The conference “Transformation of the Christian worldview in the modern world: dialogue of churches and the legacy of the Second Vatican Council” was held in Moscow

18 February, the Institute of Europe RAS hosted an international scientific and practical conference "Transformation of the Christian Worldviews in the Modern World: Dialogue of the Churches and the Legacy of the Second Vatican Cathedral". Conference organizers, Catholic Institute of St. Thomas and the Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the IE RAS proceeded from the fact that understanding the new role of the Church in modern society was largely laid down in the decisions Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). This council predetermined the future development of the Catholic Church in various spheres - social, cultural, sphere of inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue (at the Council 16 documents were adopted: 4 constitutions, 9 decrees and 3 declarations). Now, after the meeting of Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis, there were prospects further development of this dialogue - between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox church. The participants of the conference considered these perspectives from different angles.

The meeting began with a greeting from the director Institute of Europe RAS Alexei Gromyko and Apostolic Nuncio in Russia Archbishop Ivan Yurkovych. The meeting was chaired by the leading researcher of the Institute Europe Roman Lunkin.

Professor of Pontifical Oriental Institute and Counselor of the Pontifical Congregation of Saints. O. Germano Marani stopped in his report on the main thing, on his view, the achievement of the Cathedral - it formed a new attitude towards man, a view on a person as a person who is worthy of respect. Attention to the individual inextricably linked with works of mercy. From now on, the emphasis on mercy and humanity is woven into Christian anthropology and central for the path of the church becomes the importance of man, emphasized Fr. Germano. Dad Francis continued and developed this tradition - he calls for compassion and empathy. Do not be afraid of feelings and tenderness, says the Pope, because from this a culture of reconciliation is born. Meeting of Patriarch Kirill with the Pope of Rome, thinks about. Germano, too, can bring abundant fruits of mercy.

Chapter Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the IE RAS Anatoly Krasikov, a witness of the Second Vatican Council (it was his first foreign business trip as a TASS correspondent), noted that history repeats itself: at the beginning of the Council, the Caribbean crisis broke out, now, when there was a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis, the situation in the world too extremely tense, there is a steady slide towards war. fifty years ago church leaders played a large role in finding a compromise. Now when The United States lifted sanctions on Cuba, we can finally say that the crisis is final completed. And not the last role in this was played by Pope Francis, who visited in the fall 2015 first Cuba and then the USA. Community of Saint Egidio, Italian peacekeeping and charitable organization, for many years contributed to to ensure that the meeting between the pope and the patriarch takes place. In autumn 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion noted her work and the direct role of her leader, Dr. Andrea Riccardi, by the fact that he presented him with an honorary doctorate from the General Church postgraduate and doctoral studies of the Russian Orthodox Church. It would be nice if would religious leaders join in the search for a compromise in the current confrontation between Russia and the United States, Krasikov believes. Patriarch Kirill, speaking about the visit to Cuba, admitted that he put this problem before the pope. Pope Francis in his speeches also touched on the topic of confrontation and spoke of the need stop the escalation of aggression. It allows only a peaceful solution to the problem, for, in his opinion, nothing can be stopped by bombardments. Position of the Catholic the church is quite clear here, Krasikov emphasized, but the Russian Orthodox the church still needs to "think very, very much" in order to understand how to act, so that the worst does not happen.

Representative Department for Relations with Religious Organizations of the Moscow Government Anton Ignatenko supported Anatoly's idea Krasikov on the desirability of involving religious figures in the decision peacekeeping problems, because, as it seems to him, they have a great peacemaking experience. At the end of October, he shared information, in Moscow It is planned to hold an international summit in support of persecuted Christians.

Supervisor project "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Religious Life" Sergei Filatov in his report "Second Vatican Cathedral: Marriage to Modern Society or Divorce from Secular Power? concentrated on the change of priorities of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. key document of the Council, among a fair number of others, he considers the Declaration on freedom of religion, which recognized the need for freedom in the work of salvation, the right of every person to hold any religious belief or not stick to none. This document radically changed the atmosphere in the church, where from now on it was not the demand for strict adherence to church teaching that dominated, but freedom in spiritual quest, not blind worship of the hierarchy, but free, voluntary recognition of authority. If in pre-conciliar times for the Vatican the main topics were the protection of the corporate interests of the church, support for family morality and the state in the face of the army, then 10-15 years after the Cathedral to replace peacekeeping came to militarism, the problems of mercy and social assistance, the role of the laity increased, the church spoke of the need protection of the poorest segments of the population.

Awareness this freedom had a variety of consequences for many aspects of life, but the most the obvious consequence of these decisions, in Filatov's opinion, is the collapse of all dictatorial regimes in countries dominated by the Catholic Church. This is very revealing evidence of how the church is able to change the worldview of people. After 15 years, there was not a single Catholic country left that did not democracy would have won and ideas about civil rights and freedoms, stressed the religious scholar.

On at first glance it may seem that the Russian Orthodox Church is going to opposite direction, he noted, but if you look carefully, how the church life develops, you can see that in our believers features appear that give hope for a similar turn in the coming years. 10 years. Yes, the Russian Church now supports the authorities in almost everything and stands for what the Catholics stood for before the Second Vatican, nevertheless the experience Soviet years makes both the parishioners and the church leadership understand that hope for power is very fragile, that a change in the political vector in any moment can put the church in a precarious position. Here it is very significant the example of Ukraine, Filatov believes: the social concept of the ROC is preferable system for our state calls the monarchy, however, when in Ukraine fermentation began, none of the members of the UOC-MP even remembered this. none of of the churches there did not come out for a symphony with power, everyone accepted democracy and freedom. In the same way, “symphonies” will be easily abandoned in Russia, if there are prerequisites for that, the religious scholar is sure.

Graduate student Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Noskov devoted his report to how the issue of migrants and migration. Migration to Europe has always been, since 1952 the attitude towards The problem is regulated by the document “Families in Exile” adopted by the Vatican, prescribing an "open door" policy. However, in the last few years, Since the Arab Spring, the picture has changed dramatically: the number of people wishing to get into The European Union is constantly growing. Pope Francis, himself from an immigrant family, supports policy of multiculturalism, believing that it promotes brotherhood between people. At the same time, missionary work among migrants in the Catholic Church is accepted practice with the greatest care: if a person expresses a desire, you can to acquaint him with the Gospel, but in no case should anything be imposed in order to not push people away from Christianity. 2015 was a turning point for migration processes - the influx of refugees into Europe turned out to be such that society became rapidly spread anti-immigrant sentiment, flourished the corresponding rhetoric and even the church was accused of irresponsibility. the Vatican in response somewhat corrected his position, stating that the crisis should not affect European life. However, Pope Francis has not for a moment relaxed his calls for mercy and asked each parish to accommodate at least one family in its church refugees. In addition, he turned to other churches with a proposal to solve this problem. problem together and cooperate more fully to help refugees more efficient.

Toy the same topic of migration and migrants was the subject of a report by a researcher from Università degli Studi di Napoli - L'Orientale, a member of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, representative of the Community of St. Egidius in Russia, Alessandro Salacone. He recalled that during the Second Vatican a subcommittee was formed to adopt a document on migrants, - that is, even then migration was perceived as one of the important world phenomena. And this is not surprising, since in the 50-60s of the last century up to 60 million of Italians emigrated to the United States - the numbers are much higher than the current ones, stressed Salakone. Nevertheless, even now this topic is one of the key ones.

New the approach of the Catholic Church to the topic of migration is a personal approach: migration is a question not only of social organizations, but also of the personal relationship of each. A migrant is not only a social problem, but a living person with a head and a heart. AND this is not only a problem, but also an opportunity. Testing the ability to integrate people into one body of the church. Testing the ability to live in a multi-confessional environment - Salacone noted that in Europe, in Italy in particular, there are now no only Muslim, but also numerous Orthodox communities. And if it's right approach the issue of migration, this paves the way for a meeting with another culture. The Church, from its inception in the Middle East, has never existed in a monocultural environment. Many express concerns about influx of Muslims into Europe. However, the future of Christianity in Europe does not depend on migrants, he is convinced, but from the strength of the faith of Christians, from their desire to live according to the Gospel. And any closed place sooner or later begins to stink of mold. It's in full applies to countries as well.

Dad Francis is sure that all the fears associated with migration are the fear of terrorism, the fear Islamization of Europe - stem from the inability to cope with common problems of globalization. International cooperation is needed, the spirit of deep solidarity and integration. The Church offers a new paradigm to address this problem that will give new energy and new value to the European continent.

Senior Research Fellow, Center for the Study of Problems Religions and Society IE RAS Veronika Yazkova touched on in his speech on the topic of the attitude of the Catholic Church to new technologies. If before the Second Vatican Council, Catholics considered it their duty to carry out vigilant moral control over progress, then the conciliar Decree on technology, asserting the right of everyone to be informed about the events in the world, recognizes that many achievements of progress are useful for man and expand the space sermons. Authors should only do their duty - avoid undermining morality.

Roman Lunkin tried to compare social messages of Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis. He noted that in rhetoric patriarch and pope in relation to the activity of the laity, the development of communities and the parish activities, missionary work and evangelism have much in common. Especially a lot of these topics Patriarch Kirill speaks at diocesan meetings of the capital's clergy, as Bishop of Moscow.

However, for similar the different perception of the world and society by Cyril and Francis stands in words. Patriarch does not trust society, the pope bases his preaching on trust. Cyril considers democracy is a sin, Francis and the Catholic Church believe that democracy provides freedom to a person and personality, which is a Christian value. The Vatican and Francis accept the world as it is, in the encyclical Laudate Si the world is a common home. In Evangelii Gaudium's software encyclical, the main theme is dialogue with everyone, even with critics of the church, the destruction of walls and boundaries, as noted Francis before meeting with the Patriarch.

For Kirill there is a monolithic Orthodox Russian world, and everything beyond its borders - hostile. Therefore, after meeting with the Pope, Cyril became interested in geopolitics and declared, that it is necessary to build a new global civilization based on traditional values, instead of the current immoral one.

Nevertheless, Roman Lunkin believes that the meeting with pope will inevitably contribute to the transformation of the Russian world into a more European, will include it in the general Christian orbit. This means that its gradual democratization is inevitable.