With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the XI International Faith and Word Festival was held on October 15-19, 2025.
Round tables, master classes, meetings with public opinion leaders, breakout work, presentations of various informational and socio-cultural projects and other events were held at the Snegiri recreation complex near Moscow, and the central event of the festival was the meeting of its delegates with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, held in the Hall of Church Cathedrals of the Cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
The program of the festival began on the evening of October 15, when, on the eve of the official opening, the chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations and the Media, V.R. Legoyda, held a traditional informal meeting with representatives of the diocesan press services, information departments, departments for Church-society relations and Orthodox media.
On October 16, the second day of the festival, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill officially opened with a meeting with the delegates. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the audience with a Primatial address, and then answered questions from the participants of the festival.
In his speech, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, in particular, stated that although the Church does not oppose technological progress and calls for the use of new tools such as artificial intelligence to serve higher goals, their proliferation poses serious challenges. The Primate expressed concern that automation of the creation of information content leads to increased manipulation, distortion of facts and, as a result, to a deep distrust of the audience in the entire media space, which weakens the ability to convey the word of Christ's truth to people.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill called on clergy active in social networks not to allow their communication with the audience to create the dangerous illusion that online interaction is a full-fledged spiritual life, stressing that the digital space should not become an obstacle to participation in real church life and the sacraments. His Holiness reminded that the mission of a priest is like the work of a sower, who must not only sow the word of God, but also with pastoral responsibility accompany the growth of the seed, making sure that it bears real spiritual fruits and leads a person to salvation.
The primate of the Russian Church warned clergy who operate on the Internet against commercializing their mission, saying that their audience is not a "market" for profitable "sales" of themselves or their services. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill condemned the attempts of some priests to retrain as coaches or psychologists for financial gain, stressing that a cassock is not a workwear, but a dignity that requires special responsibility. At the same time, the Patriarch noted that although the support of clergymen by donations is acceptable, the desire for popularity and the fear of losing subscribers should not turn a pastor into a "slave to the audience" and force him to be led by human passions, which contradicts the pastoral vocation itself.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill also stated that modern information challenges, such as the overproduction of information, the spread of fakes created by artificial intelligence, and the growing distrust of the audience, seriously hinder the witness of the Church, making people less able to perceive the good news of salvation. The primate pointed out the apocalyptic prospect of blurring the boundaries between the real and the virtual, but called on the Church, despite these difficulties, to get rid of fears and actively conduct missionary work in the digital space, noting that overcoming distrust has become one of the key pastoral tasks.
After the meeting of the festival delegates with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the first thematic event of the festival took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour Cathedral, a panel discussion "The New World and Christian Civilization", as well as a ceremony of awarding awards to the Russian Orthodox Church, awards from the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, and special prizes from the Chairman of the Department. The awards were presented to public figures, media representatives and employees of the relevant diocesan departments by the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations and the Media, V.R. Legoyda.
On the evening of October 16, a screening and discussion of the animated film "Serafima" took place at the Snegiri wellness complex.
On October 17-18, on the third and fourth days of the festival, various workshops, seminars, round tables, master classes and other events were held.
On the evening of October 18, a solemn ceremony was held to award the nominees of the festival and the winners of the video contest, after which the Faith and the Word festival completed its work. The awards were presented to the laureates by V.R. Legoyda and the General Director of the First Public Orthodox TV channel "Spas" B.V. Korchevnikov.
In total, about 500 delegates took part in the festival, including representatives of more than 200 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.