Orthodox magazine for children “My Joy” (Donetsk diocese). Russian Orthodox Church media on the threshold of the third millennium

1. About our publication

Orthodox magazine for children “My Joy”.

The first issue of the magazine was intended as a gift for the children of Donbass for the Bright Feast of the Resurrection of Christ in 2003. The editorial board decided to ask the young readers themselves what they would like the magazine to be called. A competition was announced among Sunday schools for best name children's Orthodox magazine. From all the variety of name options, we singled out Bogdana Vorobyova’s proposal - the greeting of St. Seraphim of Sarov - “My joy, Christ is Risen!” It seemed to us that the words from the reverend’s address most suited our idea of ​​the magazine. The magazine aroused genuine interest among readers and our Bishop Hilarion blessed it to be published monthly. Last year, “My Joy” celebrated its fifth anniversary. So far, 80 exciting and colorful numbers have seen the light of day.

2. Why are we doing this?

“My Joy” is an educational and at the same time soul-helping magazine. With the help of the magazine, we strive to create a counterbalance to the consumer worldview and modern trends penetration of Western culture. We try to show the younger generation Orthodox guidelines, i.e. landmarks of our culture.

3. Who are we doing this for?

Initially, the magazine was created for Sunday school students. To some extent, this limited the magazine: in terms of information - to the regional level, in terms of presentation of material - to the level of knowledge of Sunday school students. Subsequently, it was decided to expand the readership. We tried to create a magazine that would be interesting to read not only for church-going children. We opened new sections, found accessible forms of storytelling and presentation of material, as well as our own design style.

Today, the magazine has a fairly extensive rubricator, allowing it to comprehensively develop and satisfy the spiritual interests of the young reader.

If we talk about the age category, then these are children from 10 to 15 years old.

3. What do we consider the most important thing in our work?

“My Joy” is an Orthodox publication, and, of course, its concept is based on the basic commandments of Orthodoxy: faith, love of God, love of neighbor.

The magazine can highlight several vectors of communication with young readers. One of them is aimed at the personality of the reader himself: through the heroes of the magazine, age-related (psychological) problems are raised and ways to solve them are proposed.

Another vector can be designated as historical. Here the reader learns world history, the history of his native land, and the history of the Orthodox faith.

The educational vector introduces the reader to the basics of Orthodoxy, the Holy Scriptures, and the lives of saints and devotees of the faith.

We can also highlight the vector of leisure, which is presented through the aesthetics of the poetic and artistic headings “Ringing Pipe” and “Vernissage”, as well as “Our Quiz” and “Crafting with Your Own Hands”, which have been loved since the first issues.

4. Which side of our publication do we consider strong and why?

It is not in the spirit of Orthodoxy to praise oneself. The most strong point any media project is its relevance: when there is a permanent audience that watches, listens, reads, gives feedback, lives with us.

Our editor receives many letters. We enjoy reading them out loud. Some people simply write to us about themselves, others send us their poems and drawings. Let’s admit, these are the most exciting and joyful moments of our work. And we are grateful to everyone who reads and writes to us for their participation and love.

We consider our team to be our internal achievement. The creative editorial team is working on the creation of the magazine: the editorial board, production editors, proofreaders, designer, artist.

It is especially pleasant that we have formed our own team of authors who regularly write to the magazine. These are students and graduates of the spiritual culture department at the Faculty of Additional Professions of Donetsk National University, correspondents (employees) of the press service of the Branch of the Donetsk Metallurgical Complex, on whose technical basis the magazine is published.

5. What does our publication look like?

Volume - 36 printed illustrated full-color pages in A4 format, with your original logo.

Publication frequency - once a month

Circulation - 10,000 copies.

Editor's page - a thematic appeal from one of the representatives of the editorial board to young readers (published on the occasion of an informational occasion, for example, the Great Resurrection, the Nativity of Christ, the anniversary of the magazine, innovations, competitions).

Topic of the issue - the central section of the magazine, which sets a cross-cutting theme that touches on current issues for our category of readers, refracted through the prism of the Orthodox worldview (for example, friendship, habits, relationships with parents, bravery and courage, good deeds, the image and likeness of God in man, etc.) P.). The section is aimed at positioning the Orthodox view of the reality around us.

History lessons - description of historical events (important, significant episodes of world history). Returns the reader to history, culture, traditions, gives an understanding of the patterns in history, shows the power of God, God's providence.

Your calendar (chronograph) - links significant Orthodox memorial and historical dates into a single calendar chain, highlighting the most interesting, from the point of view of the young reader, events of these memorable dates.

Reached the skies - about ascetics and saints; examples of their lives contribute to the formation of a pious personality and the need for missionary service to one's neighbor.

Basics of Orthodoxy - acquaintance with the basics of Orthodoxy, its culture and traditions; realizes the educational goal.

Pray, child - introduces the prayer practice of Orthodoxy; teaches the child to pray.

Holy image - about icons (the history of miracles) and icon painters. Realizes educational goal.

Holy warriors - the lives of holy warriors, reveal the theme of self-sacrifice and martyrdom for the sake of Christ, contributing to the formation of a pious personality.

Food for the soul - soulful reading - wise stories, stories and fairy tales for children. Reveals the beauty of the world created by God, His wisdom and providence.

let's get acquainted - meeting interesting people and the activities of Sunday schools. Exchange of experience, involvement in community life.

Cyrillic - teaches the basics of the Church Slavonic language in a form accessible to children (with instructive, historical examples).

Children's stories - the world through the eyes of a child, i.e. children's perception of the surrounding reality in an Orthodox arrangement (with Orthodox analytics).

Chronicle - diocesan events - interesting events in the Orthodox life of children at the level of the district, city of the region. Realizes the information goal.

Vernissage - children's work (drawings, crafts). Reveals the beauty of the world created by God, teaches children to glorify the Lord through their creativity.

The ringing pipe - poems and songs (including those sent by readers). Reveals the beauty of the world created by God, teaches children to glorify the Lord through their creativity.

It's interesting to know - facts, events worthy of attention. Realizes educational and educational goals.

Little feet to holy places - pilgrimage trips to holy places. Implements an informational and educational goal, introducing the reader to the shrines of Orthodoxy.

We make it with our own hands - accustoms the young reader to creativity.

Our quiz - V game form The theme raised in the issue is reinforced.

New categories have been introduced - Visiting the master - introduces the young reader to the profession of people working for the benefit of the Orthodox Church (bell caster, prosphora maker, icon painter, wall painter, wood carver, gold seamstress, etc.). Sections introducing the young reader to famous personalities (Storytellers and their tales, 12 great people of history).

1. Introduction

With the blessing of His Holiness, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', for the first time in the history of our Church, in this anniversary year we are holding the Congress of the Orthodox Press.

The founders of the Congress are the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, other Synodal Departments, the Ministry of Press Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation, Moscow State University, the Orthodox Society "Radonezh" and a number of other organizations. According to today's data, about 450 people from ten countries and 71 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived at the congress, most of all from Russia (about 380 people from 52 dioceses), then from Ukraine (from 12 different dioceses), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Latvia, Estonia and from the Berlin diocese. Among the participants are representatives of diocesan media, secular media writing on church topics, and Orthodox journalists from Local Orthodox Churches.

The goals and objectives of the Congress are:
- consolidation of the efforts of Orthodox journalists in the matter of Orthodox education and familiarization of the general public with the position of the Church on the main issues of socio-political life;
- work to improve the qualifications of Orthodox journalists;
- strengthening cooperation of the Church with secular journalists writing on church topics;
- creation of the “Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia” and the formation of its regional branches.

We intend to consider at the Congress such aspects of journalism as freedom of speech and information in the modern world, independence and responsibility of the press, issues of journalistic ethics from the Orthodox point of view.

Our congress is taking place in the anniversary year, on the threshold of the third millennium after the birth of Christ, so we inevitably have to not only talk about current problems, but at the same time keep in mind a broader perspective, to take stock of a wider period of time. The last 10 years in the life of the Church have turned out to be very important for the revival of all aspects of church life, including Orthodox journalism.

A few words should be said in explanation main topic Congress. Two thousand years ago, the greatest event in human history took place: the appearance in the flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This event radically changed the world: as it became Christianized, people realized more and more clearly that man, being the image and likeness of God, is free: he has the inherent right to life, the right to freedom of belief, and finally, freedom of speech in defending his beliefs.

No matter what they say now about the reforms of the last decade in our country, no one denies one thing: our society has gained freedom of speech. The only question is how we use this freedom.

The past century has been tragic for our long-suffering Fatherland. The world has witnessed confrontation, intolerance, and bitterness in society, which led to civil war, bloodshed, and the death of millions of people.

But even today, don’t we feel that the spirit of division is beginning to take possession of our souls? After gaining the freedom to profess and preach any beliefs, a period of violent clashes immediately began. And again people contrast “theirs” with “theirs”, again “their” power, “their” ideas - they consider them more valuable than “theirs”, and not only ideas, but also lives! This means that 1917 is not an accidental page in the history of Russia!

Power of influence mass media is enormous, but like any power, it can be both detrimental to the people and beneficial.

Recently, many archpastors, clergy and believers of the Russian Orthodox Church are increasingly expressing concern that the state remains indifferent to the promotion of violence, interethnic, interfaith, social and other hostility, moral debauchery, debauchery, as well as other phenomena that contradict both Christian and and natural, universal morality, through printed and audiovisual products, radio and television. As a rule, the press perceives such judgments as an attack on freedom of the press. But the activities of modern media can be considered as an attack on a person’s freedom to live morally, since the imposition of a cult of immorality just as restricts the freedom of human choice as cruel censorship.

Therefore, recognizing ourselves as citizens of a great country, heirs of a great Orthodox culture, we can and must resist vulgarity, cynicism, and lack of spirituality modern life, no matter who we are, no matter what we do, no matter where we work: in a newspaper, in a magazine, on radio, on television. Not allowing the human soul to get bogged down in everyday worries, reminding it of its original calling to reach divine heights is an important part of journalistic service to society.

And first of all, it is the Orthodox press that must be moral and responsible, free and independent.

2. The state of Orthodox periodicals before the revolution

The question arises: isn’t what has been said a mere declaration; are free and independent Orthodox media possible in reality? I must say that on the eve of the present congress there was a series of publications in the secular media aimed at casting doubt on this possibility. The newspaper "NG-Religions" made a special effort here, devoting a whole selection of materials to the upcoming Congress; except for an interview with a member of the Congress Organizing Committee, priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, posted, apparently, “for objectivity”, everything else is kept in a sharply critical tone, as evidenced by the very titles of the articles: “Strangled Word”, “Closed Nature of Activities”, “Deal with Everyone” , “Is church journalism possible?” Of course, it is impossible if we understand freedom of journalism in the way that is now convenient for most secular journalists. But today we have already heard the answer to such questions in the Word of His Holiness the Patriarch, who reminded us of the Orthodox understanding of freedom. Another answer to the same question is given by church life itself - both current (the existence of many Orthodox periodicals) and the past, our church history, to which we must constantly turn, comparing our actions with church tradition. Therefore, I think it is appropriate to give a short historical information about the state of Orthodox periodicals before the revolution.

Its beginning dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century, when the reforms of theological educational institutions gave a new impetus to the development of our Theological Academies. In 1821, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy was the first to publish the journal Christian Reading. But it was a scientific, theological journal, and the first popular, publicly accessible publication was the weekly Sunday Reading, which began publishing in 1837. It contained articles of an edifying nature and was published by the Kyiv Theological Academy. The first seminary periodical was the Riga magazine "School of Piety" (1857). Thus, we see that the beginning of Orthodox periodicals is closely connected with our Theological school. It should be noted that before the revolution, our four academies published 19 periodicals. Theological seminaries also published about a dozen magazines, of which the most famous is the Kharkov theological and philosophical magazine "Faith and Reason", founded in 1884 by Archbishop Ambrose (Klyucharyov).

In the second half of the 19th century, in addition to academic ones, many other spiritual journals appeared, which can be called theological and journalistic. Along with theological articles, they published sermons, reviews of current events in the Orthodox Churches and the heterodox world, criticism and bibliography of current book and magazine publications, essays about remarkable church figures, biographies of devotees of piety, stories from church life and poems of spiritual content. Among the most famous magazines of this kind, we note the St. Petersburg "Wanderer" of Archpriest Vasily Grechulevich (in the appendix to it the "Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia" was published in 1900-1911), the Kiev sharply polemical "Home Conversation for People's Reading" by Askochensky, the Moscow "Soulful Reading" and a lot others. All these theological and journalistic publications of the 1860-1870s were characterized by a bold discussion of church and church-social issues.

Speaking about official publications, it should be noted that before the revolution, each diocese had its own printed organ - the Diocesan Gazette. The initiative to found them belongs to the famous 19th-century hierarch, outstanding preacher, Archbishop of Kherson Innocent (Borisov), who developed their concept in 1853. Its main element was the division of the magazine into two parts: official and unofficial. The official part was intended for decrees and orders of the Holy Synod, news of the highest state power, especially for a given diocese, for orders from the diocesan authorities, for reports of movements and vacancies, for extracts from the annual reports of various diocesan institutions. In the unofficial part, excerpts from the works of the holy fathers, sermons, articles of an edifying nature, local historical, biographical, local history and bibliographic materials were published.

However, only six years later this concept was submitted for approval to the Holy Synod by Archbishop Dimitri (Muretov), ​​Bishop Innocent’s successor in the department. The Synod not only approved it in 1859, but also sent the proposed publication program to all diocesan bishops. The following year, diocesan bulletins began to be published under this program in Yaroslavl and Kherson, and after another 10 years they were already published in most dioceses. It is interesting to note that remote dioceses acquired their own journals before the capital ones.

Even later, central bodies appeared, that is, published by the Synod or some Synodal department of the Russian Orthodox Church - in 1875 the “Church Bulletin” began to be published, and in 1888 - “Church Gazette”.

Closer to the beginning of the 20th century, the number of publications increased in which the main place was occupied by publicly accessible religious and moral articles for edifying reading, such as “Russian Pilgrim”, “Sunday Day”, “The Helmsman”, “The Rest of a Christian”. Of the popular edifying pre-revolutionary magazines, 30 were published by Orthodox monasteries. In particular, the “Trinity Leaves” published by the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra were very popular. There were also special church magazines devoted to apologetics, public education, the fight against schisms and sects, the naval clergy, a bibliography of theological and church historical literature. As for parish periodicals, before the revolution there were few of them, only about a dozen.

3. Church journalism in Soviet times

However, all these Orthodox periodicals (about four hundred titles) ceased to exist within the first five years Soviet power- just like the publications, mainly renovationist ones, that arose after 1917. True, there were still emigrant Orthodox publications, for example, “Bulletin of the RSHD”, “Orthodox Thought” and others, but in the former USSR they were practically inaccessible to the average reader, being the property of special depositories.

For many decades, the only periodical publication of the Russian Orthodox Church was the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. We also had some periodicals that were published abroad and were intended for a Western audience, for example, "Bulletin of the Western European Exarchate" in France (in Russian and French), "The Voice of Orthodoxy" in German.

As for our oldest magazine, ZhMP, since its founding next year it will be 70 years old (it began publishing in 1931, was closed in 1935 and was resumed again during the Great Patriotic War, in September 1943), then, despite the well-known limitations of the era of totalitarianism, the magazine still played a very large role in the life of the Church. Of course, in terms of its level it was not comparable with pre-revolutionary publications - neither in terms of volume (suffice it to recall that in the 30s it had 8-10 pages, in the 40s - 40-60, and only starting in 1954 - the current 80 ), neither in terms of circulation (it was almost impossible for an ordinary believer to get it), nor in terms of content. And yet, it was that small flame that the hostile winds of the era could not extinguish. All the theological and literary church forces that were few at that time were drawn to him and gathered around him. In the Journal in different time Outstanding Russian theologians, liturgists, church historians, and Slavic scholars worked and collaborated with him. This tradition continues today. Its editors carefully preserve and promote church traditions, supporting the high culture of Orthodox journalism.

During all these years, the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” has been the voice of the Russian Orthodox Church, bringing the word of the Gospel to the believers of Russia, an invaluable source of information about the events of church life. He made a significant contribution to the preparation of future Orthodox pastors, to the Christian education and enlightenment of church people, to the preservation of the purity of our faith.

Throughout its existence, the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, in fact, was a chronicle of the works and days of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarchal messages, greetings, statements and decrees, Decrees of the Holy Synod, Acts of Councils and Bishops' Conferences, and official reports on important events in church life were regularly published on its pages. Materials were also published about the naming and consecration of newly installed bishops - from these publications one can trace the path of service to the Holy Church of each hierarch. Since the basis of the spiritual life of the Church is worship, the Journal always contained messages about the services of the Primate of our Church. The Journal paid a lot of attention to parish life, monasteries and Theological schools, constantly told readers about the life of other Local Orthodox Churches, devoted great attention development of fraternal inter-Orthodox relations.

Over the past decades, the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate has published many hundreds of sermons dedicated to Orthodox holidays, doctrinal and moral themes; hundreds of articles dedicated to explaining Holy Scripture, Orthodox dogmatics, moral and pastoral theology, liturgics, canon, church history, patristics, hagiology, church art. Services, akathists, and prayers to saints were published; some liturgical texts were printed for the first time from handwritten monuments.

Recently, the volume and proportion of articles devoted to understanding the historical past of our Church, ways of reviving the Orthodox Fatherland, and other church and social problems from an Orthodox position have begun to increase. The magazine began to regularly publish materials about martyrs, confessors and devotees of piety of the 20th century, to acquaint readers with the religious views of Russian cultural figures, and with the theological heritage of the Russian emigration. The Journal reflects all areas of modern church life, including problems of spiritual education, pastoral care, social service of the Church, its interaction with the Armed Forces, and missionary work. On the pages of the Journal you can read both about the primal trips of His Holiness the Patriarch, and about the works and concerns of a small church community. It publishes articles on all sections of theology, sermons, church historical works, and bibliographic reviews. The section of the Journal "Our Publications" is devoted to materials from the rich heritage of representatives of Russian theological and religious-philosophical thought of the 20th century.

In the new conditions, when a resurgent Russia not only with increasing interest, but also with hope turns its gaze towards the Church, when church life arouses increasing interest in society, the desire to understand it, understand its features, and then join it grows , a periodic body is especially needed that promptly and fully informs about everything that happens in the vast church body. The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate is such a body.

It should be noted that in the current conditions of the still unusual absence of censorship and, as a consequence, the excessive “liberation” of other authors, when a mass of various religious publications have appeared, the role of the periodical publishing official documents of the Church, covering the activities of its Primate - His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, introducing the reader to the official point of view of the Russian Orthodox Church, greater than ever.

With the beginning of perestroika in 1989, one of the first church newspapers, the Moscow Church Bulletin, appeared in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. The history of its formation is replete with many twists: it was also published on coated paper in a very small edition, received in the amount of 2-3 copies per diocese, so that some bishops hung it in the church as a wall newspaper. It was published for some time and as a supplement to “Evening Moscow” with a circulation of over 300 thousand copies. Currently, it is published twice a month; the newspaper publishes a quarterly supplement “Review of Orthodox Publications”, which contains reviews and annotations on published church literature.

4. The current state of Orthodox periodicals

Characterizing the situation as a whole, it can be noted that over the past decade the Church has not only restored its periodical press in its traditional forms (magazine and newspaper), but is also actively developing new forms of such activity. Their appearance is due to modern technical progress, the achievements of which are not always bad in themselves - it is only important to use them for good purposes. Thus, the Publishing Department of the Moscow Diocese has not only revived the Moscow Diocesan Gazette, but is also releasing a video supplement for it (two issues have been published so far).

Nowadays, almost all dioceses have their own church media. Of course, they differ greatly in volume, frequency and, of course, quality, which, unfortunately, often remains low. There are many reasons for this, including economic ones: the lack of funds to attract bright and highly qualified journalists.

In Moscow alone, about 30 different Orthodox periodicals are published. Some newspapers, for example, "Radonezh", are well known not only in Moscow, but also far beyond its borders. This newspaper is characterized by high professionalism, competent construction of materials, the level of many articles in it is high, and the newspaper is easy to read. Among Moscow newspapers, we should also note the famous parish newspaper “Orthodox Moscow”, the publishing team of which successfully works in the field of Orthodox journalism, sowing the reasonable, the good, the eternal. We can say that such newspapers as “Moscow Church Bulletin”, “Orthodox Moscow” or “Radonezh” have their own identity, in some ways they were able to advance further than others, some are more professional, some are more ecclesiastical.

The activity of Orthodox youth brings to life Orthodox youth publications - first of all, here we should mention the student newspaper of Moscow University "Tatyana's Day", the student magazine of the Moscow Theological Academy "Vstrecha", the magazine for doubters "Thomas". Unfortunately, the number of Orthodox children's magazines for which there is a very great need is still small; First of all, it is necessary to note the magazines “Bee”, “Font”, “God’s World”, “Sunday School”.

A special type of periodical is the Orthodox one. church calendar, published once a year. As you know, now many organizations, both church and private, are striving to publish calendars, since they are invariably in demand among the population. And this cannot but be welcomed. But it’s one thing when we are talking about popular publications that contribute, so to speak, to the gradual “churching” of the ordinary secular calendar, and quite another thing when it comes to the publication of the Patriarchal Church Calendar. The latter has its own special tasks: intended primarily for the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, it serves to streamline worship and to achieve liturgical unity of the Church. A secular calendar is one thing (indicating holidays in it does not make it church), and quite another is a calendar with liturgical instructions and readings: the problems that arise when compiling the latter are such that in a number of cases even experienced employees of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate have to contact for clarification to the Divine Service Commission of the Holy Synod, and sometimes personally to His Holiness the Patriarch. It is unacceptable that in the calendars of different dioceses these problems are solved differently (as sometimes happened in pre-revolutionary Russia). Moreover, interference in solving calendar problems of private individuals is unacceptable.

The most common type of publishing activity in dioceses is the publication of a diocesan newspaper. It may be multi-page or just a piece of paper, but one way or another it carries information about the life of the diocese. Moreover, in a number of cases, not one, but several newspapers are published in a diocese (and I do not mean the Moscow and St. Petersburg dioceses, where the situation with publishing and journalistic activity is special).

The number of dioceses in which Orthodox magazines are published is significantly smaller. This is understandable: publishing, say, a monthly magazine is much more labor-intensive than a monthly newspaper (which, by the way, is often published as a supplement to some secular newspaper and uses the appropriate resources). The practice of reviving Orthodox publications published before the revolution in new conditions deserves all support (for example, the oldest Orthodox magazine"Christian reading", etc.).

It is important to note that in a number of dioceses church periodicals are published not only in Russian, but also in the language of the nationalities living there (for example, in the Komi language in the Syktyvkar diocese, in the Altai language in Barnaul, etc.).

As an example of a diocesan newspaper, one can cite the weekly “Word of Life”, which has been published in the Tashkent diocese for many years. This publication worthily fulfills the important task of spiritual nourishment for the Orthodox Central Asian flock, and one of the reasons for its success lies in the great attention paid to publishing by Archbishop Vladimir of Tashkent and Central Asia. For all his busyness, he by no means limited himself to the archpastoral parting words for the new periodical, but, in fact, became its most active author: almost every issue of the newspaper contained his word, sermon, message. An important place in the newspaper is given to Christian pedagogy, the thoughts of the holy fathers on raising children, excerpts from the works of Ushinsky and Aksakov, essays about the Tashkent theological school, about Sunday schools in various parishes are printed. From the very first issue, the newspaper covers the history of the diocese; Thus, an essay on the history of the creation of the monthly magazine "Turkestan Diocesan Gazette" was published - in fact, the predecessor of the current newspaper: a number of publications were devoted to the initial preaching of the Apostle Thomas in Central Asia, articles were published about outstanding Central Asian hierarchs, as well as materials related to the name of the disciple and a follower of the last Optina elder Nektariy, confessor of the Central Asian diocese in the 50s-60s of our century, Archimandrite Boris (Kholchev; †1971). The specificity of the Central Asian diocese is its location among the Muslim world; Therefore, a number of the newspaper’s materials pursue the goals of improving mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims and dispelling the atmosphere of omissions and suspicion. The publication of this newspaper, which can be considered an exemplary diocesan publication, has been going on for nine years.

5. New types of media

a) Radio, television

Both in the capital and in the regions, the Church is actively developing radio broadcasting. In Moscow, it is worth noting the many years of activity of the radio channel "Radonezh", the "Logos" program of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, the program "I Believe" on radio "Russia" and others. There have been certain achievements in the field of cinema (it should be emphasized great importance the annual Golden Knight film festival held by the Union of Cinematographers) and television, where the same role is played by the annually held festival-seminar of Orthodox television, the founders of which are the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Orthodox society "Radonezh" and the Institute for Advanced Training of Television and Radio Broadcasting Workers. Over the past years, many interesting programs have been created on television, such as “Orthodox Monthly”, “Orthodox”, “Canon” and of course the author’s program of the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad “The Word of the Shepherd”. Unfortunately, not all of them have survived to this day. Of great importance in the development of the Orthodox presence on television is the activity of the Information Agency of the Russian Orthodox Church, which covers the most important events in church life (previously this was done by the PITA agency), as well as such television programs as “Russian House” and some others.

The main wish for these forms of media is greater interaction with the Hierarchy. It is unacceptable that speakers on radio stations or on television sometimes put their opinions above canonical norms - this causes temptation among believers.

b) Internet

Two words should be said about the beginning of the development of a new type of publication by church organizations - electronic media. I mean the worldwide computer network Internet, which has become a common means of obtaining information in Western countries and is now becoming widespread in Russia. Using this network, each user can receive information from anywhere in the world. A number of church structures, both in the center and in dioceses, are now making efforts aimed at installing computer equipment to provide access to the Internet. This will allow the Church to use another channel of influence on the minds of our contemporaries, with the help of which the most enlightened part of the youth audience, as well as the Russian-speaking population abroad, will be able to gain access to the treasury of Orthodoxy, as well as the Russian-speaking population abroad, where our periodicals practically do not reach due to the high cost of postage.

Currently, there are already dozens of Orthodox servers in Russian. Both Synodal institutions and individual dioceses, churches and monasteries go online, educational establishments. One of the largest is the “Orthodoxy in Russia” server, created with the assistance of the Russian Cultural Initiative Foundation; In particular, such newspapers as “Radonezh” and “Orthodox Moscow” are posted on its pages. Such a server was created by the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate; it hosts all the official publications we publish, including the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, the newspaper “Moscow Church Bulletin”, the Orthodox Church Calendar, the Chronicle of the Patriarchal Ministry and much more.

6. Orthodox topics in secular media

In connection with the increasing social significance of the Russian Orthodox Church in our country in last years and in the secular media, the direction of journalism associated with the coverage of church life is intensively developing. At first, such information was distributed in the media through cultural departments; now many secular magazines and newspapers have special columnists writing on church topics, and some media outlets have special sections, sections, strips, tabs and supplements entirely devoted to church life.

Examples include the “Lampada” column in the “Trud” newspaper, the “Blagovest” column in the “Rabotnitsa” magazine, and many others.

But there are also publications that have long exposed themselves as obvious enemies of Orthodoxy. Their goal is clear: to cause maximum damage to the Church, to tear the Orthodox people away from it. Even the world celebration - the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ - some of these publications used to publish blasphemous articles on their pages.

What are the reasons for the, to put it mildly, unfriendly attitude of many secular media towards the Church? There are, of course, conscious enemies who, as before, imitating Emelyan of Yaroslavl, look at the Church as a breeding ground for alien ideas. Such people are extremely alarmed by the great and constantly growing authority of the Church in society. However, most often, I think, this is a reaction to the ideological dictates of the recent past, a kind of complex. In the Church they see not an opportunity for renewal of life, but a threat of the spread of a new ideology associated with certain self-restraints, whereas they would like to live without any ideology, absolutely “free.” But it is not without reason that they say: a holy place is never empty, and, rejecting the good yoke of Christ, they doom themselves to much worse slavery to various idols. For freedom without the restraining principles of Christianity is self-will and arbitrariness. And the fruits of such freedom are disastrous for humans, dooming our civilization to extinction.

7. So-called independent Orthodox media

Recently, supposedly “Orthodox” publications have appeared that proudly call themselves “independent.” Let us ask ourselves: independent from whom? When such titles or subtitles appear in secular media, this must be understood, of course, not as an indication of true independence, since we know that the periodical press is very dependent on its economic owners, on sponsors, etc., but as an indication to the absence of censorship on the part of the authorities, as opposed to all kinds of official press organs published in budget resources. When a publication that calls itself Orthodox simultaneously calls itself “independent,” then it either uncritically uses a stamp suitable only for secular media, or it really wants to be independent from the authorities - from the church authorities, from the Hierarchy. But is this possible?

The Church is built on a hierarchical principle and there is not and cannot be any structures or associations independent of the Hierarchy. There was already a period in our church history when, after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917, meetings were held in many dioceses that removed unwanted bishops and elected new ones. We all remember with what wave of renovationism, betrayal, and break with the Orthodox Tradition this period ended. “Without a bishop there is no Church” - this cornerstone principle, first clearly formulated by the holy martyr Irenaeus of Lyons, is true in all its strength today. Therefore, in my opinion, a newspaper cannot be considered Orthodox if its publication was not given the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch or the ruling bishop.

In this matter, the current situation is to some extent reminiscent of what took place in relation to the Orthodox brotherhoods, which were created in dozens at the beginning of perestroika. Some of them engaged in political and other activities that not only did not benefit the Church, but also directly harmed it. The Council of Bishops in 1994 even had to make a special decision to re-register the Statutes of Orthodox brotherhoods, adding to them a clause stating that they are created only with the consent of the rector of the parish and with the blessing of the diocesan bishop, so that they would be under the responsible guardianship of the rectors.

It is obvious that we will have to return to this same topic more than once, since such “independent” media are waging an open struggle with the Mother Church. There are a variety of reasons for this. Ostensibly worrying about church problems that cannot be resolved, in reality such newspapers only introduce new discord into the church body and work to weaken the Church. Behind the articles published in them, one cannot help but see far-reaching plans aimed at splitting the Church and, above all, at belittling its role in the national-state revival of Russia. In this, such “zealots of Orthodoxy” join forces with the most rabid enemies of the Church.

In their publications they throw mud at prominent church figures of the past and current hierarchs. Meanwhile, not only ordinary believers, but also priests and even bishops continue to take part in such newspapers - either indirectly (by subscribing, reading) or directly (by writing articles, providing interviews, etc.). The question is: is this canonically permissible? Of course, this is a rhetorical question - for a truly Orthodox consciousness it should be clear: such publications destroy church unity.

Talking about Orthodox media, it should be noted that in the full sense only those publications can be called church publications that were established by the official structures of the Russian Orthodox Church - directly by the Patriarchate, Synodal institutions, monasteries, and parishes. Of course, there are many publications that are not, in the strict sense, church publications, but which turn to the Hierarchy for the blessing of their activities. Most of these media outlets employ church-going lay people, and we support them. At the same time, one cannot fail to take into account that legally they are private enterprises that are not responsible to the Church for the content of their publications. This is fraught with a number of dangers, since under certain circumstances the editorial policy of such structures can and is influenced by factors and forces alien to the Church. Therefore, it seems especially important that the founders of religious media include official structures of the Church, which would have the opportunity not only to formally bless, but also to actually direct the line pursued by this or that publication into the church mainstream.

I note that from the point of view of non-church consciousness, what I am talking about now looks simply like a struggle of the Church with independent church media and secular journalists covering church issues. Such an interpretation does not frighten us, since the Church is by no means a parliament where pluralism of opinions and factional struggle reign. But when such judgments are accompanied by fictitious reports, such as the one that recently appeared on the pages of Russian Thought, that the Publishing Council allegedly sent out to all Diocesan administrations a “black list” of media outlets, from meeting whose journalists clergy are advised to refrain, we must clearly state that this is slander.

In essence, there is no need to be surprised at this: you know well that the world, since the emergence of Christianity, has been at war with it; and in war as in war, they do not disdain any means. But this general consideration at the moment, in relation to Orthodoxy in Russia, also has a purely political component: Orthodoxy is the last stronghold of Russia, and therefore for many in the West it is the main target. At the same time, attacks on the Church of Christ are carried out both from outside and from within. And the enemy within the Church, who puts on the mask of a zealot for the purity of Orthodoxy, is more dangerous than the external enemy, because he is more difficult to recognize. His favorite technique is slandering the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, using unclean methods of lies, distortion of facts, and their biased interpretation. In the name of what are these people zealous? The answer is simple: the authors and leaders of such newspapers either themselves want a split in the Church, or are simply carrying out someone else’s order.

8. Common problems Orthodox journalism

a) Addressee, language, subject

The first question that arises in relation to Orthodox periodicals is their addressee. Are they internal church publications, designed for already churched readers, or should the main tasks they set for themselves be missionary, that is, they must address first of all those who stand only on the threshold of the church? The choice of language, the choice of topics, and the volume of necessary commentary depend on the solution to this main question.

In my opinion, both are necessary: ​​there must be publications designed for a prepared reader, well acquainted with church life, theology, and history; and there should be editions for beginners. But given that the service of the Church is now taking place in conditions of a significant de-churchification of a society that has moved far away from its spiritual foundations and, so to speak, does not remember its kinship, I believe that the missionary bias in the Orthodox media should be predominant. In accordance with this, the language of newspapers and magazines should be understandable to most people. But there is also some danger here that I would like to point out. Whatever missionary goals journalists set for themselves, not every language is suitable for articles and notes that deal with the lofty and the sacred. The laudable desire to expand the readership, to come into contact with one or another social group in order to conduct Christian preaching in it should also have its limits. It is unthinkable, for example, when bringing the Good News to those in chains, to present it, “applying” to the mentality of criminals, in their language; It is clear that such a journalist will lose himself and will not gain readers. The same can be said about the use - in an effort to capture young hearts - of the jargon of youth parties.

Now about the topic. There is a type of publication called a newsletter. The intensity of church life is now very high, and filling newspaper pages with news (with the Internet this is very easy to do) is the simplest thing an editor can do. But for most newspapers and magazines, information about events in church life is too little for the publication to be truly interesting to readers. A simple reprint of passages from the patristic works is not enough. The good news of the Lord Jesus Christ is addressed to every person, but each generation of people perceives it in its own way, because it is in a new historical situation. And the main thing that may interest the reader is how the eternal truths of Christianity are refracted in the consciousness of his contemporary. Therefore, I believe that the main place in the Orthodox media should be occupied by the speeches of modern clergy, religious scientists and cultural figures, and Orthodox publicists.

Today, many preachers speak in a language drawn from the books of the last century; they do not strive to revive their knowledge, to convey it to modern man. Such preaching is not effective; one should speak about the deepest truths of the Gospel and about church life in clear, modern language.

I would like to note one more point related to the language of the press. It is very characteristic of the modern ideologized consciousness that the understanding of this or that publication in the old sense, i.e. following the author’s arguments and similar work of thought are often replaced by the identification of “one’s own” or “someone else’s” by a few conventional signs that can be detected in the material during the most cursory viewing of it. At the same time, reading texts and listening to speeches turns into a search for a few key words such as “patriot”, “democrat”, “nationalist”, “ecumenist”. I urge Orthodox journalists to use less such cliches, which inevitably vulgarize thought and do not contribute to unity in society.

Another example is provided by people who talk a lot about the need to translate divine services into Russian for better understanding (I note in parentheses - an extremely delicate matter that requires many years of work), but in fact limit themselves to saying “again and again” instead of “packs and packs.” again", instead of "let's listen" - "listen" and instead of "belly" - "life", which adds absolutely nothing to the understanding of the liturgical text. Here these altered words, an example of bad taste, also have the functional meaning of a password, an identification mark intended to demonstrate progressiveness to all surrounding conservatives.

The most important topic for Orthodox media is the fight against the dominance of information that corrupts our society in secular media. The church press should participate in the development of mechanisms to protect itself from the corrupting influence on the media of freedom, which is not restrained by either Christian morality or a sense of responsibility.

I would also like to wish Orthodox journalists that the church press would better reflect the opinions of the older generation of clergy who endured the heavy cross of standing in the faith during the years of the atheistic regime. There are not many such people left now, and we must hurry to talk with them, interview them, and learn from their spiritual experience. A comparison of their views and thoughts on key church issues with the opinions of younger people, Orthodox journalists, would, I think, be extremely useful.

b) Controversy in Orthodox media

Another question: is it necessary to cover in the Orthodox media the unrest and conflicts taking place in the church environment, or, in professional terms, what should be the relationship between positive and negative? You know that not all is well in our church life. The Church is a living organism, and it would be strange if some of its members did not get sick from time to time, especially in the conditions of such rapid changes that we have been experiencing in recent years. Yes, we now live in an open society, and the Church has no secrets either from its members or from society as a whole. But when covering these conflicts, it is necessary to exercise wise balance. For Orthodox journalists, there are no prohibited topics. It is only important to remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “Everything is lawful for me, but not everything is useful... not everything edifies” (1 Cor. 10:23). The task of church journalists is creation, not destruction. Therefore, criticism in the church press should be sharp, but not murderous, but benevolent.

It is important not to give in to emotions, to show spiritual sobriety. It is not always useful to criticize publicly noticed shortcomings, knowing that this will primarily cause cries of newspaper scoffers in the secular press. Sometimes it is more useful to contact the hierarchy directly with a request to take action. The point is not so much to expose this or that sin or shortcoming; it is important to correct it, and in such situations the church press should, without succumbing to provocations, help not to inflate, but to heal such conflicts, their final disappearance from our church life.

We live in difficult times, we still do not have the strength and means for many things, and we must keep this in mind and try to understand the actions of the Hierarchy, instead of ardently blaming him for certain sins.

Getting carried away with criticism is also spiritually unsafe. It's not just about the danger of breaking the Lord's commandment “do not judge.” The polemical attitude gives rise to a special lightness in the publicist, the habit of solving sometimes difficult, dogmatically difficult problems - from the shoulder, with extraordinary speed. The consequence of all this is the loss of a sense of reverence for the holy, the loss of piety, that is, the traditional Orthodox mindset.

Particularly unsightly is the desire of some publicists writing on church topics to appeal to secular public opinion in their polemics with the Hierarchy. Of course, there are no direct provisions in the holy canons prohibiting such an appeal, but I think that it can be considered in exactly the same way as an appeal to civil authority in church matters, which is expressly prohibited by the canons. I will also note that the same canons say that before considering a complaint from a clergy or layman against a bishop or cleric, one should study the question of the complainant himself: what is public opinion about him and whether his motives are pure.

Many problems are caused by insufficient contact between Orthodox journalists and the Hierarchy. It is clear that for technical reasons this contact is not always easy to achieve, but everyone must remember that we are doing a common cause and therefore must strive to understand each other.

c) Ethics of an Orthodox journalist

An Orthodox journalist must approach issues of journalistic ethics very seriously. It is important that the Orthodox press does not adopt the unscrupulous practices of some secular publications, that, while not shying away from pressing problems, it does not engage in slander and sow discord between believers and pastors, between faith and culture, between the Church and the state. It should be remembered that the words of the Lord apply to journalism, more than to any other sphere of human activity: “for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37).

An Orthodox journalist must constantly remember the commandment to love one’s neighbor, to be responsible for every word spoken, and to show respect for the author or interlocutor. If he makes any changes to the words spoken or written by him (whether by literary adaptation or abbreviation), then it is imperative that the author be acquainted with them before publishing or broadcasting them. Before publishing, be sure to show the text to the person with whom you were having a conversation.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for editors of Orthodox newspapers to reprint materials from other Orthodox publications not only without appropriate permission, but also without any references. The point here, of course, is not a matter of copyright, and many authors take this practice quite calmly, believing that if their publications benefit people, then thank God; but we are talking about a certain culture of relations, of which Orthodox journalists should be an example.

d) The problem of censorship

We now live in a society that is still experiencing the euphoria of freedom. And this prevailing mentality in a certain way influences us, and therefore we seem to be embarrassed to talk about the need to restore church censorship. Meanwhile, there is a need for it. The lack of even basic theological training among many authors writing on church topics leads to significant distortions of Orthodox dogma in their works.

As a result, “spiritual” literature appears, on the pages of which one can find blatant heresy, discussions about damage and the evil eye, and a lot of unverified rumors. But many truly wonderful events took place in the past century, but they are literally drowning in this sea of ​​legends and myths. Therefore, I believe that the problem of church censorship has not been removed from the agenda today.

Currently, a definite replacement for the institution of spiritual censorship is the placement on the relevant publications of the stamps: “printed with the blessing” of His Holiness the Patriarch, the ruling bishop - or “printed by decision of the Publishing Council.” In my opinion, all literature of spiritual content sold in churches should have a mark indicating that it has passed the appropriate examination and the name of the censor should be indicated.

I should note that, through the efforts of modern media, the idea of ​​​​the unacceptability of censorship as such is being introduced into the church consciousness. But censorship for us is not an attack on freedom, but a way to preserve our church wealth, accumulated over thousands of years. Restrictions on the ways in which authors express themselves may upset pluralists of all kinds; but in matters of salvation, that is, life and death, the Church has other priorities.

As for periodicals, in my opinion, only church media (diocesan, parish) can have the stamp “printed with blessing” on the first page. When we see such a stamp on a secular Orthodox publication, this raises questions: does any of the persons authorized by the Hierarchy review these publications? Otherwise, the publisher is given a blank form with a signature, a kind of carte blanche, and sooner or later problems may arise.

The fact that in this matter one can reach complete absurdity is evidenced by the practice of placing a “blessing” of the late Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John on the title page of one Orthodox “independent” newspaper. Meanwhile, more and more new authors appear in it, whom the late Vladyka did not even know, and the tone of the newspaper has changed significantly in recent years.

The advent of the Internet essentially provided the opportunity for everyone to have their own media. At the same time, from the user’s point of view, purely externally, personal sites are indistinguishable from those created by well-known press organs. Moreover, to publish traditional media you need to obtain a license from the Ministry of Press of the Russian Federation, but to create an electronic newspaper no permission is required. It is clear that in these conditions the problem of church blessing of such publications will become especially acute, and we will be faced with this in the near future.

e) The need for state support for Orthodox media

Following its sacred duty - to promote the spiritual and moral improvement of society, the Russian Orthodox Church makes significant efforts to publish spiritual literature and Orthodox periodicals, which are in dire need of many of our compatriots who have lost their spiritual guidelines. This task is very difficult in conditions where considerable resources are allocated to various anti-church campaigns. But even those secular media that do not directly oppose the Church are characterized by a desire for “spiritual exoticism” - theosophy, magic, occultism, Eastern religions and similar materials that are dubious from the point of view of the Church.

Unfortunately, the activities of the Orthodox media are not noticeable enough against this background. The main reason here is economic, arising from the general difficulties of our state. The Moscow Patriarchate invests all its main funds in the restoration of churches destroyed by the state - this is not only its sacred duty, but also the duty of the entire society; There are practically no funds for large-scale journalistic projects.

The Church especially currently lacks its own central newspaper, in which it could, without in any way interfering directly in politics, evaluate certain phenomena in society from spiritual and moral positions, so to speak, “from the point of view of eternity.” This line, strictly followed in the newspaper, would contribute to the rapprochement of various opposing forces, to soften the bitterness of the political struggle, and to the unity of society as a whole. It seems to us that such a position and the church-wide newspaper expressing it deserve state support, despite the fact that the Church in our country is separated from the state. Spirituality and morality are something without which a nation cannot be healthy.

It seems that the creation of a pan-church Orthodox newspaper is truly a state matter and therefore we have the right to count on state support, which is provided to many secular “independent” media. A detailed plan for such a publication exists and will be submitted by us to the Press and Information Committee of the Russian Federation.

9. Management of Orthodox periodicals

Considering the great importance of the media in the modern world, I would like to draw the attention of the Bishops to the need to pay the most serious attention to those Orthodox media that are published in the dioceses they govern. Moreover, we are talking not only about the need to provide them with all possible support, including material, but also about the support of the relevant publications, about their spiritual guidance. Then the current conflicts between the press and church structures will not arise.

The Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate is called upon to provide general management of Orthodox publishing activities, including church media. The hierarchy of our Church attaches great importance to its activities, as evidenced by the fact that last fall, by the Decree of the Holy Synod, it was given the status of a Synodal Department. But for now, the main direction of the Council’s activity is connected not with periodicals, but with book publishing - it reviews manuscripts voluntarily sent by publishers with a request to bless their publication. In most cases, submitted manuscripts are subject to favorable criticism and, with amendments and comments, are recommended for publication, but there are still those for which the Council cannot give the requested blessing due to serious defects, or even the completely non-Orthodox nature of the work.

The Publishing Council is ready to extend the already accumulated experience of such reviewing to periodicals, but there is no room for this yet necessary conditions. With regret, I must note that we do not yet receive all the newspapers and magazines that are published in the dioceses. Perhaps an all-church competition of Orthodox media should be organized, within the framework of which it would be possible to compare various periodicals with each other and give them an Orthodox assessment.

10. The need to publish a church-wide newspaper and create a press center under His Holiness the Patriarch

Looking around at the activities of the Orthodox media, one cannot help but feel that there is a dispersion of forces. Many different periodicals are published, while there is clearly a lack of one truly large, reputable, influential publication. In addition, most of our periodicals are, in fact, internal church publications; their topics and language are not always understandable to a wide audience, therefore, they cannot perform a missionary function. In other words, there is clearly an urgent need to create a mass all-Russian weekly Orthodox newspaper that would write not only about intra-church life, but also about the world from the point of view of the Church and the Orthodox worldview.

When discussing the concept of a Russian Orthodox socio-political cultural and educational newspaper, first of all we must determine several important positions: its addressee, principles for selecting information, sources of information, material resources, and the like.

As for the addressee, in our opinion, such a newspaper is needed by the widest circle of readers, all those people in Russia who profess themselves Orthodox and sympathize with the Church, but are not churchgoers (according to some estimates, 60% of the entire population of the country are such). Considering that people are tired of newspaper lies and slander, the political bias of Russian publications, their propaganda of debauchery, witchcraft and violence, worship of material assets and low-grade “mass culture”, then the presence of an Orthodox community newspaper covering all topics from the point of view of Christian values ​​will attract a huge number of readers to it.

The main task of such a newspaper is to consider current problems of modern life from the point of view of the Church with the aim of influencing public opinion and political institutions. Of course, in addition to its utilitarian purpose - to be a source of information - an Orthodox newspaper must be a witness to the Truth: carry this Truth, affirm and defend it.

Of course, the reader has no right to expect impartiality from such a newspaper; the selection of information is already some kind of bias. But if for non-Christian consciousness the criterion of objectivity is completely earthly ideas about truth, then for Christians such a criterion can only be the One Who Himself is “the Way and the Truth and the Life.” An important approach for us to the Christian idea of ​​“objectivity” was given by St. John Chrysostom: “Whether we pray or fast,” he wrote, “we accuse or forgive, we remain silent or talk, or do something else: we will do everything for the glory of God.”

The question of the material base of the publication is very serious. Nowadays, control over information is power, so I am sure that many political forces will want to support it financially. However, financing in the modern sense is always “ideological” control, so direct control by the Church is extremely important here. It is possible that such a newspaper could become an organ of the “Union of Orthodox Journalists”, which we propose to create at this Congress. In any case, the activities of newspaper sponsors should not contradict Christian commandments.

As for sources of information, the Church today practically does not have its own information service, with the exception of the Information Agency of the Russian Orthodox Church, focused mainly on television. Such a service needs to be created, and the sooner the better. Its basis could be the “press service” under His Holiness the Patriarch. Of course, to some extent, church information passes through ITAR-TASS and other agencies, but one should use existing secular agencies with caution - many of them are associated with political parties and certain ideological structures. The task of creating a pan-church Orthodox news agency is now quite real, because finding believer correspondents at Diocesan administrations and large city churches throughout Russia and abroad is not so difficult.

The newspaper in question should be made not just by Orthodox Christians, but also by church journalists. There are such journalists in Moscow. An Orthodox newspaper must necessarily become a center uniting the church intelligentsia.

Of course, it would be ideal if such a newspaper were daily, but at the moment this is hardly achievable. However, we are quite capable of publishing a weekly newspaper for the first two or three years. This simplifies the work in terms of prompt response to events and facts, but also obliges us to be analytical, eliminating the “right for error” and any unreliability.

Regarding the distribution of such a newspaper, the Church has a unique communication system: Diocesan administrations, dean districts, churches - on the one hand; and shops, kiosks, trays selling church utensils and church literature - on the other. Only they, in addition to subscriptions, can ensure the distribution of at least one hundred thousand copies of the newspaper.

The newspaper should not only not avoid “difficult” topics, but, on the contrary, look for them, talk about them with the reader, presenting a Christian understanding of these problems. Of course, its priority topic will be church life: the newspaper must inform about the events and problems of the Russian Orthodox Church and give them a proper assessment, as well as resist anti-church actions and anti-Christian publications in the secular press. Priority topics also include social problems: disadvantaged people (refugees, disabled people, orphans, pensioners, sick people, etc.), people captured by passions and those who have rejected God (alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, gamblers, etc.) , the problem is not “human rights” in general, but the rights of specific people. The newspaper must take a position of principled non-partisanship, defense of national and state interests, openness to everyone who promotes (regardless of party or religious affiliation) stability, who is looking for ways of understanding, unification and peace in society.

11. Issues of training journalists

In connection with the intensive development of Orthodox journalism in recent years, the issue of training journalistic personnel has become very relevant. The Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House pays great attention to this problem. Five years ago, the Institute of Church Journalism was created under him, two years ago it was transformed into the faculty of the Russian Orthodox University named after John the Theologian, to which this year The 3rd set will be proven. Now future church journalists receive more thorough training in theological disciplines and study ancient and modern languages. Many students today are already full-time employees of various church publishing houses. As an educational practice, they publish their student newspaper "University Bulletin", where they do everything themselves - from writing articles to computer layout. The second issue of this newspaper is currently being prepared.

There are many requests from dioceses to open a correspondence department at the faculty; this issue is currently being studied.

12. Creation of the "Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia"

The facts presented in the report indicate that in the field of media, the Church and society have been taking ever new steps towards each other in recent years. Meanwhile, the activities of the Union of Journalists of Russia proceed as if this new phenomenon in the life of the country, a new direction of activity of journalists, simply does not exist. Church journalists are not offered to become members of the Union; we are not sent invitations to various events held through the Union - round tables, professional competitions, etc. Among the many negative consequences of this situation, one can point out the extremely low level of publications on church issues in secular periodicals.

It seems that the conditions are ripe and the time has come to correct this situation. A year ago, participants in the “round table”: “Publishing activities of the Russian Orthodox Church”, held as part of the VII Christmas educational readings, having discussed the state of church periodicals in our country, expressed the opinion that one of the significant shortcomings in this area is the disunity of church media workers mass media. As a measure to help improve coordination and interaction between church journalists, a proposal was made to create a Union (or Brotherhood) of Orthodox Journalists. This proposal found unanimous support among those gathered and it was decided to turn to the Hierarchy with a request to bless the creation of such an association. Having received such a blessing, we propose to discuss at our Congress the question of founding such a Union.

In our opinion, the “Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia” should be a creative public association established to assist the Russian Orthodox Church in educating society, promoting Orthodox spiritual, moral and cultural values, improving the professionalism, skill and mutual support of its members. In carrying out its activities, the Union will comply with the canonical rules, doctrinal, theological and other traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its members will be Orthodox professional creative workers of diocesan publishing houses, editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, editorial offices of radio, television and Internet channels, news agencies, as well as individual journalists and entire public associations that share the goals and objectives of the Union and promote its activities.

Among secular journalists, there is a certain fear that the creation of the Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia will lead to the division of people who have the common profession of journalist along religious lines. But we consider our future organization not in opposition to the existing All-Russian Union of Journalists, but as its division.

On the other hand, it is important not to repeat the mistakes that were made during the registration of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, the Charter of which did not comply with church law and state regulations. This discrepancy consisted in the fact that the Union declared itself a public organization, but determined the directions of its activities at the general church, diocesan and parish levels, without providing for interaction with canonical church structures and responsibility to the hierarchy.

Concluding my speech, I would like to wish the participants of the Congress success in their upcoming work and fruitful discussions on the issues I briefly outlined in the presented report.

Archbishop Tikhon of Bronnitsky,
editor-in-chief of the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate