“For a priest in the army, the main thing is to be useful. Military and naval clergy in Russia

Throughout the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church, its most important mission has been to serve the Fatherland. It contributed to the state unification of disparate Slavic tribes into a single state, and later had a decisive influence on the process of preserving the national unity of the Russian land, the integrity and community of the peoples living on it.

Prior to the establishment of a regular army in the Russian state, the responsibility for the spiritual nourishment of military people was assigned to the court clergy. Therefore, it can be assumed that by the middle of the 16th century, when a permanent archery army was created in Muscovy, numbering 20-25 thousand people, the first military priests also appeared (however, written evidence of this has not been preserved).

It is authentically known about the presence of military priests during the reign of the sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645-1676). This is evidenced by the Charter of that time: "Teaching and cunning of the military formation of infantry people" (1647), in which the regimental priest is first mentioned and his salary is determined. Since that time, a system for managing the military clergy has already begun to be created.

Further formation and improvement of the structure of the military clergy is associated with the reforms of Peter I. Thus, in the "Military Regulations" of 1716, the chapter "On the Clergy" first appeared, which determined the legal status of priests in the army, their duties and main forms of activity:

"Military priests, being in unconditional submission to the archpriest of the military and naval clergy, are obliged to fulfill all lawful orders of the direct military authorities. Misunderstandings and disagreements that arise between the military authorities and military priests in the performance of church and liturgical duties are resolved either by the dean, or the protopresbyter, or the local bishop.

Priests are obligated, without fail, at the hours appointed by the regiment or command, but within the limits of church service time, to perform Divine services in regimental churches, according to the established order, on all Sundays, holidays and highly solemn days. In immovable churches, divine services are celebrated simultaneously with diocesan churches.

Military priests are required to perform the sacraments and prayers for military ranks in the church and their homes, without requiring remuneration.

Military priests make efforts to form church choirs from military ranks and those studying in regimental schools to sing during Divine Services, and capable ones from military ranks are allowed to read on the kliros.

Military priests are obliged to conduct catechetical conversations in the church and, in general, to teach the soldiers the truths of the Orthodox faith and piety, applying to the degree of their understanding, spiritual needs and duties of military service, while the sick - to edify and console in hospitals.

Military chaplains must teach the Law of God in the schools of the regimental, soldier's children, training teams and other parts of the regiment; with the consent of the military authorities, they can arrange extra-liturgical conversations and readings. In units of the troops located separately from the regimental headquarters, local parish priests are invited to teach the Law of God to the lower military ranks on conditions that the military commanders of those units find possible.

Military priests are obliged to protect military ranks from harmful teachings, to eradicate superstitions in them, to correct their moral shortcomings: to admonish, on behalf of the regimental commander, vicious lower ranks, to prevent deviations from the Orthodox Church and, in general, to take care of the approval of military ranks in faith and piety.

Military priests, in accordance with the duty of their rank, are obliged to lead their lives in such a way that the military ranks see in them an instructive example for themselves of faith, piety, fulfillment of the duties of service, good family life and correct relations with neighbors, bosses and subordinates.

In view of mobilization and during hostilities, military priests, without particularly valid reasons, should not be dismissed from their posts, but are obliged to follow their assignment with military ranks, to be in the indicated places without leaving and be in unconditional obedience to the military authorities.

In the XVIII century, the Church and the army formed a single organism under the auspices of the state, Orthodox paraphernalia permeated military rituals, service and life of soldiers.

During the 18th century, the administration of the military clergy in peacetime was not separated from the diocesan administration and belonged to the bishop of the area where the regiment was quartered. The reform of the management of the military and naval clergy was carried out by Emperor Paul I. By a decree of April 4, 1800, the position of the field chief priest became permanent, and the management of all the clergy of the army and navy was concentrated in his hands. The chief priest received the right to determine, transfer, dismiss, and present the clergy of his department for awards. For military shepherds, regular salaries and pensions were determined. The first Chief Priest Pavel Ozeretskovsky was appointed a member of the Holy Synod and received the right to communicate with diocesan bishops on personnel policy without reporting to the Synod. In addition, the chief priest received the right of a personal report to the emperor.

In 1815, a separate department of the Chief Priest of the General Staff and Guard Troops was formed (later including the grenadier regiments), which soon became virtually independent of the Synod in matters of administration. Chief priests of the guards and grenadier corps N.V. Muzovsky and V.B. Bazhanov in 1835-1883 also headed the court clergy and were the confessors of the emperors.

A new reorganization of the management of the military clergy took place in 1890. Power again concentrated in the person of one person, who received the title of protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy. During World War I, Protopresbyter G.I. Shavelsky was for the first time given the right of personal presence at a military council; the protopresbyter was directly at the headquarters and, like the once first chief priest P.Ya. Ozeretskovsky, had the opportunity of a personal report to the emperor.

The number of clergy in the Russian army was determined by the states approved by the Military Department. In 1800, about 140 priests served with the regiments, in 1913 - 766. At the end of 1915, about 2,000 priests served in the army, which was approximately 2% of the total number of clergy in the empire. In total, from 4,000 to 5,000 representatives of the Orthodox clergy served in the army during the war years. Many of them then, without leaving their flock, continued their service in the armies of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, Lieutenant General A.I. Denikin and P.N. Wrangel.

The duties of a military clergyman were determined, first of all, by the orders of the Minister of War. The main duties of a military clergyman were as follows: at the time strictly appointed by the military command, to perform divine services on Sundays and holidays; by agreement with the regimental commanders, at a certain time, prepare military personnel for confession and acceptance of the Holy Mysteries of Christ; perform ordinances for military personnel; manage the church choir; instruct military ranks in the truths of the Orthodox faith and piety; console and edify the sick in the faith, bury the dead; to teach the law of God and, with the consent of the military authorities, to conduct non-liturgical conversations on this subject. The clergy had to preach "the word of God before the troops diligently and intelligibly ... inspire love for the faith, the sovereign and the Fatherland and affirm in obedience to the authorities."

The most important of the tasks solved by the military clergy was the education of spiritual and moral feelings and qualities in the Russian soldier. Make him a spiritual person - a person who performs his duties not out of fear of punishment, but out of conscience and deep conviction in the sanctity of his military duty. It took care of educating the personnel of the army and navy in the spirit of faith, piety and conscious military discipline, patience and courage, up to self-sacrifice.

However, not only under the shadow of temples and in the silence of the barracks, the army and navy priests spiritually nourished their flock. They were next to the soldiers in battles and campaigns, shared with the soldiers and officers the joy of victories and the sorrow of defeats, the hardships of wartime. They blessed those going into battle, inspired the faint-hearted, comforted the wounded, admonished the dying, and saw off the dead on their last journey. They were loved by the army and needed by it.

History knows many examples of courage and selflessness shown by military shepherds in the battles and campaigns of the Patriotic War of 1812. So, the priest of the Moscow Grenadier Regiment, Archpriest Miron Orleans, in the battle of Borodino, walked under heavy cannon fire in front of the grenadier column and was wounded. Despite the wound and severe pain, he remained in the ranks and performed his duties.

An example of courage and fidelity to duty in the Patriotic War was the feat of another military pastor, Ioanniky Savinov, who served in the 45th naval crew. At the critical moment of the battle, the shepherd Ioanniky, wearing a stole, with a raised cross and with a loud singing of a prayer, went into battle ahead of the soldiers. Inspired soldiers quickly rushed at the enemy, who was confused.

Of the two hundred military shepherds - participants in the Crimean War - two were awarded the Order of St. George IV degree; 93 shepherds - with golden pectoral crosses, including 58 people - with crosses on the St. George ribbon; 29 military priests were awarded the Orders of St. Vladimir III and IV degree.

Military priests were true to the valiant traditions of the army and navy clergy in subsequent wars.

So, during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, the priest of the 160th Abkhaz infantry regiment, Feodor Matveyevich Mikhailov, especially distinguished himself. In all the battles in which the regiment took part, Feodor Matveyevich was ahead. During the assault on the fortress of Kars, the shepherd with a cross in his hand and in a stole, being in front of the chains, was wounded, but remained in the ranks.

Samples of heroism and courage were shown by the military and naval clergy during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1906.

Protopresbyter of the tsarist army Georgy Shavelsky, who had rich experience in the work of a military priest during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, defines his role in peacetime as follows: “At present, it is especially strongly recognized that the religious side is of great importance in the education of the Russian army, in the development of a strong and powerful spirit of the Russian army and that the role of a priest in the army is a respectable and responsible role, the role of a prayer book, enlightener and inspirer of the Russian army. In wartime, Georgy Shavelsky emphasizes, this role becomes even more important and responsible, and at the same time more fruitful.

The tasks for the activity of a priest in wartime are the same as in peacetime: 1) the priest is obliged to satisfy the religious feeling and religious needs of the soldiers, through the performance of divine services and rites; 2) the priest by pastoral word and example should influence his flock.

Many priests, going to war, imagined how they would lead their pupils under fire, bullets and shells into battle. The First World War showed a different reality. The priests did not have to "lead the troops into battle". The lethal force of modern fire has made daytime attacks almost unthinkable. Opponents now attack each other in the dead of night, under the cover of night darkness, without banners unfurled and without the thunder of music; they attack stealthily so as not to be noticed and swept off the face of the earth by the fire of guns and machine guns. With such attacks, the priest has no place either in front or behind the attacking unit. At night, no one will see him, and his voice, once the attack begins, no one will hear.

Archpriest Georgy Shavelsky noted that with the change in the nature of the war, the nature of the work of the priest in the war also changed. Now the place of the priest during the battle is not in the battle line, stretched over a great distance, but near it, and his work is not so much the encouragement of those in the ranks, but the service of those who are out of action - the wounded and killed.

His place is at the dressing station; when his presence at the dressing station is not necessary, he should also visit the battle line in order to encourage and console those who are there with his appearance. There are, of course, exceptions to this provision. Imagine that the part faltered, and began to retreat erratically; the appearance of a priest at such a moment can do a great deal.

Before the First World War, the Russian military clergy worked without a plan or system, and even without the necessary control. Each priest worked on his own, according to his own understanding.

The organization of management of the military and naval clergy in peacetime could not be considered perfect. At the head of the department was the protopresbyter, invested with full power. Under him was the Spiritual Board - the same as the Consistory under the diocesan bishop. Since 1912, the archpriest was given an assistant, who greatly facilitated his clerical work. But, neither the assistant, nor the Spiritual Board could be intermediaries between the archpriest and the clergy subordinate to him, scattered throughout Russia. Such intermediaries were divisional and local parts of the deans. There were at least a hundred of them, and they were scattered in different Russian corners. There were no opportunities for private and personal communication between them and the archpriest. It was not easy to unite their activities, direct their work and control them. The protopresbyter needed to have extraordinary energy and extraordinary mobility in order to personally and on the spot check the work of all his subordinates.

But even this control structure proved to be imperfect. The beginning of the addition of the Regulations was given by the Emperor himself when forming the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who ordered the protopresbyter to be at this headquarters for the duration of the war. Further adjustments were made by the protopresbyter, who, by practice, secured the right to personally, without approval by higher authorities, to establish new positions in the army in his own department, if they did not require expenses from the treasury. Thus, positions were established: 10 garrison deans in places where there were several priests; 2 deanery reserve hospitals, which positions were assigned to priests at the headquarters of the armies.

In 1916, with the Highest approval, special positions of army preachers were established, one for each army, who were entrusted with the duty to continuously travel around, preaching, the military units of their army. The most eminent spiritual speakers were chosen to serve as preachers. The English Colonel Knox, who was at the headquarters of the Northern Front, considered the idea of ​​​​establishing positions of army preachers to be brilliant. Finally, the chief priests of the fronts were given the right to use the priests at the army headquarters as their assistants in monitoring the activities of the clergy.

Thus, the spiritual apparatus in the theater of military operations represented a harmonious and perfect organization: the protopresbyter, his closest assistants; chief priests, their assistants; staff priests; finally, divisional and hospital deans and garrison priests.

At the end of 1916, the positions of chief priests of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets were established by the highest command.

In order to better unite and direct the activities of the clergy of the army and navy, meetings of the protopresbyter with the chief priests, the latter with staff priests and deans, and Congresses along the fronts, chaired by the protopresbyter or chief priests, were held from time to time.

The First World War, as well as the wars of the 19th century, gave many examples of the courage shown by military priests at the fronts.

In the Russo-Japanese war, there were not even ten wounded and shell-shocked priests, in the First World War there were more than 400 of them. More than a hundred military priests were captured. The captivity of the priest testifies that he was at his post, and not in the rear, where there is no danger.

There are many other examples of the selfless activity of military priests during the fighting.

The distinctions for which priests could be awarded orders with swords or a pectoral cross on the St. George ribbon can be divided into three groups. Firstly, this is the feat of the priest in the decisive moments of the battle with a cross in his raised hand, inspiring the soldiers to continue the battle.

Another type of distinction of a priest is associated with the diligent performance of his immediate duties in special conditions. Often the clergy performed services under enemy fire.

And, finally, the clergy performed feats possible for all army ranks. The first pectoral cross received on the St. George Ribbon was presented to the priest of the 29th Chernigov Infantry Regiment, John Sokolov, for saving the regimental banner. The cross was handed to him personally by Nicholas II, about which an entry has been preserved in the diary of the emperor. Now this banner is kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

The revival of the mission of the Orthodox clergy in the Armed Forces is becoming today not only a concern for the future, but also a tribute to the grateful memory of military priests.

The issues of inter-religious relations were quite successfully resolved by the clergy. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the whole life of a Russian person from birth to death was permeated with Orthodox teaching. The Russian Army and Navy were essentially Orthodox. The armed forces defended the interests of the Orthodox Fatherland, headed by the Orthodox Sovereign. But still, representatives of other religions and nationalities also served in the Armed Forces. And one was combined with another. Some ideas about the religious affiliation of the personnel of the imperial army and navy at the beginning of the 20th century give the following information: At the end of 1913, there were 1229 generals and admirals in the army and navy. Of these: 1079 Orthodox, 84 Lutherans, 38 Catholics, 9 Armenian Gregorians, 8 Muslims, 9 reformers, 1 sectarian (who joined the sect already as a general), 1 is unknown. Among the lower ranks in 1901 in the Siberian Military District, there were 19,282 people under arms. Of these, 17,077 Orthodox, 157 Catholics, 75 Protestants, 1 Armenian Gregorian, 1,330 Muslims, 100 Jews, 449 Old Believers and 91 idolaters (northern and eastern peoples). On average, at that time in the Armed Forces of Russia, Orthodox were 75%, Catholics - 9%, Muslims - 2%, Lutherans - 1.5%, others - 12.5% ​​(including those who did not declare their confessional affiliation). Approximately the same ratio remains in our time. As noted in his report, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Educational Work of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Rear Admiral Yu.F. Nuzhdin, of the number of believing military personnel, 83% are Orthodox Christians, 6% are Muslims, 2% are Buddhists, 1% each are Baptists, Protestants, Catholics and Jews, 3% identify themselves with other religions and beliefs.

In the Russian Empire, the relationship between religions was decided by law. Orthodoxy was the state religion. And the rest were divided into tolerant and intolerant. Tolerant religions included traditional religions that existed in the Russian Empire. These are Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Reformers, Gregorian Armenians. Intolerant religions were mainly sects that were completely banned.

The history of relations between faiths, like many other things in the Russian armed forces, dates back to the reign of Peter I. During the time of Peter I, the percentage of representatives of other Christian confessions and nationalities in the army and navy increased significantly - especially Germans and Dutch.

According to Chapter 9 of the Military Regulations of 1716, it was prescribed "To everyone in general belonging to our Army, regardless of who they are, what faith or people they are, have Christian love among themselves." That is, any disagreements on religious grounds were immediately suppressed by law. The charter obligated tolerantly and carefully treat local religions, both in the areas of deployment and on the territory of the enemy. Article 114 of the same Charter read: "... priests, church servants, children, and others who cannot oppose, do not offend or insult our military people, and spare churches, hospitals and schools very much and do not touch them under severe corporal punishment."

In the armed forces of those years, the non-Orthodox were mainly among the top ranks and even less among the middle command ranks. The lower ranks, with rare exceptions, were Orthodox. For the heterodox in the house of the head of defense of Kotlin, Vice Admiral Cornelius Kruys, a Lutheran church was built back in 1708. This church served as a meeting place not only for the Lutherans, but also for the Dutch Reformers. Despite religious differences, they followed the instructions of the Lutheran preacher and adhered to the Lutheran rites. In 1726, already a full admiral and vice-president of the Admiralty College, Cornelius Kruys wanted to build a Lutheran church, but illness and an early death stopped his intentions.

An Anglican church was built in St. Petersburg for the British who served in the navy. Heterodox and non-Orthodox churches were also built at other army and navy bases, such as in Kronstadt. Some of them were built directly on the initiative of the military and naval departments.

The charter on the field and cavalry service of 1797 determined the order in which military personnel should go to worship. In accordance with the 25th chapter of this Charter, on Sundays and holidays, all Christians (both Orthodox and non-Orthodox) were to go to church in formation under the leadership of one of the officers. When approaching the Orthodox Church, rebuilding was carried out. Orthodox soldiers entered their church, while Catholics and Protestants continued to follow the formation to their church and church.

When Vasily Kutnevich was the chief priest of the army and navy in the military ports on the Black and Baltic Seas, in 1845 the positions of imams were established. They were established in the ports of Kronstadt and Sevastopol - one imam and assistant each, and in other ports - one imam each, who was elected from the lower ranks with a state salary.

As noted above, in connection with the military reform carried out in the second half of the 19th century, all-class military service was introduced. The range of people called up with different religions has expanded significantly. The military reform demanded a more careful attitude to inter-religious relations.

This issue became even more relevant after 1879, when the Baptists and Stundists achieved the adoption of a law that equalized their rights with heterodox confessions. Thus, legally they became a tolerant religion. The Baptists began to carry out a huge amount of propaganda among the military. Opposition to Baptist propaganda lay solely on the shoulders of the military clergy, who had help from the state only if this propaganda was clearly contrary to state laws.

The military clergy faced a difficult task - to prevent religious differences from escalating into contradictions. Soldiers of different faiths literally said the following: "... we are all Christians, Mohammedans, Jews together at the same time pray to our God, because the Lord Almighty, who created heaven, earth and everything on earth, is for us the only true God" . And these were not just declarations, such fundamentally important guidelines were statutory norms.

The priest was supposed to avoid any disputes about faith with non-believers. The code of military regulations of 1838 stated: "Regimental priests should by no means enter into a debate about faith with people of a different confession." In 1870, in Helsingfors, a book was published by the Protopriest Headquarters of the Finnish Military District, Archpriest Pavel Lvov, "Memorial book on the rights and duties of the army clergy."

In particular, in chapter 34 of this document there was a special section, which was called - "On the prevention and suppression of crimes against the rules of religious tolerance." And the military clergy did their best at all times to prevent conflicts on religious grounds in the troops, any infringement of the rights and dignity of adherents of other faiths.

During the First World War, due to the presence of representatives of other religions in the Armed Forces, Protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy Georgy Ivanovich Shavelsky, in circular No. 737 of November 3, 1914, addressed the Orthodox military priests with the following appeal: the army to avoid, if possible, any religious disputes and denunciations of other faiths, and at the same time to ensure that brochures and leaflets with harsh expressions found in them against Catholicism, Protestantism and other confessions, as well as similar literary works can offend the religious feeling of those belonging to these confessions and harden them against the Orthodox Church, and in military units sow disastrous enmity for the cause. self-sacrificing service to both the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox, remembering that the latter shed blood for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, and that we have one Christ, one Gospel and one baptism with them, and not missing an opportunity to serve the healing of both their spiritual and bodily wounds." Article 92 of the Charter of the internal service read: "Although the Orthodox faith is dominant, non-Christians, non-Orthodox people everywhere enjoy the free practice of their faith and worship according to its rites." In the Naval Charters of 1901 and 1914, in the 4th section: "On the order of service on the ship", it was said: "Gentiles of Christian confessions perform public prayers according to the rules of their faith, with the permission of the commander, in the place appointed by him, and, if possible, simultaneously with the Orthodox Divine services. During long voyages, they retire, if possible, to their church for prayer and fasting" (v. 930). Article 931 of the Naval Charter allowed Muslims to pray on Fridays, and Jews on Saturdays: "If there are Muslims or Jews on the ship, they are allowed to read public prayers, according to the rules of their faith and in places designated by the commander: Muslims - on Fridays, and Jews - on Saturdays. This is also allowed to them on their main holidays, during which they, if possible, are released from service and retired to the shore. The charters were accompanied by lists of the most significant holidays of each faith and religion, not only Christians, Muslims and Jews, but even Buddhists and Karaites. On these holidays, representatives of these confessions were to be exempted from military service. Article 388 of the Charter of the internal service read: "Jewish military personnel, Mohammedans and other non-Christians, on days of special worship performed according to their faith and rites, may be exempted from service activities and, if possible, from outfits in part. See the schedule of holidays in the Appendix" . These days, commanders obligatorily provided non-believers with dismissal outside the unit to visit their temples.

Thus, representatives of tolerant religions, both Christian and non-Christian, were allowed to pray according to the rules of their faith. For this, the commanders allocated them a certain place and time. The organization of worship and prayers by non-Christians was enshrined in organizational orders for a unit or ship. If there was a mosque or a synagogue in the location of a part or ship of the corresponding church, the commanders, if possible, let the non-believers go there for prayers.

By the beginning of the 20th century, in ports and large garrisons, in addition to the Orthodox clergy, there were military priests of other confessions. These are, first of all, Catholic chaplains, Lutheran preachers, evangelical preachers, Muslim imams and Jewish rabbis, and later also Old Believer priests. The military Orthodox clergy treated representatives of other faiths with a sense of tact and due respect.

History does not know a single fact when any conflicts in the Russian Army or Navy arose on religious grounds. Both during the war with Japan and in the war with Germany, the Orthodox priest, the mullah, and the rabbi successfully cooperated.

Thus, it can be noted that only by the beginning of the 20th century did such a military-religious service form in the Russian army, which we often refer to when referring to its history.

In the first place among the many tasks solved by the military clergy was the desire to educate the Russian soldier spiritual and moral strength, to make him a person imbued with a true Christian mood, performing his duties not out of fear of threats and punishment, but out of conscience and deep conviction. in the sanctity of his duty. It took care of instilling in the troops the spirit of faith, piety and military discipline, patience, courage and self-sacrifice.

In general, the staff structure of the military and naval clergy, as historical experience shows, made it possible to successfully carry out work on the religious education of military personnel in the troops, study and promptly influence the morale of the troops, and strengthen their reliability.

In 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense continues to work on the selection and appointment of clergy to full-time positions in the Armed Forces. For this purpose, a Department for Work with Believer Servicemen has been created in the structure of the military department, the main task of which is to implement the decision of the President of the Russian Federation on the revival of the army and navy clergy. The head of the department, B.M. Lukichev.

— Boris Mikhailovich, what is the structure of your administration, what is it doing at present, and at what stage is the implementation of the President's decision to restore the institution of the military clergy in the Armed Forces?

- The decision of the President of Russia to recreate the military and naval clergy in the Armed Forces was initiated, as is known, by an appeal signed by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, as well as other leaders of Russia's traditional religious associations. It is due to the logic of the development of state-church relations in our country over the past 15-20 years. These relations developed on the basis of modern legislation in the interests of cooperation between state structures and religious associations.

The real situation in the troops and in the navy also prompted such a decision. Statistics show that believers in the Russian Armed Forces make up about 63% of the total personnel, while, by the way, the largest number of believers are Orthodox Christians. All of them are Russian citizens who have the right to freely practice their faith and meet their religious needs. Thus, the decision of the head of state is aimed at ensuring the constitutional rights of military personnel. Naturally, the fact was also taken into account that, in particular, the Russian Orthodox Church, like other traditional religious associations of Russia, having a powerful spiritual potential, can contribute and has been contributing for many years to the activation of spiritual enlightenment, the introduction of a moral dimension into the life of military collectives.

The revival of the institution of the military priesthood is an integral part of the reform and modernization of the Armed Forces. Although in a certain sense this is a revival in a new quality of what was already in the Russian army.

At the initial stage, the formation of the structure of bodies for working with religious servicemen is largely an administrative issue. In the central apparatus of the Russian Ministry of Defense, a department for work with religious servicemen has been created, which I head. In four military districts, departments for work with personnel are being formed, the staff of which, in addition to the chief - a civilian - includes three clergymen. Finally, the next level of the structure is assistant commanders of formations, heads of higher education institutions for work with believing servicemen. Simply put, these are divisional, brigade or university priests. Their religious affiliation depends on what faith the majority of military personnel profess (in order to appoint a priest to a unit, believers must make up at least 10% of the total there). In total, 240 priestly positions and 9 civil servants have been established in the Armed Forces.

First of all, corresponding positions were created in Russian military bases abroad. The military personnel there are in difficult conditions, far from their homeland, so the help of the priest is most in demand there. Our soldiers abroad are already being helped by full-time military chaplains. In Sevastopol, this is Archpriest Alexander Bondarenko, who was the first appointee in the ministry, in Gudauta (Abkhazia) - Priest Alexander Terpugov, in Gyumri (Armenia) - Archimandrite Andrei (Vats).

- Why did the Black Sea Fleet become a pioneer?

- It's hardly a coincidence. So, under Peter the Great, the military service of the monks of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra began on ships. It is not for nothing that they say: “He who has not walked in the sea has not prayed to God.” In our case, it was the good will of the fleet command. In addition, Archpriest Alexander, in the recent past - a naval officer, a Sevastopol resident was at the right time and in the right place.

As for other foreign military bases, the issue is not so easily resolved. This is due to the fact that candidates need to leave the country for an indefinite period of time, part with their families. At the same time, questions arise about the organization of liturgical, educational activities and the life of a clergyman. In addition, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation A.E. Serdyukov takes this order of the head of state very responsibly. He personally selects candidates, and the requirements for objective data, professional qualifications and even everyday experience are very high. If a priest comes to a military team, he, of course, must be able to work effectively, solve specific problems with the commander, officers, soldiers, family members of military personnel, and civilian personnel.

- What is the general specificity of the work of a military priest? Can it be formalized somehow?

“Form is not an end in itself. We do not set and will not set before the priest the task of holding a certain number of soul-saving conversations, confessing and remitting the sins of so many penitent sinners, and serving, for example, five Liturgies in a month. To a greater extent than the forms of work that the priest uses, we are interested in the results, the return from his activities.

The work of a priest in connection can be conditionally divided into two components. Firstly, this is his liturgical activity, which is regulated by the hierarchy and internal church institutions. Naturally, taking into account the conditions of service, combat training plans, combat readiness and current tasks.

Secondly, this is the participation of the priest in educational, educational and other social work. This area of ​​activity should be more tightly integrated into army life. The military team lives according to the daily routine, in accordance with the plans for combat training and the schedule of classes. Therefore, when regulating the work of a military priest, it is necessary to strictly fit it into the army schedule. To do this, the priest must plan his activities together with the commander and his assistant for work with personnel. The commander has a plan for combat training: exercises, field trips or sea trips, cultural and leisure work is planned. In addition, the command knows what spiritual and psychological problems exist in the army team, where military discipline is not right, there are acute relations between military personnel, there is a need to maintain peace in the families of military personnel, etc.

After the problems are updated and directions of activity are outlined, the commander says: “Father, dear, we have such and such tasks of moral education. How can you help?" And the father is already offering options. Suppose he can take part in public-state training, give a lecture, have a conversation in a team where there is hazing, work individually with a soldier who “is in despondency”, etc. The forms of work of a priest can be very different, they are known. The main thing is that they serve the fulfillment of those tasks in the field of education, moral and spiritual enlightenment of military personnel, which they have determined together with the commander. These decisions are formalized by the monthly work plan of the clergyman, which is approved by the commander.

You spoke about upbringing. Do the functions of a priest and an educator officer intersect in this case? Lately, we have often heard that, say, the introduction of the institution of the military priesthood will cause a mass dismissal of officers in educational work.

You are right, there are such rumors. They are caused by measures to optimize educational structures. At the same time, some positions are reduced. But I would like to remind you that “after that” does not mean “because of that” at all. To think that a military priest will take the place of an educator is a profanation of the very idea of ​​introducing the institution of military and naval clergy into the Armed Forces. Thus, a cause for confusion is created, which must be disavowed. The functions of a priest and an educational officer do not exclude or replace, but harmoniously complement each other. The task of the first is to educate and train people to perform combat missions by means and methods that have already proven their effectiveness. And the priest in this case introduces a moral component into this work, enriches and makes the whole system of work with personnel more effective. That's what we want to achieve. And, as far as I can tell, for the most part, officers understand this very well.

- But in the Regulations adopted by the Ministry of Defense on the organization of work with religious servicemen, among the duties of a clergyman are the strengthening of discipline, the prevention of offenses ...

- In this case, one should not confuse the general ideological goals and tasks that face the commander, educator and priest, and the duties of each of the parties. The documents indicate the participation of the priest in educational work and moral education, as well as its forms in peacetime and wartime.

We have already spoken about forms in peacetime. I would also like to note that wartime has its own specifics. In the conditions of warfare, the legal freedom of a person is limited, everything is subordinated to a common goal. The commander makes a decision, primarily based on the task that the unit solves. The principle of unity of command is more rigid here, the orders of the commander are carried out unquestioningly. Based on the experience of past centuries, we can say that in a combat situation, a priest should be near a medical center as close as possible to the front line, provide assistance to the wounded, perform divine services and sacraments, help overcome the consequences of stressful situations, ensure a decent burial of the dead and dead, write letters to relatives of the wounded and killed. fighters. The personal example of the priest is of great importance here.

- If in the part where the priest serves, there is an Orthodox majority and some part of representatives of other religions, how should the priest behave with them? What to do with atheists?

— An atheist is a person who takes an active anti-God position. According to my observations, there are not so many such people in the army. There are significantly more servicemen who simply do not feel like believers, do not “hear” their faith. But real actions show that they actually believe in something - some in a black cat, some in flying dishes, some in the existence of some kind of absolute mind, etc. This means that to some extent they still live a kind of spiritual life. And how to work with them should tell the priest his pastoral experience.

The same can be said about representatives of other religions. After all, an experienced priest can work not only with the Orthodox, but also with Muslims and Buddhists. He understands the essence of the problem, distinguishes a Sunni from a Shiite, knows many surahs of the Koran, the moral meaning of which correlates with biblical maxims. Finally, he simply understands the soul of a person, especially a young, seeking one. He can find an approach to both the believing and the unbelieving heart. In addition, the priest must know in the places of deployment of the formations of those clergymen of other faiths who, without prejudice to the case, if necessary, can be invited to meet with military personnel. In this sense, we take a tough position on only one thing: the army should not have a religious mission and discrimination on religious grounds. We must not allow attempts to make a Muslim out of an Orthodox soldier and vice versa, so as not to create additional tensions. For us, the main thing is spiritual enlightenment, moral education, ensuring the constitutional rights of military personnel and ensuring conscious motivation, the true mood of people to perform military duty.

- When should work with military personnel be carried out - during official or off-duty hours? What does the draft documents say about this?

- Here it is impossible to comb all formations with the same brush, where the positions of assistant commanders (chiefs) for work with religious servicemen have been introduced. For example, for rocketmen, combat duty alternates: sometimes three days in a patern, sometimes four. For sailors, the watch on sea voyages changes every four hours. Motorized riflemen, tankers and sappers can stay in the field for months. Therefore, in the documents we prescribe only general principles. But at the same time, in the Regulations you mentioned, it is written that the commander of the unit must provide the priest with a workplace, as well as a place reserved for worship. It can be a free standing temple or a chapel or a temple built into the building of a part. But there must be such a place. And at what time the priest will hold his events, he, together with the commander, decides, depending on the specific circumstances. The main thing is that all the activities of the priest: participation in public and state training, collective and individual conversations - should be fixed in the general daily routine or class schedule.

- Who should be engaged in the arrangement of the military temple - the priest or the command of the unit? Who allocates funds for the purchase of liturgical utensils, vestments and everything that is necessary for the performance of divine services?

- Formally, everything connected with the acquisition of objects of worship is the business of the Church. Who exactly - the priest himself, the military department or the diocese - is decided differently in each specific case. The budget of the Ministry of Defense does not provide for such expenses. The duties of the commander include determining a place where services can be held, coordinating the time with the priest and assisting in organizing his activities. However, as practice shows, military personnel and members of their families willingly provide all possible assistance to the priest: they donate funds, help in any way they can. I know cases when both local authorities and wealthy people who had long lost direct contact with the army provided material assistance to military churches.

- The system of subordination of the military priest raises questions. It turns out that he is subordinate to the commander, his diocesan bishop, the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies, and also coordinates his actions with the Right Reverend, in whose diocese the military unit in which the priest serves is located. It's such a tangled mess.

— A military priest is first and foremost a man of the Church. And what will be his administrative subordination within the church organization should be determined by the hierarchy. In this case, I can only express my personal views on this matter. A reasonable and logical system of internal church subordination of military priests existed in the Russian army before January 18, 1918, by order No. 39 of the RSFSR People's Commissar for Military Affairs N.I. Podvoisky, the service of military priests was abolished. Then there was a church vertical headed by the protopresbyter of the army and navy.

Today we could do something similar. Moreover, there is already one, which is the highest administrative level in this area and effectively coordinates the actions of priests in the troops. For example, if a priest is now being nominated for appointment, it is the head of the “military” department who writes the submission addressed to the Minister of Defense. And subsequently, it is the department that solves all organizational issues and perplexities that arise with the appointed priest, so that in fact the system already exists, you just need to improve it. From the point of view of solving combat missions, from the positions of the army command, the vertical of the military department can be the optimal form of organizing the activities of the military clergy within the Church. But it seems that even with vertical subordination, the bishop, in whose diocese the military unit is located, should be able to know that in the military temple "the word of Truth is rightfully corrected." Of course, how all this will be carried out in real life, when we have the planned number of full-time military chaplains, experience will show.

- Usually a priest is assigned to one or another temple. But what if there is no full-fledged temple in the unit?

- Each time it should be decided individually. Many military temples stand either in a unit or on the border between a unit and a civilian settlement. In this case, the priest can be assigned to this temple and he will work with both military personnel and the population. If a priest is sent to a military base abroad or another closed military town where there is no church yet, then it makes sense for him to legally remain in the diocese for the time being. It seems to me that in such circumstances, the diocesan bishop could for some time continue to count him as a cleric of the church where the priest served before being appointed to the unit. At least until a religious building is built on the territory of the unit.

- Is the number of churches and chapels located on the territory of military units known today?

“Right now we are completing an inventory of such religious objects located in the territories under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Defense. So far we have information about 208 churches and chapels of the Russian Orthodox Church alone. There was no information about temples of other denominations. It is clear that such a number of structures requires great attention. As part of the reform, the number of military camps and garrisons is being reduced. And you understand that if there is a chapel or a temple in the town that is subject to reduction, then when the military leaves this territory, their fate may be unenviable. What to do with such a temple? This is a very serious matter. At present, by decision of the Minister of Defense and His Holiness the Patriarch, a joint working group has been created, co-chaired by the Secretary of State, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation N.A. Pankov and chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate. The group included five specialists each from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Defense. Its task is to form the regulatory framework for religious objects in the territories of the Ministry of Defense, as well as to organize their accounting and further operation in accordance with the requirements of the law. The group held the first two meetings, at which, in particular, the tasks of registration and certification of religious objects were determined.

- As far as I understand, according to the employment contract, which is concluded with a military priest, service in the unit is his main place of work.

— Quite right. A priest must spend the bulk of his working time in the unit. Of course, there should be no formalism. The commander and the priest together must determine the time spent by the priest in the location of the part and form of his work. But if there is a temple in the unit, then the priest can stay there most of the time, then both the commander and everyone who wishes will know where they can come in a free moment to talk, receive spiritual comfort. In general, it goes without saying that the priest will be where he is most needed.

- How important is the personal experience of military service for a military priest?

- Of course, the personal experience of military service plays a significant role in the work of a military priest. Such a person, when concluding a contract, knows where he is going. He does not need much time to adapt in the team, he knows the terminology, is familiar with the specifics of the service, etc. It is clear, however, that we cannot insist that only former servicemen become military chaplains. One way or another, we plan to organize professional additional training for assistant commanders (chiefs) accepted for regular positions to work with believing servicemen. For this, short-term courses will be organized on the basis of one of the capital's universities.

Believers call Easter the celebration of all celebrations. For them, the Resurrection of Christ is the main holiday of the Orthodox calendar. For the sixth time in a row in its modern Russian army celebrates Easter, overshadowed by military priests who appeared in units and formations after a ninety-year break.

At the origins of tradition

The idea to revive the institution of military priests in the Russian army arose among the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) back in the mid-nineties. It did not receive much development, but secular leaders generally positively assessed the initiative of the ROC. The benevolent attitude of society towards church rites and the fact that after the liquidation of the state of political workers, the education of personnel lost its intelligible ideological core. The post-communist elite was never able to formulate a bright new national idea. Her search has led many to a long-familiar religious outlook on life.

The initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church bogged down mainly because there was no main thing in this story - the actual military priests. The priest of an ordinary parish was not very suitable for the role, for example, of the confessor of desperate paratroopers. There should be a man of their environment, respected not only for the wisdom of the religious sacrament, but also for military prowess, including, at least, for the obvious readiness for a feat of arms.

This was the military priest Cyprian-Peresvet. He himself formulated his biography as follows: first he was a warrior, then a cripple, then he became a priest, then a military priest. However, Cyprian has been counting his life only since 1991, when he took monastic vows in Suzdal. Three years later he was ordained a priest. The Siberian Cossacks, reviving the familiar Yenisei district, elected Cyprian as a military priest. The history of this divine ascetic deserves a separate detailed story. He went through both Chechen wars, was a prisoner of Khattab, stood at the execution line, survived after being wounded. It was in Chechnya that the soldiers of the Sofrino brigade called Cyprian Peresvet for courage and military patience. He also had his own call sign "YAK-15" so that the fighters knew: the priest was next to them. Supports them with soul and prayer. Chechen comrades-in-arms called Cyprian-Peresvet their Brother, the Sofrins called Batey.

After the war, in June 2005, in St. Petersburg, Cyprian will take the tonsure to the Great Schema, becoming the elder Schema Isaac, but in the memory of Russian soldiers he will remain the first military priest of the new time.

And before him - a large and fertile history of the Russian military clergy. For me and, probably, for the Sofrians, it begins in 1380, when the Monk Sergius, abbot of the Russian land and the Wonderworker of Radonezh, blessed Prince Dmitry for the battle for the liberation of Russia from the Tatar yoke. He gave him his monks to help him - Rodion Oslyabya and Alexander Peresvet. This Peresvet will then enter the Kulikovo field for a duel with the Tatar hero Chelubey. With their deadly fight, the battle will begin. The Russian army will defeat the horde of Mamai. People will associate this victory with the blessing of St. Sergius. The monk Peresvet, who fell in single combat, will be canonized as a saint. And we will call the day of the Battle of Kulikovo - September 21 (September 8 according to the Julian calendar) the Day of Russia's military glory.

There are more than six centuries between two Peresvets. This time contained a lot - the laborious service to God and the Fatherland, pastoral deeds, grandiose battles and great upheavals.

According to military regulations

Like everything else in the Russian army, military spiritual ministry first acquired its organizational structure in the Military Regulations of Peter I of 1716. The reforming emperor considered it necessary to have a priest in every regiment, on every ship. The naval clergy were mainly represented by hieromonks. They were headed by the chief hieromonk of the fleet. The clergy of the ground forces were subordinate to the field chief priest of the army in the field, and in peacetime - to the bishop of the diocese on whose territory the regiment was stationed.

By the end of the century, Catherine II placed a single chief priest of the army and navy at the head of the military and naval clergy. He was autonomous from the Synod, had the right to report directly to the empress and the right to communicate directly with the diocesan hierarchs. A regular salary was established for the military clergy. After twenty years of service, the priest received a pension.

The structure received a military finished look and logical subordination, but was corrected for another century. So, in June 1890, Emperor Alexander III approved the Regulations on the management of churches and the clergy of the military and naval departments. Established the title of "protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy." All the churches of regiments, fortresses, military hospitals and educational institutions were assigned to his jurisdiction (except for Siberia, in which "because of the distance" the military clergy were subordinate to diocesan bishops.)

The economy turned out to be solid. The department of the protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy included 12 cathedrals, 3 house churches, 806 regimental, 12 serfs, 24 hospitals, 10 prison, 6 port churches, 34 churches at various institutions (407 churches in total), 106 archpriests, 337 priests, 2 protodeacon, 55 deacons, 68 psalmists (569 clerics in total). The office of the protopresbyter published its own magazine - "Bulletin of the Military Clergy".

The highest position determined the service rights of the military clergy and salaries. The chief priest (protopresbyter) was equated with a lieutenant general, the chief priest of the General Staff, the guards or grenadier corps - with a major general, the archpriest - with a colonel, the rector of a military cathedral or temple, and also the divisional dean - with a lieutenant colonel. The regimental priest (equal to the captain) received an almost complete captain's ration: a salary in the amount of 366 rubles per year, the same number of canteens, bonuses were provided for long service, reaching (for 20 years of service) up to half of the established salary. Equal military salaries were observed for all spiritual ranks.

Dry statistics give only a general idea of ​​the priesthood in the Russian army. Life brings its own bright colors to this picture. Between the two Peresvets there were wars, heavy battles. There were also their heroes. Here is the priest Vasily Vasilkovsky. His feat will be described in the order for the Russian army No. 53 dated March 12, 1813, the commander-in-chief M.I. Kutuzov: with courage he encouraged the lower ranks to fight without horror for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, and he was severely wounded in the head by a bullet. In the battle of Vitebsk, he showed the same courage, where he received a bullet wound in the leg. I presented the Sovereign Emperor with the chief certificate of such excellent deeds undaunted in battles and zealous service of Vasilkovsky, and His Majesty deigned to award him the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George 4th class.

This was the first time in history that a military priest was awarded the Order of St. George. Father Vasily will be awarded the order on March 17, 1813. In the autumn of the same year (November 24) he died in a foreign campaign from his wounds. Vasily Vasilkovsky was only 35 years old.

Let's jump a century into another great war - the First World War. Here is what the famous Russian military leader, General A.A., wrote about that time. Brusilov: “In those terrible counterattacks, black figures flashed among the soldiers’ tunics - regimental priests, tucking up their cassocks, walked with the soldiers in coarse boots, encouraging the timid with a simple gospel word and behavior ... They remained there forever, on the fields of Galicia, not being separated from the flock.

For the heroism shown during the First World War, about 2,500 military priests will be awarded state awards and 227 gold pectoral crosses on the St. George ribbon. The Order of St. George will be awarded to 11 people (four - posthumously).

The institute of military and naval clergy in the Russian army was liquidated by order of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs on January 16, 1918. 3,700 priests will be fired from the army. Many are then repressed as class alien elements...

Crosses on buttonholes

The efforts of the Church yielded results by the end of the 2000s. Sociological surveys initiated by priests in 2008-2009 showed that the number of believers in the army reaches 70 percent of the personnel. The then President of Russia D.A. Medvedev was informed about this. With his instructions to the military department, a new time of spiritual service in the Russian army begins. The President signed this order on July 21, 2009. He ordered the Minister of Defense to take the necessary decisions aimed at introducing the institution of the military clergy into the Russian Armed Forces.

Fulfilling the order of the president, the military will not copy the structures that existed in the tsarist army. They will begin with the fact that within the Main Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for work with personnel, they will create a Directorate for work with religious servicemen. Its staff will include 242 positions of assistant commanders (chiefs) for work with religious servicemen, replaced by clergymen of Russia's traditional religious associations. This will happen in January 2010.

For five years, it was not possible to fill all the proposed vacancies. Religious organizations even presented their candidates to the Department of Defense in abundance. But the bar of military requirements was high. For work in the troops on a full-time basis, they have so far accepted only 132 clergy - 129 Orthodox, two Muslims and one Buddhist. (By the way, the army of the Russian Empire was also attentive to believers of all denominations. Several hundred chaplains guarded Catholic military personnel. Mullahs served in national-territorial formations, such as the Wild Division. Jews were allowed to attend territorial synagogues.)

High demands on the priesthood, probably, matured from the best examples of spiritual shepherding in the Russian army. Maybe even the ones I remember today. At least the priests are being prepared for serious trials. Their cassocks will no longer unmask the priests, as happened in the battle formations of the unforgettable Brusilov breakthrough. The Ministry of Defense, together with the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, developed the “Rules for the Military Clergy to Wear Uniforms.” They were approved by Patriarch Kirill.

According to the rules, military priests "when organizing work with religious servicemen in the context of military operations, during a state of emergency, liquidation of accidents, natural hazards, catastrophes, natural and other disasters, during exercises, classes, combat duty (combat service)" will wear not church vestments, but field military uniforms. Unlike the uniform of military personnel, it does not provide for epaulettes, sleeves and breastplates of the corresponding type of troops. Only the buttonholes will decorate the Orthodox crosses of dark color of the established pattern. When performing divine services in the field, the priest must put on an epitrachelion, handrails and a priestly cross over the uniform.

The base of spiritual work in the army and navy is also being seriously updated. Today, more than 160 Orthodox churches and chapels operate in the territories subordinate to the Ministry of Defense alone. Military temples are being built in Severomorsk and Gadzhiyevo (Northern Fleet), at the air base in Kant (Kyrgyzstan), and in other garrisons. The Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in Sevastopol, the building of which was previously used as a branch of the Black Sea Fleet Museum, has again become a military one. Minister of Defense S.K. Shoigu decided to allocate rooms for prayer rooms in all formations and on ships of the 1st rank.

...A new history is being written in the military spiritual ministry. What will she be? Definitely worthy! This is due to the traditions that have developed over the centuries, melted into a national character - the heroism, stamina and courage of Russian soldiers, the diligence, patience and selflessness of military priests. In the meantime, in military temples, the great Easter holiday, and the collective communion of soldiers - as a new step in readiness to serve the Fatherland, Peace and God.

Who are military priests? In what "hot spots" do they serve and how do they live? Archpriest Sergiy Privalov, chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces, spoke about the role military clergy play in conflict points and how they help soldiers in the "Image" program in Tsargrad.

What is the peculiarity of military priests

Veronika Ivashchenko: To begin with, let me ask you: what is the role of the clergy today in the Russian armed forces?

Sergiy Privalov: The role has always been high. This role is to bring a spiritual component to the service to the Fatherland.

At present, a military priest - he, on the one hand, is the same priest as in the parish. But it has one, perhaps the most fundamental difference. He is ready to be with the military. He is ready to be with those who defend our Fatherland, our Motherland, our original traditions, our spiritual life. And in this case, the clergyman becomes not only among those who defend with weapons. But he brings a spiritual meaning to this armed defense.

Extra strength.

Not only additional spiritual strength, but, on the other hand, a moral component. Because a clergyman is a person who has a calling from God. He brings into the military formation the humanization and understanding of the service to which the servicemen are called. People with weapons - for them it is a responsible obedience. And the use of this most perfect weapon today should be in clean hands, with a moral tuning fork in the soul of every person. And this, first of all, is characteristic of what the clergyman brings to the troops.

Orthodox priests in Syria

Father Sergiy, now our servicemen are participating in the fighting in Syria. Tell me, in some way, in these difficult conditions, they are spiritually nourished by Orthodox priests?

Yes. Services are held almost daily. At the air base in Khmeimim, a full-time military chaplain is present along with military personnel. Moreover, on major holidays, great holidays, the Russian Orthodox Church sends additional clergy and choristers to participate in divine services not only at the Khmeimim air base, but also at the Tartus naval base.

Just recently, in Khmeimim, an Orthodox chapel was consecrated in honor of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious. And the temple in Tartus, in honor of the holy righteous warrior Fyodor Ushakov, should soon be consecrated. Here are the Bishops, both from Tartu and the Bishop who covers the Patriarchate of Antioch with an omophorion and, in particular, the air base in Khmeimim, blessed the construction of Orthodox church clergy. And just recently, they took part with Bishop Anthony Akhtubinsky and Enotaevsky in the consecration of this chapel. The entire staff was present at the consecration.

Therefore, the priests are nearby. Priests are inside military formations, they are together with military personnel, even in these so-called "hot spots".

Our main weapon is prayer

Father Sergius, recently His Holiness Patriarch Kirill spoke about the ideal of a Christ-loving army, citing the war in the Middle East as an example. Is it really impossible to fight against that most terrible enemy only with the help of weapons?

Certainly. Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church also prays. Our most important weapon is prayer. And the more followers of the Christian faith there are in the world, the purer, the more spiritual, the more peaceful humanity will become.

Therefore, the religion of love, Christianity is such a potential that people should resort to. They should also compare other religions, and, first of all, those people who reject religion altogether and want to be so-called. atheists. Or those who choose the path of pseudo-religion, terrorism. In this case, Christianity reveals the meaning and the basis to which one must resort in order to win in the spiritual battle. In this case, prayer should be the natural state of the soul of an Orthodox warrior.

And, perhaps, that is why the demand for military priests is growing so much?

Certainly, and especially in "hot spots". When people feel that not only the force of arms is needed. You need confidence in your actions. You need confidence in the rightness of your ministry. Inside the military unit, formations. And most importantly, when people turn to Christ, they receive this help. Many people put on Orthodox crosses for the first time. Many are baptized. Many come to confession and Holy Communion for the first time. This is, in fact, a joyful event for the clergy.

Now there are about 170 full-time military chaplains

And tell me, how many military priests are there now?

There are about 170 military clergy today. These are the ones that are assigned. And more than 500 in various capacities, we call them freelance military clergy, serve in military units. Periodically coming, performing divine services, nourishing the flock.

And tell me, can they be called chaplains, is that right?

Well, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the word "chaplain" is more associated with Catholicism or Protestantism. And in our everyday life they are sometimes called chaplains. Which, perhaps, is not entirely correct, but there is such a tendency to call military clergy the same as they are called in a unified way in the West. But I think that every military clergyman, of course, does not change his spiritual inner content from this.

Please tell us what are the requirements for their selection? Do they participate in military exercises together with ordinary military personnel?

First, the selection is quite tough. First of all, it concerns spiritual education. That is, we select those clergy who have a sufficiently high level of both spiritual and secular education. The second criterion is the skills of working in a military environment. That is, they must have experience in pastoral service, in the care of military formations. And third, of course, health. That is, a person must be ready for this service, he himself must express a desire to pass the appropriate selection through the Ministry of Defense, in personnel bodies. And only after that, and on the recommendation of the ruling bishop of his diocese, is he considered by the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces. And this decision is approved by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

By the way, what are the most pressing issues in your department right now?

I would not say that some issues are especially acute and we are not able to solve them. That is, everything that is happening today is a solvable problem.

Of course, one of these problems is the staffing of military clergy. We have 268 full-time posts, but so far 170 have been appointed. Therefore, in the far regions, in the north, the Far East, full-time positions of military clergymen are not yet fully staffed. And then an appropriate basis for spiritual enlightenment should be formed. That is, we really want the priest to be heard, that the appropriate time and place be allocated where the priest would talk about Christ, about the spiritual foundations of military service to the Fatherland. For this, we still need to go through a lot in the military environment, to ensure that we are understood, heard and given us such an opportunity. Not only, as some say, with each soldier individually, but also with large units at the same time.

From officers to military priests

Father Sergius, many military priests were officers in the past, including you, right?

Right.

Tell me, please, how often does it happen that it is the military who become priests?

Well, firstly, a person who himself has known Christ, he can no longer stop talking about him. If a person was previously in an officer's position, then he understands that the next stage of his service is to carry the word of God already in the holy dignity. But, again, among those whom he knows best and is best oriented in a particular situation within military units.

And therefore, the percentage of those who were previously officers, or have completed military service, perhaps as contract soldiers, is quite high. But this is not the only and correct criterion for the selection of military priests. Because there are military clergy who have never even served in the army.

But at the same time, they are so close in spirit and love to the military units and to those guys who serve in the troops that they have gained such authority. They really became fathers for these military guys. Therefore, here you need to look at the spiritual calling. And the Lord calls. And if so, then a person cannot but serve his neighbor. And who needs it the most? Of course, the military. Because for them Christ is protection. For them, Christ is their support. For them, the Savior is the goal of life. Because it is precisely when they are inside in such difficult conditions that they turn to God sincerely. And in this case, the priest should be nearby. He must support the guys with his prayer, and, first of all, spiritually instruct.

There are more and more believers among the military

And how do priests influence the relationship between military personnel? Maybe the situation with hazing has changed, do they affect moral development?

Probably, after all, the most important thing is that the attitude of a person to society, to the world, to himself and to religion, in principle, has changed. That is, the number of believers who consciously say that they are Orthodox, you said about 78%, now the percentage is even higher, more than 79%.

And most importantly, the guys, the military, are not afraid to confess their faith. They are consciously baptized, go to churches, participate in divine services. This is probably the most important thing that happened with the arrival or participation of clergy in military units.

The second is the change in the internal climate within the military units. Military discipline has changed, or even improved. I think that in many ways these questions, of course, are not only for priests, and it is their merit that hazing is coming to naught. Firstly, these are very correct and competent decisions of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Kuzhegetovich Shoigu. And hazing itself, which involves a two-year conscription, when one in relation to the other military personnel are older and younger - this artificial division led to conflicts.

Now this is not. All serve only one year. This time. And secondly, the tasks that the armed forces solve have become, first of all, combat. People are preparing for war. And as a poet, they try to treat their service accordingly. Teachings, transfers, regroupings.

All this suggests that there is no time to engage in some kind of hazing relationship. It is clear that anything can happen. But the attitude of man to man within the military collective is changing for the better. Because they are doing their duty now. Sometimes in isolation from their native land. And very often with the participation of the most serious events that require concentration, the brotherly shoulder of his colleague. All this, well, in combination, of course, improves the situation inside the military units. And the priests are always near.+

That is, during field exercises, they go out together with the military, put up their tents, temples, tents, and try to pray with them. That is, this is, in fact, the real combat work of a military clergyman.

Recently, the first official graduation of military priests took place at the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Fifteen people who received the positions of full-time assistant commanders of formations and military units for work with believing servicemen. For a month they underwent special training, and soon they will go to units.

For me, as a consistent atheist (with an admixture of Gnosticism), this is one of the most controversial news of recent times. Too many questions arise in connection with the institute of chaplaincy in relation to our army. But let's start from the oven.

Since the 15th century, there have always been Orthodox priests in the Russian army, instructing and helping soldiers not to get lost in the monotony of army life and the horrors of war, if any. So, according to Wiki, in 1545 Archpriest Andrei of the Cathedral of the Annunciation with the cathedral of clergy participated in the Kazan campaign with Ivan the Terrible. It is not known what happened next, but I do not think that the priesthood was not present in the life of the army. And in the 17th century, under Alexei Mikhailovich, military priests were officially given salaries, the same continued under Fyodor Alekseevich and under our Europeanized Emperor Peter, who introduced the titles of chief hieromonks of the fleet and chief priests of the field. And all this despite the schism and church reform. At the end of the 19th century, 5 thousand military priests and several hundred chaplains served in the army of the Russian Empire. And in the "Wild Division", for example, mullahs also served. At the same time, the priest was equated with an officer's rank and received a corresponding salary.

According to Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, in the post-Soviet era, Orthodox priests immediately joined the army, but did their work for free. But in 1994, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and then Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev signed a cooperation agreement. This document became the basis for the creation of the Coordinating Committee for interaction between the Armed Forces and the Russian Orthodox Church. In February 2006, the patriarch gave his blessing to train military priests, and in May of the same year, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke in favor of recreating the institution of military priests.

How many and what kind of priestsneed to

The President then, in 2011, gave the task to create an institute of military priests in the army and navy by the end of the year. At first, the priests were going to be taught at the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. Margelov, then - in one of the military universities in Moscow. And finally, the choice fell on the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Full-time regimental priests appeared in the Russian army in December 2012, but the first release of the "new priests" took place only now.

The chief priest of the Russian Airborne Forces, Priest Mikhail Vasiliev, in 2007 estimated the need for clergy in Russian troops as follows: about 400 Orthodox priests, 30-40 Muslim mullahs, 2-3 Buddhist lamas and 1-2 Jewish rabbis. In reality, there are still Orthodox priests and mullahs in the army. Representatives of other faiths are not "called". So what about representatives of other faiths? Discriminate them as minorities? Or create a whole division of "spiritual support" for each part? Or make universal ecumenists out of assistants working with believing military personnel, capable of both conducting confession and performing namaz? Will they be given a tambourine and peyote then?

With the institute of chaplains in small and mono-confessional countries, it is clear that there is no such problem there. In a Catholic country it will be Catholics, in a Protestant country it will be Protestants, in a Muslim country it will be imams. But there are fewer of them on the map, most of the planet is gradually becoming religiously tolerant, and in Egypt, almost Orthodox Copts live next to Muslims for centuries.

If we had faith in the God-Emperor, as in the Warhammer-40k novels, then everything would be simple too - they would be commissars performing the functions of a priest and an inquisitor in one person. But we do not live in a fantasy world, everything is more complicated here.

And there is another important aspect, moral. As you know, the pop-schismatic, "patriarch" of the unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, Filaret, blessed the punitive detachments to kill Russians. It is clear that he is an impostor, that he is a former criminal and excommunicated from the Orthodox Church. But besides him, a number of Greek Catholic priests from Western Ukraine did the same thing - a blessing for murder. And I really do not want Orthodox priests to be in any way similar to such bloodthirsty, I'm not afraid of this word, heretics.

Not an offensive, but a defense against evil

Still, you see, real, not formal Christianity is the opposite of war and murder. I may be an atheist, but the philosophical views of Berdyaev, Seraphim of Sarov and a number of other Christian philosophers are close and even dear to me. Therefore, I would like to distance him as much as possible from such an unpleasant and forced thing as war.

We never had crusades (they were against us), the Russians always perceived the war as a forced occupation. The presence of priests in the army somehow ennobles the war, and this is wrong. If I understand at least something in spirituality, then going to war a person, albeit forcedly, leaves the sphere of spirituality, and therefore he needs to return to it after purification.

Blessing for war is already something from the category of Got mit uns or the American "We are God's chosen nation", a megalomania that cannot end in anything good. Therefore, if this institution finally takes root, only people who will understand this fine line between "comfort and cheer" and "bless for murder" should go to the military priests. A priest in war is only mercy and the healing of souls, but not a crusade or jihad.

By the way, the army is talking about this. Thus, according to Igor Semenchenko, Acting Head of the Directorate (for work with religious servicemen) of the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, "The task of the clergy in the Armed Forces is to create, taking into account the specifics of military service, the necessary conditions for the realization by believing military personnel of their religious needs".

As you can see, "everything is not so simple." But I will not be a militant atheist brandishing a copy of Darwin and demanding "ban and abolish." Let it stay as an experiment, very careful and unobtrusive. And we'll see.