New bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church will teach jurisprudence and economics

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill performed on June 15 at a meeting of the Supreme Church Council in Moscow. He stated that the Russian Orthodox Church will pay special attention to continuing education courses for the heads of newly created dioceses. Among other things, Orthodox hierarchs will be introduced to the economy and jurisprudence.

The question of courses was posed due to the fact that the last few years of the Russian Orthodox Church has been pursuing a policy to disaggrade large dioceses and the appointment of new bishops. To date, 225 dioceses operate in the Russian Orthodox Church (by the beginning of 2009 there were 159 of them). Of these, in the territory of the Russian Federation - 124 diocese, while in early 2009 there were 69 of them, RIA Novosti reports.

“It is very important to simultaneously develop a qualification system within the framework of our general church graduate school, conduct thematic multi -day seminars, helping the bishops master those knowledge that are not theological, but which are categorically necessary in modern conditions for church administration,” Patriarch Kirill emphasized.

He explained that "we are talking about legal and financial training," since "we live today in a state where the legal field is strengthened, where more and more people are aware of the categorical need to act strictly in accordance with the laws." Patriarch Kirill is convinced that the church in this regard should show an example.

"The episcopate should be quite aware of the basic legal problems that exist in the field of church-state and church-public relations, and of course, must have a clear understanding of the financial and economic side of church affairs so that the church can be an example of openness, clarity and accuracy in this area," added the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to him, the reform of the church administration, which includes the creation of small dioceses and the purpose of new bishops, is carried out so that the heads of dioceses to actively participate in the life of church communities.

Patriarch Kirill also noted that one of the meetings of the Supreme Church Council could soon take place in the new Patriarchal and Synodal Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church in Gelendzhik, which officially began work in early June.

“This is a good building for the administrative work of the Church, for transferring part of the functions of the Moscow Patriarchate to the south of Russia. Taking into account our huge spaces, I believe that the Patriarch should not always be in Moscow - this gives the Patriarch to be closer to the dioceses,” the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted.