Saransk hosts a Christian Youth Forum held under the aegis of the Christian Inter-confessional Consultative Committee (CICCC)

DECR Communication Service, 23.07.2022.

On July 19-22, Saransk hosted a Youth Forum on ‘Christian Youth in Media Space’. The event was organized under the aegis of the Christian Inter-confessional Consultative Committee (CICCC).

The participants received a video-address from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

At the opening of the forum the youth were addressed by Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia; A. A. Zdunov, head of the Republic of Mordovia; Bishop Seraphim of Istra, chairman of the Synodal Youth Department of the Russian Orthodox Church; Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), CICCC secretary and secretary of the DECR; as well as representatives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, the diocese of Russia and Novo-Nakhichevan of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Russia, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Ingria, the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, and the Church of Christians-the Seventh Day Adventists.

The forum brought together over seventy representatives of Christian confessions from twenty regions in Russia and other countries. The aim of the event is to offer the Christian youth a platform for dialogue and discussion on Christian presence in the internet.

The Russian Orthodox Church took part in the organization of the event through its Department for External Church Relations, Synodal Youth Department, and the Diocese of Saransk with the support of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia.

In the course of the forum, its young participants met for a discussion on the forum’s theme with Bishop Seraphim of Istra, Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), A.N. Khudoleyev, executive secretary on information support of the Presidential Council on Inter-Ethnic Relations and expert of the Federal Agency on Youth Affairs; Ms. Ye. V. Voloshina, head of the communication department of the Russian Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), and S. M. Sashliev, an author of the Seraphim YouTube channel.

The participants visited religious and cultural sights in Saransk, among them the Cathedral of St. Righteous Warrior Fyordor Ushakov, the church of Ss Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles, the Evangelical-Lutheran Parish of Velmema, the Mordovian Regional Museum, the S. D. Erzi Mordovian Republican Museum of Fine Arts and the Saransk Theological Seminary.

During the festive meeting that followed, young people presented media projects they prepared in forum days on various aspects of Christian life. Young representatives of Christian confessions expressed gratitude to Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia for the hospitality and shared their impressions of the forum.

In his turn, the head of the Metropolis of Mordovia stressed the importance of holding such events as they create a healthy platform for communication among young Christians. His Eminence reminded the participants of the special attention given to the forum by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, ‘who as a loving father brings together the Christian youth so that we could meet, think about the destinies of the world, reflect and find the right responses to the challenges produced by today’s life’.

In conclusion, Metropolitan Zinovy presented each participant with a copy of the New Testament in the Synodal version.

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Saransk hosts a Christian Youth Forum held under the aegis of the Christian Inter-confessional Consultative Committee (CICCC)

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons