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

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 Kyiv 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.

The Russian Ministry of Defense published a photo of Archimandrite Andrei (Vats) in message about the campaign “Give a Book to a Soldier” at a base in Armenia. The picture is notable for the fact that it depicts the uniform of military priests of the new model, the site notes. "Defend Russia". On the eve of Orthodox Easter, Gazeta.Ru looked into the state of the modern institution of the army clergy.

In many countries of the world, regimental priests or chaplains have been in the army for several hundred years - for example, in the USA and Great Britain, this institution has been functioning since the 18th century. In pre-revolutionary Russia, this institution was legally approved even earlier - during the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

As a rule, the clergy of the main faiths and religions are represented in the military formations of Western countries, taking into account the characteristics of demographics. In most armies, one way or another, Catholic and Protestant priests are represented, often rabbis and mullahs. Buddhist and Hindu clerics also work with the US military on a small scale.

It is worth noting that religious diversity was also in the tradition of the Russian military before the October Revolution - in addition to Orthodox priests, imams and rabbis served in the Russian army.

In the Soviet years, the military clergy remained out of work - concessions during the years of the Great Patriotic War are often mentioned, however, there was still no full-scale involvement of priests in the life of the army.

Combat Unction

After the collapse of the USSR, a revival of the tradition was outlined, but the actual decision on this issue was made only in 2009 by order of the then President Dmitry Medvedev.

Formally, the priests held the position of assistant commander for work with religious servicemen, later they were equated with the position of political officer. However, the reform went with a creak - according to 2012, the shortage of clergy in the Russian army is 90%. At the same time, those priests who did not want to work in this position were granted a deferment from military service by the authorities.

In 2014 became known about the beginning of training programs for the training of priests in the military universities of the country. “From this year, the development and implementation of advanced training programs for military clergy will begin in five military educational institutions, primarily command ones,” Alexander Surovtsev, head of the department for work with believers, said at the time.

They decided to liquidate the shortfall with the help of the chief priest of the country - Patriarch Kirill ordered that monks from stauropegial (that is, directly accountable to the primate) monasteries be involved in the recruitment of army posts.

However, as the magazine wrote in 2009 "Military review", the shortage remained: instead of the required 242 "chaplains", only 132 were recruited, of which 129 were Orthodox, two Muslims and one Buddhist.

In 2010, the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Cooperation with the Armed Forces established special media for Russian "chaplains" - "Bulletin of the military and naval clergy". The online magazine publishes materials, for example, about unction at the Kapustin Yar training ground and about visit Archpriest Alexander Bondarenko to a training ground in the Crimea.

The Airborne Forces were especially distinguished in the field of instilling faith in the army. In 2013 it became known on testing a mobile temple based on a KamAZ truck. It is interesting that the first samples of such a temple were produced at the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant, which later ended up in the combat zone of the Ukrainian conflict.

It was reported that this machine is intended for the spiritual "nurturing of paratroopers during exercises and armed conflicts." It was proposed to equip all parts of the Russian Armed Forces with such mobile churches.

The new frontier was taken a few months later, when the public demonstrated landing of a mobile temple by parachute, which was practiced at a training ground near Ryazan.

“A parachute is the same means of transport as a car or a bicycle, on which you can arrive at the place where the child of the Russian Orthodox Church is,” one of the priests who participated in the training described the innovation.

At the beginning of 2016, the Russian group of troops in Syria demonstrated its adherence to Orthodox ideals when a Christmas service was held at the Khmeimim base.

“This service brings love, peace, the hope that with the coming of Christ the Savior, peace will come to the Syrian land,” Father Ilya, who conducted the service, said then.

As far as is known, despite the presence of Russian troops and military priests in Syria, no operations were carried out to install mobile temples in the country hit by Islamic terrorists.

“The abbot such and such will speak before you”

Despite the declared enthusiasm for the interaction between the army and the church, in the ordinary army this work is still in its infancy.

As a young man who served in the Taman division told Gazeta.ru, this interaction is limited to several Orthodox holidays - Christmas, Maslenitsa and Easter. He noted that this is an even better option, since the Taman division can be called "demonstrative" in all respects. Other ex-servicemen interviewed by Gazeta.Ru speak of the lack of spiritual support for the soldiers.

According to the "Taman", contacts with the priests took place on the parade ground during the general formations. “Everyone goes to the parade ground, the brigade commander speaks on this or that issue. And then, for example, he says that today is such and such a holiday, the rector of such and such will speak before you. The priest comes out, congratulates the soldiers and sprinkles them with holy water,” said the young man.

Muslims, Jews and non-religious soldiers were asked to wait outside the parade ground. As a rule, conscripts of Asian or Caucasian origin went out of order. And most of the soldiers remained in the ranks - "did not want to stand out, although no one was punished for this."

According to the soldier, the soldier can theoretically communicate personally with the priest by contacting the commander or political officer of the unit about this. “No one has done this to me. More often, soldiers turn to a psychologist, ”he clarifies.

“Many wore crosses, but there was not much talk about God. Everyone missed the girl, mom, family, food. Every evening they sang the anthem with the whole brigade ... In short, it was fun, but there was no God, ”summed up the ex-soldier.

Judging by the fact that a significant part of the leading armies of the world has the institution of chaplains, military chaplains one way or another perform an important social function, regardless of the actual religiosity of the military personnel.

For a young person, military service is stressful, and any psychological support should help to cope with it - both from full-time psychologists and from relatives, friends, officers and colleagues. Priests are also capable of playing this role.

The same Archimandrite Andrei (Vats), serving at the Russian base in Armenia, in 2013 formulated the role of clerics in the army is as follows: “We support and provide assistance to those soldiers who, due to our social reality, are lost. A lot of people come, tearing themselves away from their mother's skirt, and find themselves in an environment where there are only men. It's hard! Few are ready to put up with their weaknesses, and even more so with others. So

a huge spiritual resource is needed for this serviceman to overcome himself. This is where our help is needed!”

It is difficult to disagree with such a formulation - this does not require theological discussions. However, the Russian army still has a long way to go before the institution of military chaplains begins to fully fulfill its tasks.

Not everyone knows that there are military priests in the Russian army firsthand. They first appeared in the middle of the XVI century. The duties of military priests were charged with teaching the Law of God. For this, separate readings and conversations were arranged. Priests were to become an example of piety and faith. Over time, this direction in the army was forgotten.

A bit of history
In the Military Charter, the military clergy first officially appeared in 1716, by order of Peter the Great. He decided that the priests had to be everywhere - on ships, in regiments. The naval clergy was represented by hieromonks, their head was the chief hieromonk. The land priests were subordinate to the field "commander", in peacetime - to the bishop of the diocese where the regiment was located.

Catherine the Second changed this scheme somewhat. She put at the head of only one ober, under whose leadership were the priests of both the fleet and the army. He received a permanent salary, after 20 years of service he was awarded a pension. Then the structure of the military clergy was adjusted for a hundred years. In 1890, a separate church and military department appeared. It included many churches, cathedrals:

prison;

hospitals;

serfs;

Regimental

port.

The military clergy had their own magazine. Certain salaries were determined, depending on the rank. The chief priest was equated with the rank of general, lower in rank - with ober, major, captain, etc.

Many military priests showed heroism in the First World War and approximately 2,500 people received awards, 227 gold crosses were awarded. Eleven clergy received the Order of St. George (four of them posthumously).

The institute of the military clergy was liquidated by order of the People's Commissariat in 1918. 3,700 clergy were dismissed from the army. Many of them were repressed as class alien elements.

Revival of the military clergy
The idea to revive military priests arose in the mid-1990s. The Soviet leaders did not give the direction of wide development, but gave a positive assessment to the initiative of the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church), since the ideological core was needed, and a new bright idea had not yet been formulated.

However, the idea was never developed. A simple priest was not suitable for the army; people from the military environment were needed, who would be respected not only for wisdom, but also for courage, valor and readiness for feat. The first such priest was Cyprian-Peresvet. Initially, he was a soldier, then he became an invalid, in 1991 he took tonsure, three years later he became a priest and began to serve in the army in this rank.

He went through the Chechen wars, was captured by Khattab, was at the firing line, and was able to survive after severe injuries. For all this, he was named Peresvet. He had his own call sign "YAK-15".

In 2008-2009 special surveys were conducted in the army. As it turned out, almost 70 percent of the servicemen are believers. Medvedev D.A., who was the president at that time, was informed about this. He gave the decree to revive the institution of the military clergy. The order was signed in 2009.

They did not begin to copy the structures that were still under the tsarist regime. It all started with the formation of the Office for Work with Believers. The organization created 242 units of assistant commanders. However, during the five-year period it was not possible to fill all the vacancies, despite the many candidates. The bar was too high.

The department began work with 132 priests, of which two are Muslims and one is a Buddhist, the rest are Orthodox. For all of them, a new uniform and rules for wearing it were developed. It was approved by Patriarch Kirill.

Military chaplains must wear (even on exercises) military field uniforms. It does not have shoulder straps, outer or sleeve signs, but there are buttonholes with dark Orthodox crosses. During the divine service, a military priest over a field uniform is obliged to put on an epitrachelion, a cross and handrails.

Now bases for spiritual work on land and in the fleet are being renovated and built. More than 160 chapels and temples are already in operation. They are being built in Gadzhiyevo and Severomorsk, in Kant and other garrisons.

St. Andrew's Naval Cathedral in Severomorsk

In Sevastopol, the church of St. Michael the Archangel became paramilitary. Previously, this building was used only as a museum. The government decided to allocate premises for prayers on all ships of the first rank.

The military clergy begins a new history. Time will tell how it will develop, how much it will be needed and in demand. However, if you look back at the previous history, the clergy raised the military spirit, strengthened it, and helped people cope with difficulties.

religion education army clergy

The main figure in the military church and in the entire system of spiritual and moral education of the lower ranks and officers was the army and navy priest. The history of the military clergy is rooted in the era of the origin and development of the troops of pre-Christian Russia. At that time, the clergymen were sorcerers, sorcerers, sorcerers. They were among the leaders of the squad and with their prayers, ritual actions, recommendations, sacrifices, they contributed to the military success of the squad, the entire army.

As the permanent army was formed, its spiritual service became permanent. With the advent of the archery army, which by the XVII century. has turned into an impressive military force, attempts are being made to develop and consolidate in the charters a single procedure for carrying out and ensuring military service. So, in the charter "Teaching and cunning of the military system of infantry people" (1647), the regimental priest was first mentioned.

In accordance with the army and navy guidelines, the regimental priest and hieromonk, in addition to conducting divine services and prayers, were required to “watch diligently” the behavior of the lower ranks, to monitor the indispensable acceptance of confession and holy communion.

To prevent the priest from interfering in other matters and not distracting the military personnel from the work assigned to them, the scope of his duties was limited to a firm warning: “Do not enter into any business anymore, below that, according to your will and predilection, start.” The line on the complete subordination of the priest in military affairs to the commander-in-chief found approval among the officers and was fixed in the life of the troops.

Before Peter 1, the spiritual needs of the soldiers were satisfied by priests temporarily assigned to the regiments. Peter, following the example of Western armies, created the structure of the military clergy in the army and navy. Each regiment and ship began to have full-time military priests. In 1716, for the first time in the statutes of the Russian army, separate chapters “On the clergy” appeared, which determined their legal status in the army, the main forms of activity, and duties. Priests in the army regiments were appointed by the Holy Synod on the proposals of those dioceses where the troops were located. At the same time, it was prescribed to appoint priests "skillful" and known for their well-behaved behavior to the regiments.

A similar process was going on in the Navy. Already in 1710, the "Articles of the Military to the Russian Navy", which were in force until the adoption of the Naval Charter in 1720, set out the rules for praying in the morning and evening and "reading the word of God." In April 1717, by the highest command, it was decided "to keep 39 priests on ships and other military vessels in the Russian fleet." The first naval priest, appointed on August 24, 1710 to Admiral F.M. Apraksin, was the priest Ivan Antonov.

At first, the military clergy was under the jurisdiction of the local church authorities, but in 1800 it was separated from the diocesan one, the position of field chief priest was introduced in the army, to which all priests of the army were subordinate. The first head of the military clergy was Archpriest P.Ya. Ozeretskovsky. Subsequently, the chief priest of the army and navy began to be called protopresbyter.

After the military reform of the 60s of the XIX century. the management of the military clergy acquired a fairly harmonious system. According to the “Regulations on the management of churches and the clergy of the military department” (1892), all the clergy of the Russian Armed Forces were headed by the protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy. By rank, he was equal to the archbishop in the spiritual world and to the lieutenant general - in the military, he had the right to a personal report to the king.

Considering that the Russian army was staffed not only by the Orthodox, but also by representatives of other confessions, the headquarters of the military districts and the fleets had, as a rule, one mullah, a priest, a rabbi. The problems of interfaith were also solved due to the fact that the principles of monotheism, respect for other faiths and the religious rights of their representatives, religious tolerance, and missionary work were laid at the basis of the activities of the military clergy.

The recommendations to military priests, published in the Bulletin of the Military Clergy (1892), explained: “... we are all Christians, Mohammedans, Jews together at the same time pray to our God - therefore the Lord Almighty, who created heaven, earth and everything on earth there is one true God for all of us.”

Military regulations served as the legal basis for attitudes towards soldiers of other faiths. Thus, the charter of 1898 in the article “On Divine Services on the Ship” prescribed: “Gentiles of Christian confessions perform public prayers according to the rules of their faith, with the permission of the commander, in a designated place, and, if possible, simultaneously with Orthodox services. During long voyages, they retire, if possible, to their church for prayer and fasting. The same charter allowed Muslims or Jews on the ship "to read public prayers according to the rules of their faith: Muslims - on Fridays, Jews - on Saturdays." On the main holidays, the Gentiles, as a rule, were released from service and retired to the shore.

The issue of interfaith relations was also regulated by the circulars of the protopresbyter. One of them suggested "to avoid, as far as possible, any religious disputes and denunciations of other confessions" and to ensure that literature "with harsh expressions against Catholicism, Protestantism and other faiths" does not get into the regimental and hospital libraries, since such 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 hostility that is detrimental to the cause. The greatness of Orthodoxy was recommended to military priests to be supported “not by the word of denunciation of those who believe differently, but by the deed of Christian selfless service to both the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox, remembering that the latter shed blood for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland.”

Direct work on religious and moral education was assigned for the most part to regimental and ship priests. Their duties were quite thoughtful and varied. In particular, the regimental priests were charged with the duty of instilling in the lower ranks the Christian faith and love for God and neighbors, respect for the supreme monarchical power, protecting military personnel "from harmful teachings", correcting "moral shortcomings", preventing "deviations from the Orthodox faith", during military operations to encourage and bless their spiritual children, to be ready to lay down their souls for faith and the Fatherland.

Of particular importance in the religious and moral education of the lower ranks was given to the Law of God. Although the Law was a collection of prayers, features of divine services and the sacraments of the Orthodox Church, the soldiers, for the most part poorly educated, received knowledge from world history and the history of Russia, as well as examples of moral behavior based on the study of the commandments of Christian life. The definition of human conscience given in the fourth part of God's Law is interesting: not fair. The voice of conscience obliges us to do good and avoid evil. For everything good, conscience rewards us with inner peace and tranquility, and for everything unkind and evil it condemns and punishes, and a person who has acted against conscience feels moral discord in himself - remorse and torment of conscience.

The regimental (ship) priest had a kind of church asset, voluntary assistants who collected donations and helped during church services. Members of military families were also involved in the activities of the military church: they sang in the choir, were engaged in charitable activities, worked in hospitals, etc. The church helped establish the closeness of the lower ranks and officers. On religious holidays, especially at Christmas and Easter, officers were encouraged to be in the barracks and christen with their subordinates. After the christening, the priest of the unit with his assistants went around the families of the officers, congratulating them and collecting donations.

At all times, military priests supported the influence of the word with the firmness of their spirit, personal example. Many commanders highly valued the activities of military shepherds. Thus, the commander of the hussar Akhtyrsky regiment, describing the military priest Father Raevsky, who participated in many battles with the French, wrote that he “was with the regiment without a break in all general battles and even attacks, under enemy fire ... encouraging the regiment with the help of the Almighty and blessed weapons God's (holy cross), struck by a mortal wound ... certainly confessed and admonished in the life of eternity with the holy sacraments; those who were killed in battle and died from wounds he buried according to the rank of the church ... ”In a similar way, the head of the 24th Infantry Division, Major General P.G. Likhachev and the commander of the 6th Corps, General D.S. Dokhturov characterized the priest Vasily Vasilkovsky, who was repeatedly wounded and awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree.

There are many cases of heroic service of priests who are in captivity or in the territory occupied by the enemy. In 1812, Archpriest of the Cavalry Guards Regiment Mikhail Gratinsky, being a prisoner of the French, daily served prayers for sending down the victory of the Russian army. For spiritual and military exploits, the military priest was awarded a cross on the St. George ribbon, and the tsar appointed him his confessor.

No less selfless were the exploits of military priests in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Everyone knows about the feat of the Varyag cruiser, about which the song is composed. But not everyone knows that, together with his commander, captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev served as the ship's priest, his namesake Mikhail Rudnev. And if the commander Rudnev controlled the battle from the conning tower, then the priest Rudnev, under the artillery fire of the Japanese, "intrepidly walked along the blood-drenched deck, parting words to the dying and inspiring the fighting." Hieromonk Porfiry, the ship's priest of the Askold cruiser, acted in the same way during the battle in the Yellow Sea on July 28, 1904.

The military clergy also served selflessly, courageously and heroically during the First World War. Confirmation of his military merits is the fact that, according to incomplete data, during the years of the First World War, priests were awarded: 227 gold pectoral crosses on the St. George ribbon, 85 orders of St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords, 203 orders of St. Vladimir 4- th degree with swords, 643 orders of St. Anna 2nd and 3rd degree with swords. In 1915 alone, 46 military priests were presented with high military awards.

However, not all those who distinguished themselves on the battlefields had a chance to see their awards, to feel the glory and honor deserved in the harsh wartime. The war did not spare the military priests, armed only with faith, the cross and the desire to serve the Fatherland. General A.A. Brusilov, describing the battles of the Russian army in 1915, wrote: “In those terrible counterattacks, black figures flashed among the soldiers’ tunics - then the regimental priests, tucking up their cassocks, in coarse boots, walked with the soldiers, encouraging the timid with a simple gospel word and behavior ... They forever remained there, in the fields of Galicia, not parted from the flock. According to incomplete data, more than 4.5 thousand clergymen laid down their heads or were crippled in battles. This is convincing evidence that military priests did not bow to bullets and shells, did not sit in the rear when their wards shed blood on the battlefield, but fulfilled their patriotic, official and moral duty to the end.

As you know, during the Great Patriotic War there were no priests in the Red Army. But representatives of the clergy took part in the fighting on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Many clergy have been awarded orders and medals. Among them - the Order of Glory of three degrees, Deacon B. Kramorenko, the Order of Glory of the III degree - cleric S. Kozlov, the medal "For Courage" priest G. Stepanov, the medal "For Military Merit" - Metropolitan Kamensky, nun Anthony (Zhertovskaya).

The discussion around the creation of the institution of chaplains in the Russian army is on the rise. Priest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior, who heads the sector of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Institutions, shared his point of view on the prospects for reforming relations between the army and the Church with columnist Maria Sveshnikova.

“It seems to me that the bill itself lacks a constitutional basis,” Father Alexander says. - For example, from whom the chaplain will have to receive money? From the Department of Defense? This is a big question. It is also planned to assign the ranks of senior officers to priests, and their assistants to sergeants. If so, then it is completely unclear on what basis these titles will be awarded, whether the representatives of the Church will take the military oath, to whom they should obey - the hierarchy or the military authorities.

Further, as Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov said, the army will need 3,500 priests, while now there are just over 15,000 of them in the Russian Orthodox Church. And it seems to me very problematic to remove three and a half thousand priests from parishes and send them to military units. Moreover, such a priest must have a very deep special training for missionary and educational work in a military unit. In addition, there is a need to create programs, methodological and teaching aids, to develop courses for the training of military priests, after which they would be able to work in the troops.

Those who have dealt with the structures of the armed forces understand that there are several levels in the army. It is one thing to work with the rank and file, another thing with junior officers (they are young). And it is quite another thing with the senior officers, where people who are established, as a rule, family, who have a great length of service and work experience, serve. Obviously, the approach to these audiences should be fundamentally different. This means that such preparation is also required. It is also very important to consider how to make sure that the regimental priest does not appear to be in opposition. Or, so that the officer environment does not turn out to be in opposition to him. Which is also understandable, since until now they lived and worked as they were taught, but suddenly a new face will appear in the unit, which will say things that are unusual for them.

Moreover, in order to perceive what you are told about faith, you need the desire to believe. What if there is no desire? Obviously, a very serious revision of the entire existing system of curricula and higher military educational institutions will be required so that the graduates of these institutions can be kindly and deeply perceive what the regimental priest will come to them with. To be like-minded people, not opponents.

The next thing to note is that the scope of the priest's efforts is important. In Orthodoxy, the center of gravity lies on the service and on the Sacrament. Educational work is very important, but at first glance it is secondary, since it directly depends on the liturgical life. And in order to establish a liturgical life in parts, a lot of time is needed.

Further, it is necessary to think about allocating personal time for soldiers, officers who will have a desire to turn to the regimental priest. And here, too, a lot of preparatory work must be carried out so that the servicemen in the army respond in the same way as they responded in the time of Suvorov and Kutuzov. And even earlier, in the time of Dmitry Donskoy, when it was obvious to everyone that without the help of God it was impossible to achieve any success, and they went into battle, overshadowed by banners, icons.

Therefore, it seems to me that there should be a program on a national scale, and not just the Ministry of Defense or other power ministries, and not only the Russian Orthodox Church. Because the work of a very wide range of high-level specialists is required in order to revise and supplement the educational work and the requirements for the education that is given to those who enter military educational institutions. And here we must be prepared for the fact that a lot of difficulties will arise: someone will not want to study these subjects, someone will say that he considers himself to be a different religion or denomination.

It is also worth mentioning that the question will immediately arise very sharply that if Orthodox priests are allowed to serve in the army, it will be necessary to allow the clergy of other religions to serve as well. Then it is impossible to exclude the possibility that representatives of other religions will join the army. For example, Protestants, who have great material resources, but are alien to the spiritual traditions of our people. This can have a severe negative impact on the psychological structure of military personnel, cause rejection, and a wave of discontent is already against any introduction, including Orthodox priests.

So the question of regimental priests is a delicate problem that needs to be solved very delicately, without offending the feelings of believers and non-believers. And it’s worth immediately identifying what difficulties and obstacles we will have to face and how to overcome them.”