefly describes the changes that occur to a person during combat: combat stress and distress, resource depletion, combat trauma and PTSD. Understanding these processes, as the authors note, is necessary in order to competently build a dialogue with the wounded, establish trusting relationships and not harm him.
The main part is devoted directly to hospital service. It examines the types of hospitals and the contingent of wounded, the general psychological state of the fighters, the key principles of the priest's work, first contact and overcoming the psychological barrier, and the specifics of performing the sacraments in a hospital setting. A separate section is devoted to the celebration of the Liturgy in the hospital on a portable altar. There are also examples of answers to difficult questions and the role of nurses and volunteers is described in detail.
The third part contains materials and contacts that it is important for a hospital priest to know and always have with him: information about social and financial assistance, state and public support structures, church canons and the practice of communion of soldiers. It also discusses the specifics of pastoral conversations with neo-pagans and provides the rite of the Holy Water prayer service, which can be performed in the hospital and hospital department.
"More than 600 priests from different dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church have already gone on a business trip to the SVR zone and border regions to care for the wounded in evacuation hospitals. More than 5,000 volunteers and sisters of mercy from the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission and St. Alexy's Hospital took part in the hospital service in Donbas, Kursk and Belgorod regions. The experience of four years of daily hospital service was taken as a basis for the preparation of this manual," said Deacon Igor Kulikov.
The presentation of the book will take place as part of a pastoral seminar for priests who care for hospitals in the area of the SVO. It will be held at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra on October 19-23, 2026.
The electronic version of the manual can be obtained free of charge by sending an e-mail request: return@diaconia.ru .