“Such meetings should become regular”: Church-society interaction discussed in Minsk

Round table “Step to meet: issues of interaction between Church and society” was held at the Minsk Theological Academy named after St. Turovsky on November 13, the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti”.

The event was attended by representatives of the main department of ideological work and youth affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee, as well as specialists of district administrations supervising issues of religions and nationalities.

- The sphere of activity of workers of the ideological vertical includes coordination of interaction with religious organizations. Today’s event is not by chance held in the Theological Academy, at the Department of Apologetics. We are interested in trends related to the spread of non-traditional religious movements and their offshoots. Unfortunately, with the development of Internet technologies and digital transformation, the number of such challenges and threats is increasing, said Alexander Lukyanov, Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee.

He stressed that certain religious movements can pose a serious danger to people. Therefore, it is important for state bodies, together with representatives of the church and other faiths, to develop mechanisms to prevent their spread. According to Lukyanov, such work requires constant professional development, and such meetings can become regular.

The head of the department of apologetics of the Minsk Theological Academy, the referent for new religious movements of the Minsk Diocese Vladimir Martinovich told about their prevalence in the world and the peculiarities of the work on the study of such organizations in Belarus.

After the presentation, the participants were able to ask their questions. In particular, they discussed the specifics of interaction with various religious organizations operating in the country. Special attention was paid to the search for new forms of work with the younger generation and the possibilities of attracting them to the spiritual life.

- Communication with professionals in our field is very useful for us. Experts suggest what to pay attention to and how to build interaction with various religious communities. For me, in particular, the issue of working with new religious organizations, whose representatives apply to the district administration, was important. We also discussed how to attract the younger generation, especially young people under 31, to the spiritual life, what new forms and methods of work can be used. We came to the conclusion that it is necessary to cooperate more closely with the abbots of churches, to attract young people to participate in subbotniks, round tables and other events, said Olga Drozdovich, Head of the Department of Ideological Work, Culture and Youth Affairs of the Partizan District Administration.

Following the round table, representatives of the Theological Academy and specialists of the capital administrations exchanged contacts and discussed prospects for further cooperation.

Photo by Sergei Mitsevich