Patriarch, young Russians and the future

Patriarch Kirill speaks at the third edition of annual meeting. Youth initiatives in the agricultural sector, in architecture, design and high technology, but also in crafts and art, education, culture and sport. The importance of volunteering. Vladimir Putin sends message of good wishes.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - On August 23rd the 3rd Orthodox Youth Forum was held in the capital, on the theme "Past, Present and Future", and was addressed by Moscow Patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev). The event takes place in the pavilions of the great Moscow Fair VDNK, and is organized by the Synodal Youth Department with the participation of the municipality of Moscow.

The Forum gathers young people from various regions of Russia, as well as from foreign countries. It has been held regularly since 2016, with debates and testimonies, exhibitions and meeting spaces and even an interactive section with thematic exhibitions and the possibility of remote online participation in debates and discussion groups.

Over 50 social projects were presented at the Forum, with youth initiatives in the agricultural sector, in architecture, design and high technology, but also in crafts and art, education, culture and sport. Particular attention was paid to voluntary programs, also because 2018 was declared in Russia as the "year of the volunteer".

Patriarch Kirill visited the exhibition spaces, starting from the section on volunteering, where the young people illustrated their proposals and explained how to join the various initiatives. In the section on the Digital Age, the patriarch was entertained with the authors of the online website Batjushka, the Russian "online priest", in which over 150 Orthodox priests from all over the world take part. In the section dedicated to Mission the head of the Russian Orthodox visited the only "church-bus" of Russia, which allows the inhabitants of the most remote villages access to the sacraments.

In the area dedicated to sport there was a debate between the patriarch and a disabled sportsman, Maksim Abramov of St. Petersburg. Kirill placed a special cross on his neck, prepared by the boys of the Master Class: the 14-year-old boy had lost both legs in the fire of his home, but manages to excel in swimming, football and skateboarding. The young people’s suggestions on the architecture of new churches, but also the agricultural productions and the gastronomic recipes, were welcomed by the spiritual leader.

Speaking in the conference hall, the Patriarch of Moscow gave a short address and answered the questions of the young people present, as well as the most interesting ones received via an internet portal of the same Forum, where more than 1000 questions were received.

Kirill suggested tackling the indifference and apathy of the younger generations by "always setting new goals", looking for the desire to always discover new things. A girl asked how young people can orient themselves in moral values ​​on the various social occasions of encounter among young people, and the patriarch urged "not to be afraid of risking" like the apostle Paul, bearing his own testimony even in very far from faith and religion.

Several questions regarded the relationship between politics and religion, in a society like the Russian one increasingly dominated by the ideology of orthodox patriotism. Kirill said the question has presented itself " in different comes ways in different eras", and today "presents one of our biggest temptations, is the great enemy of humanity, and it is not easy to escape”. Yet precisely for this reason demands “an even stronger reaction... being a believer, especially today, means being free from the many constraints, and remaining consistent with our principles ".

President Vladimir Putin sent a message of hope to the Forum, congratulating "the most active young people in the life of our society, who want to keep up with the times and make their own personal contribution to the protection of our historical, cultural, moral and spiritual heritage, starting from the foundations of Orthodoxy and of the other traditional religions of our country ".

• russia
• religious freedom
• orthodox church
• young people
• patrirca kirill
• volunteering
• innovation