Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church take part in Parliamentary hearings

On 20 March 2017, the Parliamentary hearings On Today’s Policy of the Russian Federation Towards Compatriots Living Abroad took place at the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The meeting brought together over a hundred representatives of the Russian-speaking diaspora from 30 countries, including heads and members of the organizations of compatriots, deputies of the State Duma and members of the Russia’s Council of the Federation, representatives of the Civic Chamber and federal ministries and agencies, scholars and experts. Among those in attendance were Mr. Gennady Zyuganov and Mr. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leaders of the State Duma’s factions; Mr. Leonid Kalashnikov, chair of the State Duma Committee for the CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots; Mr. Mikhail Shvydkoy, special envoy of the Russian President for international humanitarian cooperation; Mr. Oleg Malginov, director of the Department for Relations with Compatriots Abroad of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Ms Tatiana Zhdanok, a deputy of the European Parliament.

The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by Archpriest Sergy Zvonarev, secretary for far-abroad countries of the Department for External Church Relations, and Ms Yevgenia Zhukovskaya, a staff member of the Chancellery of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The participants in the meeting discussed such issues as the state policy in respect of compatriots living abroad, the Russian legislation, and the challenges facing representatives of the Russian diaspora in various countries. The proposals were put forward, aimed at improving the situation of compatriots residing in foreign countries, developing the education in the Russian language and providing young compatriots living abroad with the opportunities to study at the Russian universities.

In his address, Archpriest Sergy Zvonarev noted the close historical ties existing between the Church and compatriots living abroad, and dwelt on how the Church takes pastoral care of the faithful in the far-abroad countries. The DECR representative also told those present about the Church’s joint projects with the Rossotrudnichestvo (Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation), aimed at securing the government support for teaching the Russian language, as well as promoting the education in the Russian language at Sunday schools of the Moscow Patriarchate’s institutions abroad. Fr. Sergy expressed his hope that the government agencies would render assistance in broadcasting the church TV-channels and programmes to the compatriots living abroad.

DECR Communication Service

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Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church take part in Parliamentary hearings

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons