Round Table on Social Service of Religious Communities

On May 23, 2022, during the XXX International Educational Readings,a round table was held at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate on "Social Service of Religious Communities - Interconfessional Exchange of Experience". The meeting was attended by clergy and laity from various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, representatives of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish 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. The meeting was coordinated by DECR employee M.B. Nelyubova.

The participants of the event exchanged experience in providing social and humanitarian assistance in times of crisis and peacetime, spoke about their activities and projects that every day give hope to people in difficult life situations.

Press Secretary of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Russian Orthodox Church V.V. Rulinsky touched upon the topic of church assistance to Ukrainian refugees, which is coordinated by the Department. He presented a video about the work of the Moscow church site office for helping refugees, in which from 100 to 160 people receive the necessary support every day. Similar site offices operate in other border dioceses. Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Moscow site office has helped more than 6,500 refugees from Ukraine: assistance was provided with obtaining medicines and documents; more than 1,500 tons of humanitarian aid was collected, purchased and transferred to the dioceses in the conflict zone and on the territory of Russia. The site office also carries out large-scale work on the territory of Donbass, including in cities such as Mariupol. At the end of his report, V.V. Rulinsky recalled: "From 2014 to this day, the Church has been praying for an end to the bloodshed and for all people living in hostility to be able to reconcile."

Report by E.S. Ivanov, Chairman of the Committee for Interaction with Religious Organizations of the Kemerovo Region Administration, was dedicated to the social protection of the population and the implementation of cultural and sports projects. Kuzbass is a multi-confessional region; 346 religious organizations and 79 religious groups are represented in the region. Stable and peaceful relations between confessions have developed here. So, since 2018, the Interfaith Council has been convened annually in the Kemerovo region. Interaction has been organized between religious and medical, social institutions, authorities, and an active youth policy is being pursued. E.S. Ivanov noted that religious communities in the region pray for peace, and also call for unity and help each other in a difficult situation.

E.V. Poslanchik, a representative of the organization "Caritas of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow" spoke on "Social work of the Catholic Church during humanitarian crises". She noted that emergencies have happened at all times in the life of mankind, and the organization is optimistic about the future, standing up not only for the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need, but also for attempts to build a dialogue between the conflicting parties. The most difficult of these situations for the organization was the Syrian conflict, during which 13.5 million people were left without help and with completely destroyed infrastructure. 60 thousand of them were placed in the institutions of "Caritas"; through the efforts of members of the organization, 84 million Euro were collected and sent to Syria. E.V. Poslanchik also spoke about the assistance to the people of the Central African Republic: Caritas sent school kits to 2,800 students, restored 70 schools, held seminars and round tables, which were attended by representatives of the leadership of local communities.

Caritas provided assistance also in the Philippines, where, after the Agathon storm in January 2018, 62,000 families were provided with temporary shelter in Caritas centers, and 322,000 were provided with material compensation or building materials for the restoration of houses. With regard to humanitarian assistance in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, the organization accommodates refugees in its centers in the Russian Federation, helps children, and transports humanitarian goods. Caritas provides assistance to refugees from Ukraine also outside of Russia: in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and the Czech Republic. Concluding her presentation, Elena Poslanchik emphasized the importance of uniting the peacekeeping efforts of all faiths for the sake of peace on earth.

Deputy Chair of the Union of Orthodox Women of the Republic of Khakassia N.V. Igumnova reported about cultural, educational and social activities of the organization in the region. Dozens of nationalities and religions peacefully coexist in Khakassia, their interaction is based on common traditional moral values. Most believers consider themselves members of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Union of Orthodox Women works with elderly people, large families, youth, carrying out social, cultural and educational activities. The Union not only works directly with various social groups, but also acts as a facilitator of various activities, such as the all-Russian program "The Sanctity of Motherhood", the projects "You Are Not Alone" and "The Family is the Ark of Salvation". Since 2014, through the efforts of the Union of Orthodox Women of the Republic of Khakassia, 9 tons of humanitarian aid has been sent to the residents of Donbass, and collection goes on as part of the All-Russian action "We are together". Members of the organization also provide assistance to the homeless, which is especially important in winter: they distribute hot meals, help with paperwork and referral to rehabilitation centers, and employment in farms. Concluding her speech, Natalya Viktorovna expressed confidence: "If God is in the first place, then everything else will be in its right place."

T.B. Zhivoderova, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Togliatti and head of the social and diaconal project "Togliatti Initiative Club" for young people with disabilities and their families, shared her experience of integration through the creativity of adolescents with disabilities and work with their families. She said that the starting point of the project was the existing social needs; the community, having analyzed what it could give to such families, began systematic work. Families, in which children with disabilities over 18 y.o. are often forced to stay at home, turn for the help of the club. The experience of similar work in Germany was very helpful for the project. There, in particular, in the city of Bielefeld, they are engaged in the integration of youth into society, they also study the works of German theologian and Lutheran pastor Johann Wichern. Within the project, various events and camps are held aimed at developing young people's socialization skills, because the most important principle of the project is live interaction.

Pastor Vitaly Lyubchenko, Deputy Chairman for Spiritual Education, Southern Diocesan Directorate of the Russian United Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, delivered a report on the "Socialization of people with disabilities who have overcome chemical addiction, using the example of a specialized center in Sochi". He spoke about the principles of the center's work, as well as attempts to adapt the methods that are used in interaction with healthy people. After careful preparation, a person with a disability undergoes rehabilitation at the center. The next stage is socialization in the city, which helps to move on to further self-realization of a person with a disability. Vitaly Lyubchenko noted that in the help centers a person can receive everything that he did not receive in the world. The main goal in working with people turning to the center for help, is to teach them to live anew. People with disabilities and physically healthy people undergo rehabilitation together, because alcoholics and drug addicts are not bad people, but simply "people in trouble." The inhabitants of the center are involved in Paralympic competitions, volunteer programs, which are a very good way to adapt, return to life. The pastor also noted the importance of fruitful cooperation with the city administration and assistance from the inhabitants of the center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of the round table, Anna Gorskaya, head of the "Help and Support" unit of the interregional women's Jewish public organization "Project Kesher" spoke about the assistance that the organization provides to women of Jewish communities and other religious organizations. "Project Kesher" has its branches in 47 cities of Russia, is in partnership with seven hundred governmental and private structures, and unites under its leadership more than one and a half thousand volunteers. The goals of the work are to support the Jewish communities of Russia and initiatives coming from the members of the organization, to promote interreligious women's dialogue, Jewish education, the provision of material assistance, and much more. Project Kesher organizes online webinars on women's health, helping people with dementia, open seminars, face-to-face and online computer literacy courses for women and their children, some of which can be implemented in computer centers, sponsored by Kesher. As part of the Circle of Support project, women have the opportunity to learn a new profession, and the all-Russian hotline, which employs lawyers and psychologists from the Kesher Project, has already helped more than 350,000 people.

DECR communication service