In society

Baptize and enlighten?

September 22, 2010 Alexey Makarkin

On June 24, 2010, the department of religious education and catechesis issued a document entitled " On the Organization of Catechism of the Russian Orthodox Church ." Its main section is devoted to one of the most pressing and controversial church problems - preparation for baptism.

It is supposed to introduce the institute “announcement” into the usual practice of the Church - the procedure for preparing for baptism, adopted in the ancient church, but usually ignored in modern parish practice. In ancient times, people usually came to church at a conscious age and listened, as they would say now, a special course of lectures dedicated to the basics of creed. Later, when the vast majority of the baptized ones began to make up babies, and parents raised children in the Christian faith, this practice was forgotten. Now adults often come to church, who, however, in some temples offer only to pay a certain amount and not to be late for the beginning of the rite. It is clear that many baptized ones in this way no longer cross the threshold of the church, and if they come, then only to put a candle “for health” or “for the rest” and immediately retire.

The church authorities do not like this situation. Therefore, the document of the Synodal Department is proposed to be announced with all adults and children over 12 years old who want to be baptized. The exception is only special cases: for example, if death threatens the baptized person. Forms and timing can be different, but the necessary minimum is provided - “conducting two preliminary conversations that orientate the disconnection in the basic concepts of Christian morality, Orthodox creed and church life, and aimed at strengthening His faith and his readiness to change their life for Christ.” The document says that "in the period between the conversations, independent spiritual work is assumed : reading the gospel, gaining experience in personal prayer and feasible participation in the liturgical and church-communal life of the arrival." Thus, the baptized person must at least once attend worship and read at least a few pages from the New Testament. Note that we are talking about the minimum requirements. In parishes where favorable conditions are created, it is advisable to increase the level of minimal requirements for the announced.

If the provisions of the issued document become a rule for the entire church, this means a fundamental change in the approach to its replenishment by new members. The place of quantitative indicators should take qualitative ones. The problem is how much the church is now ready for such changes.

On the one hand, it is clear that a person who was baptized formally and does not know the main provisions of the creed cannot be a support of the church. It is not surprising that the most active clergymen are trying to accept only those people who have at least elementary training to the church, which allows them to think that they made a conscious choice. Among them, both “liberals” and “conservatives” are compulsory catechization since the 1990s have been adopted in the community of Priest George Kochetkov (then deprived of the arrival in Moscow due to conflict with traditionalists) and other “liberal” parishes. And last year, in the Yekaterinburg diocese, headed by the far from liberal Archbishop Vicenty, the local missionary department developed a “brief presentation of the basic principles of preparing laity for baptism” and a thematic complex of 12 announcing conversations with those who wish to be baptized, which is mandatory.

On the other hand, there are several problems that prevent the spread of catechization. Sometimes they reach considerable acuteness and lead to conflicts. Just in the Krasnoyarsk diocese, there was a scandal directly related to the problem of catechesis before baptism. Archbishop Anthony fired from all posts the head of the diocesan missionary department of Archpriest Gennady Fast for adhering to the same catechization principles that are offered by the Synodal Department.

Perhaps the most obvious reason for the situation is the lack of a tradition of announcement in the Russian Church. However, in tsarist Russia, Orthodoxy was a state religion, adults rarely baptized (usually if it was a transition from the non -Christian denomination) and this was preceded by catechization - albeit the most elementary. As for the Soviet Union, in it the very fact of a decision on baptism at a conscious age was a demonstration of faith in the country with an official atheistic ideology.

The second argument is against catechization: since baptism is mandatory for saving the human soul, then any risk that increases if the baptism is postponed - what if a person dies during the announcement? This argument is not only logical, but also emotional character and greatly acts on the feelings of believers. At the same time, there is another possible approach, characteristic of the psychology of religious people who can be formulated extremely briefly: "Everything is done by the will of God."

The third problem is associated with the specific features of modern Russian parishes, including their material interests - whatever you say, mass baptism is beneficial. On the other hand, priests loaded with services and numerous trebies (sanctify an apartment, car, etc.) do not always have time for classes. In addition, not all priests have sufficient qualifications, many are not used to clarifying the issues of doctrine in individual conversations - for some even pronouncing ordinary preaching is a difficult task. And the arrival itself is often deprived of cohesion and serious organization, except for a small “asset” (this is not only neglect of specific clergy, but also the objective problem of modern “atomized” society). Hence the rejection of new ideas on a significant part of the clergy - however, it usually has a “quiet” character, few people want to go into conflict.

The fourth problem is already associated with the characteristics of the announced. Modern Russians often do not perceive the coming to the church as additional work associated with the need to learn something else (at least minimally). Therefore, the church can really lose many neophytes, but only from among those for which baptism is not a conscious choice.

In any case, the emergence of a document of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechization indicates that the decision of the issue of the official introduction of the announcement reaches the “finish line”. It can take place already at the nearest bishop's cathedral, which will be held in February 2011. Perhaps the final solution of the solution will be compromised in nature, taking into account the opinion of the opponents, but its main parameters are likely to include expanded catechization to baptism compared to the current.

Author - First Vice President of the Center for Political Technology