IX All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference on the Russian Orthodox Church and the Penal System of the Russian Federation was held at the Russian Federal Penitentiary Academy.
The event took place in early November within the framework of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on Problems of Executing Criminal Punishments in honor of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Academy of Prisons of Russia. The introduction of a probation system in Russia and the creation of auxiliary institutions for pre-trial detention facilities for cooperation with believers.
The meeting was attended by: Assistant to the Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Organization of Work with Believers of the Russian Federation Prisons Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Sergei Gurov for the organization of work with believers; Assistant to the head of the pretrial detention center for the Russian Federation, clergy of the Russian Traditional Religious Association, professor of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Academy, representative of public organizations providing assistance to prisoners as a person released from a place of imprisonment.
The forum was led by Father Kirill Markovsky, Acting Chairman of the Synod’s Prison Department.
The first part of the meeting was devoted to discussing issues related to the introduction of a probation system in Russia from January 1, 2024 and the introduction of a probation system from January 1, 2025. Before the conference participants began their speeches, Father Kirill Markovsky presented the General Assembly Award for the Prison Ministry to the Director of the Spas Charitable Shelter and Secretary General of the Prison Ministry Department of the Don Metropolitanate, a priest. Andrei Mnatsaganov, Director of the Prison Ministry of the Saransk Diocese, Assistant to the Director of the First Pre-Trial Detention Center of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service of the Republic of Mordovia for cooperation with believers, Archpriest Vladimir Menshoikin, Director of Public Institutions ” House of Diligence “Noah”” Chairman of the Board of Directors Emelyan Sosinsky has been providing support to prisoners and released people for many years. imprisonment. Opening the meeting, Father Kirill Markovsky emphasized its importance and practical importance, pointing out that the main goal of cooperation between the Church and the penal system is to actually help people who are incarcerated or who have just been released survive difficult situations. It is a period of trials, a search for meaning in life that continues into eternity, and a search for strength for a new life in society according to God’s laws as well as human laws. To assist the personnel of the prison system to worthily perform the important and responsible service entrusted to them by God and entrusted to them by the State. According to Father Kirill Markovsky, by adopting the law on probation, the state certainly reaches out to a person who finds himself in a difficult life situation. However, it is important to remember that it is impossible to integrate a person into society if he is not convinced that he can achieve well-being in life by committing illegal acts, or if he does not have the spiritual strength to resist sin. A desire ingrained in him due to his past life of crime. “Above all else, therefore, our efforts must aim to bring about positive change in the hearts and souls of those convicted, which will form the basis for their law-abiding behavior upon release. And this work, which is the basis of probation, must begin in the pretrial detention center, the destination of the person who committed the illegal act. If we do not succeed in this, all our other efforts will be fruitless,” emphasized the General Assembly Department Head. Father Kirill Makovsky pointed out that the Church, with its thousand years of experience in healing human souls, is currently doing a lot of work in places of forced detention. UIS created all the conditions for this, introduced the position of assistant to the head of the territorial institution of the Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation for work with believers, as well as the position of assistant to the head of the pre-trial detention center for work with believers. Replaced by clergy. Most institutional administrations try to meet prison chaplains halfway. However, the clergy themselves were not always active enough.
“Yes, we have many excellent pastors and passionate workers who are bearing fruit worthy of God in the field of Christ, leading many people to Christ, and reviving many people who have fallen into despair. We express our sincere gratitude to those clergy. However, not all pastors fully realize the gifts given to them “through the laying on of the priest’s hands” (1 Timothy 4:14) while serving in prison ministry. The head of the prison ministry department must closely monitor how chaplains carry out their pastoral activities in pretrial detention centers or correctional institutions. “Please give advice to young priests and explain to them how important the ministry of the Church pastor is in places of human sorrow where they were once imprisoned and will continue to be imprisoned,” the priest said. The head of the synod department emphasized that the work of priests in correctional institutions should not be limited to the celebration of the liturgy. Hold meetings and dialogues with ordinary prisoners, actively interact with the institution’s psychologists to identify individuals in crisis, involve more active lay professionals in the field of church service, and carry out spiritual and educational work with the UIS. Must be done. employee.
Assistant to the Director of the Main Directorate of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region for organizing cooperation with believers, Professor of the Department of Church and Practical Studies of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archpriest Oleg Skomorok, Russian Orthodox Church on the implementation of the Federal Law “On Probation in the Russian Federation” Talking about participation, with the adoption of this law activities for resocialization and social adaptation were finally systematized for probationers. Churches also have opportunities to collaborate with non-profit organizations in probation center activities. Archpriest Evgeny Lishchenyuk, Chairman of the Joint Committee of the Voronezh Metropolitan Prison Ministry, shared his experience of prison and social ministry and provided assistance to former prisoners, including rehabilitation work for alcohol and drug addicts. Father Andrei Mnatsaganov spoke about the activities of “Spas” or “halfway hotel”, a charity shelter he created and runs. This is where people who want to start a law-abiding life outside or who do not have a fixed place of residence can come immediately. Released from prison.
Yemelyan Sosinsky, founder and chairman of the board of this public institution, credits the work of Noah House of Labor, Russia’s largest network of homeless shelters, located in the Moscow region and including labor and social housing for more than 1,200 people. reported on it. People live there. Noah became a “social lift” for countless people. Many people who had previously been at rock bottom and destined for destruction have now found work, family, and meaning in life.
The second part of the conference was devoted to the establishment and development of an auxiliary body of heads of pretrial detention centers for working with believers. Full-time correctional officer positions in pre-trial detention centers were introduced on January 1, 2024, and are now nearly fully staffed.
As Father Kirill Markovsky points out, every priest appointed to the position of assistant to the head of a pretrial detention center is a pioneer. As clergy and civil servants, they perform a sacrificial service that involves, without exaggeration, a wide range of responsibilities. Additionally, pastoral care with suspects and defendants has unique characteristics when compared to spiritual care for inmates in correctional institutions. And if in penal colonies, convicts who have committed crimes of approximately the same degree are sentenced, then in pretrial detention centers, priests meet and charge suspects with a variety of crimes, ranging from minor offenses to particularly serious ones. . He must be able to provide spiritual help to men, women and minors. In this regard, special attention should be paid to preparing priests for such service. Currently, assistants to pre-trial detention centers for working with believers are trained at the Russian Federal Penitentiary Academy, but a pastoral block for priests of the Russian Orthodox Church is missing from the curriculum. It is very necessary to include in training programs meetings with experienced prison chaplains who have been ministering in pretrial detention centers for many years. Moreover, in some pretrial detention centers, priests appointed to assistant positions to those responsible for working with believers had no previous pastoral experience with suspects and defendants.
Sergei Gurov, Head of the Group for the Organization of Work with Believers in Federal Prisons of the Russian Federation, briefed the meeting participants on legislative norms and the specifics of the work of prison chaplains in pre-trial detention centers.
Archpriest Oleg Skomoroch, assistant to the head of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service for organizing cooperation with believers, spoke about the multifaceted activities of clergy in Russia’s largest pretrial detention center No. 1 “Kresti” in St. Petersburg. Imam-Khatib Insaf-khazrat Iskandarov, Assistant to the Director of the 3rd Pretrial Detention Center of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service of the Republic of Bashkortostan, spoke about the spiritual care of people professing Islam and the prevention of extremism and extremism. Terrorism at places of imprisonment.
The conference served as a discussion platform to learn best practices for providing spiritual and social support to inmates and prisoners, identify challenges that arise in carrying out prison ministry, and focus efforts. It is an effort by various social organizations to solve one of the most important challenges: decriminalization of society.
Source: Prison General Department/Patriarchia.ru
