Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk meets with students of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy
DECR Communication service, 12.06.2025.
Fr om 10th till 11th July the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony visited the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, of which he is a graduate. He was there to attend the final examinations.
On 10th June students in the fourth year of the bachelor’s programme took the final state examination on six foundational subjects which they had studied in their years at the theological and pastoral faculty of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. These subjects were: Old and New Testament Scripture; the history of the Early Church, dogmatic theology, liturgics, and the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The examination required the students to be physically present. It was taken by two parallel commissions. One commission was headed by the chairman of the study committee of the Russian Orthodox Church archpriest Valentin Vasechko. The chairman of the second commission was the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony. Also making up the commission were the Academy rector the bishop of Peterhof Silouan, the heads of departments and teachers of the theological school.
Before the examination began, the rector and chairmen of the commissions welcomed the students, reminded them of the years they had spent studying and hoped that they would worthily demonstrate the knowledge they had acquired.
On the same day in the assembly hall of the Academy students fr om the fourth year at the faculty of church arts studying for church choral art and directing church choirs sat the final exam for choir directing. The exam commission was headed by metropolitan Anthony.
Before the examination, those present were welcomed by the deputy rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy for culture and dean of the faculty of church arts of the Academy Ye. M. Gundyaev. Then the choir directors demonstrated their skills in working with female, male and joint choirs.
In his speech at the end of the examinations the metropolitan reminded the students of the importance for the Church of liturgical singing and also wished the graduates God’s aid in their subsequent ministry in Christ’s Church.
On 11th June within the auditoriums of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy students from the master’s programme of the theological and pastoral faculty underwent state attestation upon completing their studies in the following subjects: Orthodox Bible studies, the history of the Christian Church, Orthodox practical theology and Orthodox dogmatic theology and patrology. They were orally examined on each one of these subjects. Now the students will have to defend their written work for graduation.
The study committee of the Russian Orthodox Church had appointed the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony to head the commission taking the examinations in Orthodox dogmatic theology and patrology. The commission for the subject of the history of the Christian Church was led by candidate of theology and the bishop of Tikhvin and Lodeinopol Mstislav, while candidate of theology archpriest Gennady Bartov took the examinations on the subject of Orthodox practical theology and Orthodox Bible studies.
At the end of the examinations on 11th June metropolitan Anthony met with the students of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. Attending the meeting, which took place in the assembly hall of the Academy, were the Academy rector the bishop of Peterhof Silouan and the dean of the faculty of church arts Ye. M. Gundyaev.
Metropolitan Anthony expressed his joy at once more being able to visit the theological school wh ere he once studied. The metropolitan emphasized that the knowledge that he had acquired here had determined the path of his ministry in the Church, including the Department for External Church Relations.
He spoke about the history and structure of the Synodal department of which he is head and in detail described how affairs stand at the present in the Orthodox world. He also gave a resume of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church and with individual Protestant denominations. After his speech metropolitan Anthony answered questions put to him, some of which touched upon the contemporary situation in Estonia wh ere the state authorities have taken discriminatory measures against the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church.
Bishop Silouan thanked his guest for the excellent lecture, turning the students’ attention to the lofty style of the speaker and its academic nature. The rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy expressed his hope that the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony would visit his alma mater more frequently so that he could share with its students his important knowledge and other interesting information.
In reply metropolitan Anthony thanked the rector for the opportunity of speaking in the assembly hall of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, of visiting its auditoriums and being able once again to feel the spirit of the school in which he was educated.
The bishops then exchanged gifts. The chairman of the DECR was presented with an engraving, while the rector of the Academy was presented with a bishop’s encolpion by metropolitan Anthony.
From the website of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy