Support a seminary, keep it open

(ACN) - Immediately after the October Revolution in 1917, holy icons were burned, sacred vessels were desecrated, crosses were torn down from the steeples, and church bells were smashed to pieces on the ground... Communist mobs stood round mocking, while horrified Christians knelt on the bare earth, crossing themselves and begging God's mercy. Countless churches were dynamited, or else turned into movie theatres, clubs or storerooms and a bloody persecution of Christians broke out in what had once been Holy Russia. Tens of thousands of bishops, priests, monks, nuns and laity paid with their lives for their faithfulness to Christ.

But God is the Lord of history, and today, over 90 years after the October Revolution, the bells in Russia ring out once more, the monasteries are full, and the faithful flock into the newly opened churches. Priests again celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of Christ, hymns ascend to the rooftops along with the incense, and the Orthodox faithful stand patiently, lining up for hours to venerate the holy relics and icons that for centuries were always a source of consolation and help to the Russian people.

As everywhere in the modern world, however, the Church in Russia still faces many social challenges. This makes the training of her future priests vitally important, as they have to proclaim the gospel in the complex modern world. Many people have a deep interior yearning for God, yet know little or nothing about the faith of the Church. Good priests are needed to instruct these seekers in the faith.

The present Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is particularly concerned about young people, and so priests have to learn new approaches to reach these youth, whose parents were brought up in atheism. This means that priests have to be solidly rooted in the traditional faith of the Church, yet able to appreciate the language, needs, questions and interests of the young.

Thankfully, the seminaries are full. In Smolensk, 105 young seminarians are preparing for ordination. The city of Smolensk, first mentioned in historical documents in the year 863, lies in the west of the country, not far from the frontier with Belarus. ACN has been supporting the seminary here, reopened in 1988, since the early 1990s.

Prior to the Russian Revolution, Orthodox priests had been trained in Smolensk for over 200 years. After the collapse of Communism, the Church was given back a totally ruined and run-down building; work on rebuilding the seminary had to start almost from scratch. Its former rector, Archpriest Viktor Savik, who visited ACN's international headquarters in Königstein in 2006, told us then that without the support of ACN's benefactors, the seminary would likely have closed again. Our help was "a veritable rescue campaign during the darkest years."

Now his successor, Archpriest Georgij Urbanovich, faces a new challenge. To improve the training of priests, Orthodox theological training throughout Russia will be standardized. Each seminarian must now study for five years before he can be admitted to the priesthood. Currently 25 academic staff in Smolensk are engaged in the formation of these young men.

The good fruits of this aid are already apparent, since for some years now there has been an excellent level of collaboration between the Russian Orthodox and the Catholic Church, including joint initiatives, campaigns and reciprocal invitations. Many former seminarians, whose studies ACN's benefactors helped to support, now work as priests and see it as quite natural to be working together with Catholics.

The Russian Orthodox Church shares a great deal in common with the Catholic Church, including the Sacraments, the apostolic Faith, the veneration of Our Lady and a great many of the saints, as well as underlying Christian values, such as the Christian view of man and the respect for human life. Orthodox and Catholic Christians can speak with one voice when it comes to the fight against abortion, for example, the defense of Christian marriage and the family and many other similarly important issues.

Young, well-trained Orthodox priests, who see Catholics as brothers and sisters, are helping to bring us ever closer together. In Russia, where Catholics make up only a small minority, the Orthodox priests whom we have helped often prove to be valuable helpers in regard to the Catholic communities as well. ACN has promised another $8,800 for these future priests. Will you donate so that this Orthodox seminary can flourish in Russia?