A round-table conference on Social Service of Religious communities - Inter-Confessional Exchange

A round-table conference on Social Service of Religious communities - Inter-Confessional Exchange took place on January 27, 2020, at the Moscow Patriarchate Department for external church relations (DECR) as part of the XXVIII International Educational Christmas Readings. It was attended by some 35 clergy and laity from various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, representatives of Catholic and Protestant religious communities, governmental organizations and Church related NGOs.

The Round Table was chaired by Archpriest Maxim Pletnev, head of the Coordinating center for overcoming drug and alcohol abuse, St. Petersburg diocesan Department for church charity and social service.

At the beginning of the meeting, Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for Inter-Christian Relations of DECR welcomed the participants on behalf of the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. He noted the importance of interconfessional cooperation in the field of social service: "This is what unites us for the sake of a common cause. The level of interaction between Russian communities is so high that it can be set as an example to the whole world". Some joint projects in the social ministry have no precedent - for example, the work of the Inter-Religious Working Group to Assist Syria. Through the efforts of this group, in just five and a half months, a school in Damascus has been restored, where today more than a thousand children are studying. "The Christian denominations of Russia together with our Muslim brothers participated in this project," he said, emphasizing that society should be better informed about this and other examples of joint activities of believers of different faiths.

E.E. Sadikova, director of the Crisis Center "Kitezh" presented a practical guide on organizing assistance to women in crisis situations. The recommendations were developed based on the five-year experience of the center and relate to issues such as material support and staffing of a crisis center, psychological support for clients and staff, fundraising, legal assistance, post-crisis accompaniment, etc. In 2019, on the initiative of "Kitezh", a coalition of crisis centers has been established, which includes more than 50 GOs and NGOs from different regions. Thanks to the interaction of coalition members, it became possible to redirect clients to those centers or organizations that can provide the assistance needed in each specific case: legal advice, psychological support, accommodation, etc.

E. E. Sadikova noted that the "Kitezh" receives support both from secular and religious organizations, i.e. not only Orthodox, but also Catholic, Protestant, Muslim organization. "Kitezh's" clients are people from 30 countries: not only the CIS, but also from Afghanistan, Venezuela, Egypt, and others. In one year, approximately 100 women and children pass through this center; "Kitezh" helps some of them even after they leave the center.

M.B. Nelyubova, DECR staff member talked about inter-Christian interaction in the field of care for mentally ill people. This is one of the topics that was supported by a working group established to coordinate the interaction of Orthodox and Catholics in the spirit of the Havana Declaration. It includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the "Kirche in Not" charity foundation.

In 2018 and 2019, this group organized and conducted conferences with representative international participation dedicated to Church care for people mentally ill people. Since 2018, during the Christmas Readings, every year a meeting has been held devoted to the problems of pastoral psychiatry.The speaker noted that the issues discussed at these international conferences are important for all confessions: the perception of church sacraments by mentally ill people, the comparison of mental illness and diabolic possession, the attitude to obsession in the Church and in medicine, the attitude of priests to psychiatry and to the medication treatment of mental diseases, etc.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, at the initiative of the working group international seminars and conferences were held in St. Petersburg, which were also devoted to questions of theological understanding of the problems of dependence. "Thanks to these conferences, dialogue between doctors and clergy, between representatives of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches has intensified ... We want to continue the dialogue in this area, since this allows us to enrich each other, and theological differences are not an obstacle here," noted M.B. Nelyubova.

E.V. Poslanchik, coordinator of the national project on migration of the Catholic organization "Caritas" in Russia, spoke about the various areas of assistance to migrants (repatriates), which is carried out in cooperation with the Orthodox Service "Charity", the Lutheran Church, and Muslim organizations. "Caritas" is operating in Russia since 1991, it has extensive experience in providing assistance to victims of national and armed conflicts, people returning to their homeland, as well as the experience of social adaptation of foreign migrants in Russia and the resocialization of those returning to Russia. "Caritas" provides humanitarian aid, helps to apply for documents, pays tuition, etc.

N.V. Belyakova, psychologist and counselor of the Christian Center "Stand up" spoke about working with elderly people in one of the private boarding houses. Communicating with the inmates, most of whom suffer from dementia, she became convinced that even very sick people can take an active interest in conversations on spiritual topics, about the Holy Scriptures, about prayer, which helps in some cases to improve relations with the family, to give meaning to the remaining years, overcome fear of death.

Director of the Health Department of the Moscow association of the Seventh-day Adventist Church S.A. Grigorash presented the social project "Healthy Family - Healthy Country" and spoke about the many programs and activities aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle, not only among members of his church, but also among other Russians. Recently, the Adventist community has been paying special attention to working with people with disabilities (for example, the action "Going to fitness - take a disabled person with you") and in boarding schools with orphans.

N.A. Nikolaeva and I.M. Tymkova, respectively, heads of the Moscow and St. Petersburg branches of the Malteser assistance service, a lay organization created under the auspices of the Order of Malta, talked about working with people with disabilities, the homeless and the poor.

The Moscow branch provides targeted care for about 4 thousand people (food, clothing, teaching German language, the basics of first aid, vocational counseling, activities for the elderly and children, etc.). The St. Petersburg branch has three main areas of work: providing the poor with hot meals (the charity "Malteser" canteen has been operating for 28 years, daily feeds 250 people, who are sent by the city's social service and eight Orthodox parishes), free electrician help at home, etc. The board of trustees includes Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Lutherans. The second area is emergency assistance to families with children (from the purchase of food to placement in temporary shelter, legal support, etc.). Protestant communities are of great help here, and Orthodox parishes raise money to buy tickets to send clients home. And, finally, help to the homeless: for ten years now, about 700 people per year find refuge in a large army tent, escaping from hunger and cold, some of them have disabilities. "Malteser" help them to restore documents, find a shelter or return home.

DECR Communication Service