Organization and management in the modern Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Social institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church

Every denomination in the world has a leader, for example, the head of the Orthodox Church is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

But besides him, the church has another leadership structure.

Who is the head of the Russian Orthodox Church

Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill

He leads the church life of the country, and the Patriarch is also the head of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and several other monasteries.

What is the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church among clergy

In fact, the church has a rather complex structure and hierarchy. Each clergyman fulfills his role and takes his assigned place in this system.

The scheme of the Orthodox Church has three levels, which were created at the very beginning of the birth of the Christian religion. All servants are divided into the following categories:

1. Deacons.
2. Priests.
3. Bishops.

In addition, they are divided into “black” and “white” clergy. “Black” includes monks, and “white” includes lay clergy.

Structure of the Russian Orthodox Church - diagram and description

Due to some complexity of the church structure, it is worth considering in more detail, for a deep understanding of the algorithms of the work of priests.

Bishop titles

These include:

1. Patriarch: the lifelong main title of the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, at the moment in Rus' this is Kirill.
2. Vicar: the bishop's right hand, his deputy, but he does not have his own diocese and cannot manage the bishop's diocese.
3. Metropolitan: the governor who leads the metropolitan areas, including those outside the Russian Federation.
4. Archbishop: The rank of senior bishop, considered an honorary title.
5. Bishop: The third level of priesthood in the Orthodox hierarchy, often with the rank of bishop, governs a diocese and is appointed by the Holy Synod.

Titles of priests

The priests are divided into “black” and “white”.

Consider the “black” clergy:

1. Hieromonk: a monk-clergyman, it is customary to address him with the words: “Your Reverence.”
2. Hegumen: head (abbot) of a monastery. Until 2011 in Russia, this title was honorary and did not necessarily correspond to the post of head of any monastery.
3. Archimandrite: the highest rank for a clergyman who has taken monastic vows. He is often the abbot of large monastic monasteries.

The “white” ranks include:

1. Protopresbyter: the highest rank of the Russian Orthodox Church in its “white” part. Given as a reward for special service in some cases and only at the request of the Holy Synod.
2. Archpriest: senior priest, the wording can also be used: senior priest. Most often, the archpriest presides over a church. You can receive such a position no earlier than five years of faithful service upon receipt of the pectoral cross and no earlier than ten years after consecration.
3. Priest: junior rank of clergy. The priest may be married. It is customary to address such a person as follows: “Father” or “Father, …”, where after the father comes the name of the priest.

Titles of deacons

Next comes the level of deacons, they are also divided into “black” and “white” clergy.

List of "Black" clergy:

1. Archdeacon: the senior rank among deacons in a monastic monastery. It is given for special merits and length of service.
2. Hierodeacon: priest-monk of any monastery. You can become a hierodeacon after the sacrament of ordination and tonsure as a monk.

"White":

1. Protodeacon: the main diocesan deacon; like the archdeacon, it is customary to address him with the words: “Your high gospel.”
2. Deacon: a priest who stands at the very beginning of the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. These are assistants for the rest of the higher ranks of clergy.

Conclusion

The Russian Orthodox Church has a complex but logical organization at the same time. The basic rule should be understood: its structure is such that it is impossible to get from the “white” clergy to the “black” without monastic tonsure, and it is also impossible to occupy many high positions in the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church without being a monk.

If you open the website of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2018 and look at the members of the Holy Synod, of which there are more than 400, you will notice that only black monks are at the helm of the church. It is not easy to meet a parish priest in the Synod, because they only carry out the decisions made by the monks.

A more careful analysis leads to another discovery: less than a quarter of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2018 have a higher secular education. On the contrary, approximately half in their youth were promoted from the positions of subdeacons under the bishops then in office. But the fact that the majority of the Synod members have roots in Bessarabia and the south-east of Ukraine, in Donetsk and Lugansk, is almost impossible to calculate. Although this is the holy truth and the root of all modern troubles of Russian Orthodoxy, the author of the Lenta.ru investigation argued in 2018.

It is in southeastern Ukraine and eastern Moldova that the Russian Orthodox Church has traditionally maintained its most patriarchal views. It was here that hundreds of Orthodox Christians committed suicide back in tsarist times. This is where the hatred of TIN and any passport comes from. It was here that cheerful fellow villagers most often disappeared. It was here that the “Black Hundred” was born. This is where Father Peter Kucher and many other princes of the Russian Orthodox Church come from.

Metropolises and dioceses

As of July 2018, the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church includes 79 metropolises and 356 dioceses, including:

Influence groups

Assets

Parishes

As of July 2018, almost 40 thousand elders, more than 5 thousand deacons and almost 400 bishops serve in the church.

In 1991, when the USSR collapsed and the religious revival began, the Russian Orthodox Church had about 6.5 thousand parishes, two thirds of them in Ukraine. As of August 2018, there are more than 36 thousand parishes in the Russian Orthodox Church, of which about 25 thousand are in Russia. The number of monasteries has exceeded a thousand - there was never such a number before the revolution. Three new parishes open every day.

In mid-2017, the thousandth monastery opened in Russia, and as of January 1, 2018, there were 1010 of them. For comparison: before the Khrushchev persecutions there were only 14 monasteries in the USSR (the majority were in the Ukrainian SSR), in the 1980s there were four ( Trinity-Sergius and Pskov-Pechersk Lavra, Riga Hermitage (nunnery) and the Assumption Monastery in Pyukhtitsa, Estonia).

commercial activity

• "Artistic and production enterprise (HPP) "Sofrino"
• Hotel "Danilovskaya"
• management of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, owned by the Moscow Government
• OJSC "Ritual Orthodox Service" (as of 2016)

State support

Funding from the budget

According to RBC estimates, in 2012–2015, the Russian Orthodox Church and related structures received at least 14 billion rubles from the budget and from government organizations. Moreover, the 2016 budget version alone provides for 2.6 billion rubles.

In particular, in 2014–2015, over 1.8 billion rubles were allocated to Russian Orthodox Church organizations. for the creation and development of Russian spiritual and educational centers under the federal program “Strengthening the unity of the Russian nation and the ethnocultural development of the peoples of Russia.”

Another program supporting the church is “Culture of Russia”: since 2012, almost 10.8 billion rubles have been allocated for the preservation of religious objects within the program. In addition, 0.5 billion rubles. in 2012–2015 it was allocated for the restoration of objects of religious significance, said a representative of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage.

Among the major recipients of contracts on the government procurement website is the Orthodox Encyclopedia church-scientific center (founded by the Patriarchate), which publishes a tome of the same name in 40 volumes edited by Patriarch Kirill. Since 2012, public schools and universities have spent about 250 million rubles on purchasing this book. And the subsidiary organization of the Orthodox Encyclopedia - the Orthodox Encyclopedia Foundation - received 56 million rubles in 2013. from the Ministry of Culture - for the filming of the films “Sergius of Radonezh” and “Snake Bite”.

In 2015, the Ministry of Education allocated about 112 million rubles from the budget. Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University.

The Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexis under the Moscow Patriarchate received 198 million rubles from the Ministry of Health in 2015, and the new budget provides for another 178 million rubles for the hospital.

The budget for 2016 includes about 1 billion rubles. “The charitable foundation for the restoration of the Resurrection New Jerusalem stauropegial monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church” - the founder of the fund is the monastery itself.

In addition, from 2013 to 2015, Orthodox organizations received 256 million rubles. within the framework of presidential grants. The Russian Orthodox Church has no direct relationship with the recipients of the grants, they simply “were created by Orthodox people,” explains Archpriest Chaplin. Although the church does not directly participate in the creation of such organizations, there are no random people there, says Sergei Chapnin, former editor of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate.

According to the same principle, he says, money is distributed in the only Orthodox grant program, “Orthodox Initiative” (the funds were allocated by Rosatom, two sources familiar with the program told RBC; the corporation’s press service did not answer RBC’s question).

The “Orthodox Initiative” has been held since 2005, the total amount of funding over the years of the competition is almost 568 million rubles.

Tax benefits

As of August 2018, the Russian Orthodox Church, like any officially registered religious organization in Russia, has benefits, but every single one of them is key. She is completely exempt from paying:

That is, in fact, the Russian Orthodox Church does not pay anything to the budget at all.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly stipulates: exemption comes only from religious activities, and all commercial activities, even those carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church, are subject to mandatory taxation. Therefore, according to reports, the church does not conduct commercial activities at all. And there is no point in arguing with this. However, according to a high-ranking Russian official, in reality they simply do not want to get involved with the church.

As paradoxical as it may sound, state support makes the entire economy of the Russian Orthodox Church black. Or gray - after all, not a single parish is accountable to anyone. No one checks them except the Church itself.

Transfer of real estate

An equally strange story happened to a woman who worked for many years as an agent for an employee of the apartment fraud department and uncovered the schemes of several gangs of “black realtors.” She was infiltrated into a group suspected of legalizing the apartments of old women who allegedly sold their homes and went to a monastery. She suddenly cut off all contact with the officer supervising her and shut down the operation on her own, and then sent her daughter to a church school, changed her clothing style and began attending church regularly.

Experienced criminals know that they will always find shelter in the monastery - the Russian Orthodox Church categorically refuses to give law enforcement agencies any information about those who have found refuge behind the church wall. In the summer of 2017, a certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was even leaked to the press with a complaint about the abbots of churches obstructing the investigation. The answer to it from Archpriest Sergius was also made publicly available. He reports that the church sees no reason to provide passport data of persons in the dioceses.

Father Sergius himself, in the world Sergei Privalov, a native of Bryansk, served in the armed forces of the USSR and the Russian Federation until 2001. Having retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he changed his green field uniform to a black church uniform, and over the next 11 years made a dizzying career: he became an archpriest, a cleric of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Petrovsky Park, a candidate of theology, a member of the Supreme Synodal Council, and also the chairman of the synodal commission for interaction with armed forces and law enforcement agencies. In other words, he is the highest official of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose decision practically cannot be reversed.

So it is not surprising that it is Archpriest Sergius who regularly refuses to allow law enforcement officers to take fingerprints from monastery employees and seize genetic material from them.

Pursuit of fugitives from monasteries

As you know, one of the most terrible church sins is escaping from the monastery. According to the rules, you can’t just leave the monastery - you have to break your vow, that is, become undressed. And this is a slow procedure, so it’s easier to escape - the secular authorities still don’t consider this an offense. As of July 2018, between 300 and 400 men and women were reported to have escaped from monasteries in the Russian Federation. The police do not formally accept such statements - escaping from a monastery is not considered a criminal offense, but such people need to be looked for and punished so that others are discouraged. This is done by the security service of the Russian Orthodox Church. True, such an organization does not officially exist. In the structure of the Church there was only one private security company, Sofrino, but in June 2017 it stopped working and handed over all weapons to the licensing system of the Russian Guard.

Previously, the Russian Orthodox Church was among the founders of the Peresvet bank. It is there that, as of 2018, one of the most serious security services in Russia operates. In October 2017, it was headed by Oleg Feoktistov, a former FSB general, the author of an operational combination that resulted in a prison sentence for the Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev. Peresvet security officers were seen at at least two crime scenes associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, and at one of them, as a police operative would later write in an explanatory note, they were engaged in “fixing trace objects using forensic equipment.” That explanatory report was never put into action, and the crime itself remained unsolved. We are talking about the murder of a priest on the threshold of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. The same monastery, the rector of which is Archimandrite Dimitri, the confessor of Mother Lyudmila from the ill-fated village of Moseytsevo.

The Security Service of the Russian Orthodox Church actively conducts operational-search work - that is, it secretly collects information about people, including using technical means. For example, it identifies the phone numbers from which girls from Moseytsevo accessed the Internet. After all, few people can see a profile on VKontakte and quickly find out from which phone number the person was online and calculate his location. Someone from the environment of the Moseytsev mothers did this in a matter of seconds. And a certain Matrona Yaroslavskaya, within a few minutes after discovering the girls’ profiles, knew not only their mobile numbers, but also the address of their newly created email. The identity of Matrona herself could not be established.

The same fate befell several journalists who wrote on church-related topics: they suddenly learned that the contents of their personal letters were becoming known to the highest church hierarchs. In other words, the security service of the Russian Orthodox Church does not formally exist, but in reality it is actively working. In any case, in December 2017, after the sentencing of the mothers from Moseytsevo, someone wanted to find out the fate of their adopted children. By that time, absolutely all their documents had been changed, but the registry office of the Yaroslavl region tried to obtain a list of issued birth certificates, and the directorate of the orphanage received a request, allegedly from a legal bureau, demanding to provide the girls’ personal files. And someone else searched and opened their email accounts, and did it very professionally.

One can argue for a long time whether there is a special unit of hacker monks within the Russian Orthodox Church, but dozens of priests with whom the author of the Lenta.ru investigation spoke in 2018 said one thing: the metropolitans knew verbatim the contents of their emails and correspondence in closed social network groups. And, despite the motto “the Internet is sinful,” followers of the church actively use the World Wide Web. Especially when you need to find someone.

There were many rumors that the princes of the Russian Orthodox Church had titles of the KGB of the USSR and party cards. This cannot be asserted - many priests in the 1980s were very oppositional and even opportunistic. But this cannot be considered an absolute lie either. In any case, in 2015, special religious departments operated within the structures of the territorial departments of the FSB, which essentially acted as arbitrators, especially at a time when conflicts gained resonance. In Moseytsevo, for example, it was the FSB officers who assured the criminal investigation operatives that no one would interfere with their investigation of the criminal case, but there was no need to dig to the side. In Bogolyubovo, officers from specialized FSB units also smoothed out rough edges. At the same time, it is the FSB in Moscow that is preventing the adoption of changes to laws that would make the budget of religious organizations transparent.

The Western press often says that money for bribes to officials and payment for intelligence information, especially political, comes to various countries through church channels. But in our country, this data, even in translated articles, does not appear. And not because someone formally prohibits it, there is internal censorship. In rare cases - the authority of the editor. It is no secret that it is Orthodox parishes that often provide assistance to compatriots.

Lack of labor legislation

In 2017, the educational commission of the Moscow Patriarchate came to check the Vladimir Theological Seminary, and almost by accident found out: out of a dozen reputable professors, only two were formally employed - the rector and the first vice-rector. And the rest worked for many years without registration, work books and contributions to the Pension Fund. They received their salaries in envelopes and thought that was how it was supposed to be. Having learned the truth, we went to bow to the Patriarchate. And there they said: the pension will be paid by those whom you have now trained. In fact, the matter was put on hold. People quit their jobs, but no one will make up for the years they missed - neither in length of service, nor in mandatory deductions. And these teachers have nowhere to go - the Russian Orthodox Church has a monopoly on spiritual education.

Russians will be very surprised when they find out: priests have absolutely no rights. Yes, they were forced to issue work books for them, but not everyone still has them - in every church, in every monastery they were written out for the required minimum of clergy. But no one has employment contracts. They didn’t even develop a standard form.

Priests' salaries

As of 2018, the salary of a Russian priest ranges from 20 to 40 thousand rubles per month. Some say that personal income tax is withheld from them, some say that they are completely exempt from taxes. The abbot receives much more.

Moreover, in the conditions of the hierarchy, issues of prestige manifest themselves especially clearly. Therefore, an ordinary priest will never buy a car more prestigious than that of a rector; the rector will not appear in public wearing a watch more expensive than the bishop's; and the bishop will not have a rarity that the patriarch does not have. Therefore, the desire to stand out manifests itself differently.

In June 2018, one of the recruitment agencies was looking for a personal chef for the abbess of the holy monastery. The salary was promised at 90 thousand rubles. According to agency employees, the abbess was going to pay her personal money.

Workers' and Peasants' Army

In the early 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, a fundamental problem of the Russian Orthodox Church arose: there was essentially no one to revive the religion and its institutions. After all, all the churchmen were exterminated as a class.

At the end of the period of stagnation, the profile of the average district-level chief looked like this: eight years of education, technical school, service in the ranks of the armed forces of the USSR, proletarian (or collective farm) specialty, University Marxism-Leninism and election to the position of secretary of the district executive committee. Today, the official profile of a spiritual pastor looks similar: eight or nine years of school, military service, work as an electrician, miner or combine operator, ordination and service as a deacon, seminary (or academy - depending on the status of the bishop) and rank in the parish. However, in both cases there were exceptions, also very similar: many years of service in the armed forces and immediately a leadership position one step higher, but not under a cap, but under a hood. Both of them have very low educational qualifications, which means they lack real academic knowledge, including systemic ones.

Serf prisoners

In 2018, a defrocked pop singer living in the Baikal region easily explained the everyday tricks of the lower echelon of Russian Orthodoxy.

Beyond the Ural Mountains, even officials and the leadership of security forces openly speak about serfdom in the monasteries and hermitages of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2018. This is a problem that needs to be solved, but no one knows how to solve it. Although there are many advisers. Already in December 2017, one Siberian journalist, having learned the story about Moseytsevo, looked into the narrator’s eyes for a long time and uncomprehendingly, and then said: “You don’t know life there at all in Europe.” We don’t make a fuss about such nonsense. The law is taiga. Look for fistulas.

According to him, dozens of people, mostly released prisoners, are missing. They end up in distant villages, where they work for free for the benefit of the church.

He clarified that these so-called Orthodox monasteries are often protected by law enforcement officers. But they protect - the word is not very accurate: they do not take money for concealment. Another thing is more curious: since the 1990s, those released from prison began to actively settle in monasteries in Central Russia, and later in the Russian south. There is even a term for them - “winter monks,” that is, those who take monastic vows for the winter in order to sit out the harsh times in warmth and satiety. In fact, according to law enforcement officials, a unique symbiosis has arisen: the bearers of criminal culture ensure order in monasteries using Zonov methods, which guarantees an influx of material wealth, and the church gives them protection from law enforcement agencies and the flock.

Education system

2018

In 2018, the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church was headed by the ambitious Moscow Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, the former rector of the Church of St. Tatiana at Moscow State University. Over the course of a year, he inspected almost all theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church and even suspended the work of the most hopeless ones.

However, he had to admit that the Sretensky Theological Seminary of Metropolitan Tikhon has the best indicators in the system: over the 20 years of its existence, it has graduated 550 seminarians, of whom 70% became clergy, and the rest work in various synodal structures.

1994-2018

From 1994 to 2018, the Educational Committee of the Patriarchate was headed by Archbishop Evgeniy (Reshetnikov). After several attempts at reform, stagnation reigned in the economy under his jurisdiction.

Numerous provincial seminaries, which opened in the wake of the “religious revival” of the 1990s, could not find applicants or funds to feed students. But even the country's leading theological schools - the Moscow and St. Petersburg academies - catastrophically lost graduates who did not want to serve in the church line. It was necessary to introduce something like partial serfdom - when graduates of academies and seminaries sign legally significant obligations for at least three years after receiving a diploma to work in the church or to cover astronomical amounts for training and maintenance at their own expense. Under Evgeniy, theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church switched to the Bologna system, which implied a two-level structure of higher education: the seminary course was equated to a bachelor's degree, and the academic course to a master's degree.

It was decided to hold the first meeting of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' with the Pope in Cuba at the José Martí International Airport. This was due to the fact that Patriarch Kirill from the very beginning did not want it to take place in Europe, since it was there that the centuries-old difficult history of divisions and conflicts between Christians unfolded.

The main topic of the negotiations in Cuba was the discussion of pressing social, political and moral problems of our time. The final document, which was signed by the patriarch and the pope, spoke, in particular, about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. The hierarchs called on the international community "to take immediate action to prevent further displacement of Christians from the Middle East." In addition, they made a call to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. One of the fundamental points of the document is the recognition by the Pope that union is not a means of restoring church unity. The document also spoke about the protection of family values ​​and the rapprochement of Orthodox and Catholic positions on the issue of proselytism: the parties called for abandoning it, since it “has practical significance for peaceful coexistence.” At the same time, both churches emphasize that neither theological nor canonical issues were discussed at the meeting. This suggests that it was organized not to resolve dogmatic differences, but to draw the attention of the world community to existing problems - in particular, armed conflicts, persecution of Christians and the decline of moral values ​​in the world. The Patriarch and the Pope demonstrated to the world that, despite dogmatic differences, Christians are ready to jointly defend common Christian values ​​in an increasingly secular world.

1980s: 4 thousand out of 6.5 thousand parishes in Ukraine

At the end of the 1980s, when the church revival, officially called the “return to faith,” began in the USSR, there were 6.5 thousand parishes in the Russian Orthodox Church. Of these, almost 4 thousand are in Ukraine, with the majority in its southeastern part. There are about 500 more in Moldova - more precisely, in that part of it that was traditionally called the Bessarabia province, or Bessarabia. At that time there were three seminaries in the USSR - Zagorsk, Leningrad and Odessa, and two Theological Academies - Moscow and Leningrad. State policy was such that most of their applicants already had incomplete higher secular education.

The organization of governance of the Russian Orthodox Church is closely related to the peculiarities of doctrine and cult.

The highest collective body of power is the Local Council. He has the highest authority in the field of doctrine, church government and church court. Members of the Local Council by position are ruling and vicar bishops, as well as representatives from the clergy, monastics and laity elected in accordance with the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The local council interprets the teachings of the Orthodox Church, resolves canonical, liturgical, pastoral and other issues of internal and external activities, canonizes saints, approves the resolutions of the Councils of Bishops, evaluates the activities of the Holy Synod, elects the patriarch, and is the final authority authorized to consider dogmatic and canonical deviations in the activities of the patriarch .

Along with the Local Council, Bishops' Councils are convened to resolve the most important issues in the religious life of the Russian Orthodox Church. Their participants are diocesan bishops, as well as bishops heading synodal institutions and theological schools. The Council hears a report on the activities of the Patriarch and is itself accountable to the Local Council, at which its decisions are approved.

The personal head of the Russian Orthodox Church is the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. According to the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, he has primacy of honor before the bishops, governs the church together with the Holy Synod and is accountable only to the Local and Bishops' Councils. The Patriarch is elected to office for life at the Local Council. In the period between councils, he has supreme authority in matters of doctrine, church government and court.

He appoints and controls the activities of diocesan bishops, awards titles and the highest church awards (orders and medals of St. Vladimir of three degrees) and maintains relations with other Churches and organizations, etc.

The Patriarch rules the church together with the Holy Synod. The Holy Synod consists of a chairman (patriarch), five permanent and five temporary members (diocesan bishops). At its meetings (during the spring and winter sessions) it considers issues of internal and external activities of the church, including the election, appointment, transfer and retirement of bishops, hearing the report of diocesan bishops, the appointment of heads of synodal institutions, rectors and inspectors of spiritual affairs.

To organize the current activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, 8 departments have been created in the Holy Synod: external church relations, educational, management of the patriarchate, economic, pension, publishing, charity and social service, catechesis.

Administratively, the Russian Orthodox Church is divided into dioceses, headed by diocesan bishops. Dioceses include dean districts, districts are divided into parishes.

The parish is the primary cell of the Russian Orthodox Church. The head of the parish is the priest, who directs its activities with the help of an elected body of the laity - the church council. The church council usually has a churchwarden, a deputy churchwarden, a treasurer and at least three members of the audit committee.

Russian Orthodox Church at the present stage

The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest religious association in our country. Currently it has 130 dioceses in various regions of Russia, in the near and far abroad.

Since 1990, the Primate of the Russian Church has been His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II - the fifteenth Patriarch in its history, who governs together with the Holy Synod.

Today in the Russian Orthodox Church there are 130 dioceses (for comparison, in 1989 there were 67), more than 13,000 parishes (with Ukraine - about 22,000) (for comparison, in 1988 there were 6,893), 569 monasteries (in 1980 - 18). The given figures clearly demonstrate the comprehensive revival of church life taking place under the First Hierarchal omophorion of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.

Pastoral service is carried out by more than 150 bishops, 17,500 priests, and 2,300 deacons.

The network of Orthodox educational institutions is led by the Educational Committee. Currently there are 5 theological academies (in 1991 - 2), 30 theological seminaries (in 1988 - 3), 45 theological schools, which did not exist at all until the 90s. 2 Orthodox universities and a Theological Institute, 9 Preparatory Pastoral Courses, 3 Diocesan Women's Theological Schools, 7 schools of catechists, 3 schools of psalmists were opened. In addition, there are 11 regency and 4 icon painting schools and departments, as well as 123 parish Sunday schools in Moscow alone. The total number of students in theological schools, including the correspondence sector, is about 6,000 people. Educational institutions were established to spread religious education among the laity. This important work is coordinated by the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.

The forms of religious education and catechesis of the laity are very diverse: Sunday schools at churches, clubs for adults, groups for preparing adults for baptism, Orthodox kindergartens, Orthodox groups in state kindergartens, Orthodox gymnasiums, schools and lyceums, Orthodox catechist courses. Sunday schools are the most common form of catechesis.

In the field of charity, work is carried out at the church-wide level through the Department of Church Charity and Social Service.

First of all, a number of successfully functioning medical programs should be noted. Among them, the work of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Moscow Patriarchate in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, deserves special attention. In the context of the transition of medical services to a commercial basis, this medical institution is one of the few Moscow clinics where examination and treatment are provided free of charge.

A psychiatric service has been created at the Mental Health Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, which provides free assistance to persons referred for treatment by parishes of the Moscow Diocese.

These are just some of the examples of the specific activities of the above-mentioned Department.

In December 1990, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to create a church youth organization. As a result of this decision, at the First Congress of Orthodox Youth, the All-Church Orthodox Youth Movement was formed as an official youth organization established by the Russian Orthodox Church. The main goals that were set then for the Movement were to attract children and teenagers, boys and girls looking for their way to the temple, into the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as uniting groups of young Orthodox Christians to participate in social service programs, restoration of monasteries and churches, conducting youth pilgrimages, establishing contacts with Christian peers from other countries.

External contacts of the Russian Orthodox Church are directed by the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, whose tasks include:

• · implementation of hierarchical, administrative and financial management of dioceses, monasteries, parishes and other institutions of our Church in foreign countries;
• · making decisions by the hierarchy concerning church-state and church-public relations;
• · maintaining relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Local Orthodox Churches, non-Orthodox Churches and religious associations, non-Christian religions, religious and secular international organizations, state, political, social, cultural, scientific, economic, financial and other similar institutions and organizations, and the media.

Since 1989, the Department of External Church Relations has been headed by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.

After our Church has gained true freedom, the missionary service of the Russian Orthodox Church is being revived. Faithful to the covenants of the Ancient Church and continuing the work of apostolic ministry, the Russian Church testified to Christ even to the “ends of the earth,” spreading the Good News about the Word of life. The missionary achievements of our Church, the scope of its educational feat and activity, from Poland and the Baltic in the west to Alaska and California in the east, from Murmansk and Kamchatka in the North to the Black Sea region, the Caucasus, Central Asia and China in the south, required the greatest and constant effort of all spiritual , material and human forces. The names of Russian missionaries are deservedly included among the greatest missionaries of the Christian world. As an example, one should name at least St. Stephen of Perm, St. Tryphon of Pechenezh, the fathers and ascetics of the Russian Thebaid - the monks of Valaam and Solovetsky monasteries, St. Herman of Alaska, as well as Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan, St. Metropolitan Innocent, Apostle of America, Archimandrite Macarius Glukharev, Apostle of the Altai Territory.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Orthodox Missionary Society was created, which greatly contributed to the missionary activities of the Russian Church. This missionary and educational activity of the Church was interrupted by the revolution of 1917-1918, when all of us, in the words of the prophet, “received double for all our sins from the hand of the Lord.”

Now that the time of repression and prohibition has become a thing of the past and the Church has again received the opportunity to freely witness to Christ, the need to revive the mission in the modern world has become our most important and urgent task and at the same time an urgent need for society.

In recent years, there has been close interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. For this purpose, by decision of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod, a synodal Department for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies was formed.

ORGANIZATION OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH.

     Russian Orthodox Church is a multinational Local Autocephalous Church, which is in doctrinal unity and prayerful and canonical communion with other Local Orthodox Churches.
     Jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church extends to persons of the Orthodox confession living in the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church: in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Estonia, as well as to Orthodox Christians who voluntarily join it, living in other countries.
     In 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church solemnly celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. In this anniversary year there were 67 dioceses, 21 monasteries, 6893 parishes, 2 Theological Academies and 3 Theological Seminaries.
     Under the primatial omophorion of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', the fifteenth Patriarch in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, elected in 1990, a comprehensive revival of church life is taking place. Currently, the Russian Orthodox Church has 132 (136 including the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church) dioceses in various states, more than 26,600 parishes (of which 12,665 are in Russia). Pastoral service is carried out by 175 bishops, including 132 diocesan and 32 vicars; 11 bishops are retired. There are 688 monasteries (Russia: 207 male and 226 female, Ukraine: 85 male and 80 female, other CIS countries: 35 male and 50 female, foreign countries: 2 male and 3 female). The education system of the Russian Orthodox Church currently includes 5 Theological Academies, 2 Orthodox universities, 1 Theological Institute, 34 theological seminaries, 36 theological schools and, in 2 dioceses, pastoral courses. There are regency and icon painting schools at several academies and seminaries. There are also parochial Sunday schools in most parishes.
    
     The Russian Orthodox Church has a hierarchical management structure. The highest bodies of church power and administration are the Local Council, the Council of Bishops, the Holy Synod headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
     Local Council consists of bishops, representatives of the clergy, monastics and laity. The Local Council interprets the teaching of the Orthodox Church, maintaining doctrinal and canonical unity with the Local Orthodox Churches, resolves internal issues of church life, canonizes saints, elects the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' and establishes the procedure for such election.
     Bishops' Council consists of diocesan bishops, as well as suffragan bishops who head Synodal institutions and Theological academies or have canonical jurisdiction over the parishes under their jurisdiction. The competence of the Council of Bishops, among other things, includes preparing for the convening of the Local Council and monitoring the implementation of its decisions; adoption and amendment of the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church; resolving fundamental theological, canonical, liturgical and pastoral issues; canonization of saints and approval of liturgical rites; competent interpretation of church laws; expression of pastoral concern for contemporary issues; determining the nature of relations with government agencies; maintaining relations with Local Orthodox Churches; creation, reorganization and liquidation of self-governing Churches, exarchates, dioceses, Synodal institutions; approval of new church-wide awards and the like.
     Holy Synod, headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', is the governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church in the period between Councils of Bishops.
     His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' has primacy of honor among the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church. He takes care of the internal and external welfare of the Russian Orthodox Church and governs it together with the Holy Synod, being its Chairman. The Patriarch is elected by the Local Council from bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church who are at least 40 years old, who enjoy a good reputation and the trust of the hierarchs, clergy and people, who have a higher theological education and sufficient experience in diocesan administration, who are distinguished by their commitment to canonical law and order, who have “a good testimony from outsiders” (1 Tim. 3, 7). The rank of Patriarch is for life.
    
     The executive bodies of the Patriarch and the Holy Synod are Synodal institutions. The Synodal institutions include the Department for External Church Relations, the Publishing Council, the Educational Committee, the Department of Catechesis and Religious Education, the Department of Charity and Social Service, the Missionary Department, the Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Institutions, and the Department for Youth Affairs. The Moscow Patriarchate, as a Synodal institution, includes the Administration of Affairs. Each of the Synodal institutions is in charge of a range of church-wide affairs within the scope of its competence.
     Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate represents the Russian Orthodox Church in its relations with the outside world. The department maintains relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Local Orthodox Churches, heterodox churches and Christian associations, non-Christian religions, governmental, parliamentary, public organizations and institutions, intergovernmental, religious and public international organizations, secular media, cultural, economic, financial and tourism organizations . The DECR MP exercises, within the limits of its canonical powers, the hierarchical, administrative and financial-economic management of dioceses, missions, monasteries, parishes, representative offices and metochions of the Russian Orthodox Church in the far abroad, and also promotes the work of the metochions of Local Orthodox Churches on the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate. Within the framework of the DECR MP there are: the Orthodox Pilgrimage Service, which carries out trips of bishops, pastors and children of the Russian Church to shrines far abroad; The Communication Service, which maintains church-wide relations with secular media, monitors publications about the Russian Orthodox Church, maintains the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate on the Internet; The publications sector, which publishes the DECR Information Bulletin and the church-scientific magazine "Church and Time". Since 1989, the Department for External Church Relations has been headed by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.
     Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate- a collegial body consisting of representatives of Synodal institutions, religious educational institutions, church publishing houses and other institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Publishing Council at the church-wide level coordinates publishing activities, submits publishing plans for approval by the Holy Synod, and evaluates published manuscripts. The Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate publishes the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate" and the newspaper "Church Bulletin" - the official printed organs of the Moscow Patriarchate; publishes the collection "Theological Works", the official church calendar, maintains the chronicle of the Patriarchal ministry, and publishes official church documents. In addition, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate is in charge of publishing the Holy Scriptures, liturgical and other books. The Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate are headed by Archpriest Vladimir Silovyov.
     Educational Committee manages a network of theological educational institutions that train future clergy and clergy. Within the framework of the Educational Committee, educational programs for theological educational institutions are being coordinated and a unified educational standard is being developed for theological schools. The chairman of the educational committee is Archbishop Eugene of Vereisky.
     Department of Religious Education and Catechesis coordinates work to disseminate religious education among the laity, including in secular educational institutions. The forms of religious education and catechesis of the laity are very diverse: Sunday schools at churches, circles for adults, groups preparing adults for baptism, Orthodox kindergartens, Orthodox groups in state kindergartens, Orthodox gymnasiums, schools and lyceums, catechist courses. Sunday schools are the most common form of catechesis. The Department is headed by Archimandrite John (Ekonomitsev).
     About department of charity and social service carries out a number of socially significant church programs and coordinates social work at the church-wide level. A number of medical programs operate successfully. Among them, the work of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Moscow Patriarchate in the name of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow (5th City Hospital) deserves special attention. In the context of the transition of medical services to a commercial basis, this medical institution is one of the few Moscow clinics where examination and treatment are provided free of charge. In addition, the Department has repeatedly supplied humanitarian aid to areas of natural disasters and conflicts. The Chairman of the Department is Metropolitan Sergius of Voronezh and Borisoglebsk.
     Missionary department coordinates the missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. Today, this activity includes mainly internal mission, that is, work to return to the fold of the Church people who, as a result of the persecution of the Church in the 20th century, found themselves cut off from their fatherly faith. Another important area of ​​missionary activity is opposition to destructive cults. The Chairman of the Missionary Department is Archbishop John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol.
     Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies carries out pastoral work with military personnel and law enforcement officers. In addition, the Department's area of ​​responsibility includes the pastoral care of prisoners. The Chairman of the Department is Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov.
     Youth Affairs Department at the general church level, coordinates pastoral work with youth, organizes the interaction of church, public and state organizations in the spiritual and moral education of children and youth. The Department is headed by Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich.
    
     Russian Orthodox Church is divided into Dioceses - local churches, headed by the bishop and uniting diocesan institutions, deaneries, parishes, monasteries, metochions, religious educational institutions, brotherhoods, sisterhoods and missions.
     Parish called a community of Orthodox Christians, consisting of clergy and laity, united at the temple. The parish is a canonical division of the Russian Orthodox Church, is under the supervision of his diocesan bishop and under the leadership of the priest-rector appointed by him. The parish is formed by the voluntary consent of believing citizens of the Orthodox faith who have reached the age of majority, with the blessing of the diocesan bishop.
     The highest governing body of the parish is the Parish Assembly, headed by the rector of the parish, who is ex officio the chairman of the Parish Assembly. The executive and administrative body of the Parish Assembly is the Parish Council; he is accountable to the rector and the Parish Assembly.
     Brotherhoods and sisterhoods can be created by parishioners with the consent of the rector and with the blessing of the diocesan bishop. Brotherhoods and sisterhoods have the goal of attracting parishioners to participate in the care and work of maintaining churches in proper condition, in charity, mercy, religious and moral education and upbringing. Brotherhoods and sisterhoods at parishes are under the supervision of the rector. They begin their activities after the blessing of the diocesan bishop.
     Monastery is a church institution in which a male or female community lives and operates, consisting of Orthodox Christians who have voluntarily chosen the monastic way of life for spiritual and moral improvement and joint confession of the Orthodox faith. The decision on the opening of monasteries belongs to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' and the Holy Synod on the proposal of the diocesan bishop. Diocesan monasteries are under the supervision and canonical administration of diocesan bishops. Stavropegic monasteries are under the canonical management of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' or those Synodal institutions to which the Patriarch blesses such management.
    
     Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church can be united into Exarchates. The basis of such a unification is the national-regional principle. Decisions on the creation or dissolution of Exarchates, as well as on their names and territorial boundaries, are made by the Council of Bishops. Currently, the Russian Orthodox Church has a Belarusian Exarchate, located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. The Belarusian Exarchate is headed by Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus.
     The Moscow Patriarchate includes autonomous and self-governing churches. Their creation and determination of their boundaries is within the competence of the Local or Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Self-governing Churches carry out their activities on the basis and within the limits provided by the Patriarchal Tomos, issued in accordance with the decisions of the Local or Bishops' Council. Currently, the self-governing ones are: the Latvian Orthodox Church (Primate - Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia), the Orthodox Church of Moldova (Primate - Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova), the Estonian Orthodox Church (Primate - Metropolitan Cornelius of Tallinn and All Estonia). The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is self-governing with broad autonomy rights. Its Primate is His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Vladimir.
    The Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church and the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church are independent and free in matters of their internal governance and are connected with the Fullness of Ecumenical Orthodoxy through the Russian Orthodox Church.
    The Primate of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church is His Eminence Daniel, Archbishop of Tokyo, Metropolitan of All Japan. The election of the Primate is carried out by the Local Council of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church, consisting of all its bishops and representatives of the clergy and laity elected to this Council. The candidacy of the Primate is approved by His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The Primate of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church commemorates His Holiness the Patriarch during divine services.
    The Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church currently consists of several communities of Orthodox believers who do not have constant pastoral care. Until the Council of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church is held, archpastoral care of its parishes is carried out by the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church in accordance with the current canons.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is the Russian Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. He is elected by the local council virtually for life. He governs the church together with the "holy synod", which consists of several senior church hierarchs. Under the patriarch there are special institutions - departments of the Moscow Patriarchate: the department of external church relations, the educational committee, the economic administration, the pension committee, the publishing department and the administration of affairs, which are in charge of the relevant aspects of the church's activities.

Administratively, the Russian Orthodox Church is divided into dioceses, the boundaries of which coincide with the boundaries of regions, territories and republics. Each diocese is headed by a diocesan bishop with the rank of metropolitan, archbishop of the south, bishop. They are appointed by the patriarch and the synod. The parishes and monasteries located in a given diocese are subordinate to the bishop.

The grassroots organization is the religious community (parish). The parish is headed by a church council elected at a general meeting of believers, to which the state transfers the use of the temple building and which is responsible to the state for the temple, the property contained in it, manages the funds of the parish, etc. In religious terms, the head of the parish is the rector - a priest , appointed by the diocesan bishop. In addition to the rector, large parishes have several other priests and a deacon.

When appointed to a parish, clergy enter into an agreement with the church council on payment for services and rituals. The clergy now receives a fixed salary. The income of religious communities is not subject to state taxes, since our church is separated from the state. In turn, the state does not subsidize the church. The parish sends part of the funds to the church center. These funds support the patriarch, bishops, patriarchal institutions, and religious educational institutions.

In addition to parish churches, the Russian Orthodox Church has over ten monasteries - male and female.

The Russian Orthodox Church has theological educational institutions for the training of clergy and theologians. Currently there are 2 theological academies and 3 theological seminaries. In theological schools, exclusively theological, church-historical and church-practical disciplines are studied, as well as the Constitution of the USSR and languages: Church Slavonic, Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Latin and one of the foreign languages ​​(to choose from) - English, German or French. No social or natural sciences are studied in them.

The Russian Orthodox Church publishes periodicals: the monthly “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, the journal of the Ukrainian Exarchate, several church magazines abroad, collections of “Theological Works”, annual church calendars, and also publishes other religious literature as needed - the Bible, liturgical books, collections of sermons by prominent church figures and some other publications.

There are several special workshops for the production of church utensils, candles and other items needed by the church.

The Russian Orthodox Church maintains extensive contacts with other Orthodox churches. They are expressed in visits by leaders of Orthodox churches to the Russian Church, in trips of church leaders to other countries, in the exchange of messages, literature, students of religious educational institutions, in coordination of actions, etc. There are also contacts of the Russian Church with non-Orthodox Christian churches - Catholic, Protestant, etc.