His Holiness the Patriarch awarded winners of the All-Russian Theology Competition
On November 30, 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill met with the winners of the I and II All-Russian Theology Competitions taken among final year students of theological schools and theological university departments.
At the meeting there was the Metropolitan of the Voskresensk Gregory, Manager of the Moscow Patriarchate Affairs, Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, V.V. Kipshidze, Deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and Media.
There were also winners and runners-up of this and the previous year.
All-Russian Olympiad in Theology 2022:
1st place - Deacon Evgeny Timofeev (St. Petersburg Theological Academy);
II place - Reader Nikolai Stolyarov (PSTGU), Reader Mark Syskin (Perervin Theological Seminary);
III place - Reader Fyodor Anokhin (Saratov Theological Seminary), Maxim Talimonchuk (Sretenskaya Theological Academy);
All-Russian Olympiad in Theology 2023:
I place - Reader Ilya Cherkashin (Moscow Theological Academy) (in 2022 he took the third place);
2nd place - Priest Peter Gevuryan (Ryazan Theological Seminary, now - Master's student at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy); Deacon Andrey Elizarov (St. Petersburg Theological Academy);
III place - Priest Vladimir Shlychkov (Tambov Theological Seminary), Deacon Ilya Sokolov (Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary), Deacon Dionisy Lapin (Kostroma Theological Seminary).
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill greeted the participants.
Archpriest Maxim Kozlov spoke about the importance of such events and congratulated winners and prize-winners.
Then Patriarch Kirill talked with students and answered their questions.
In turn, they shared their impressions of their studies.
In conclusion, the students demonstrated to His Holiness how the inspection of the Educational Committee takes place answering a number of questions from Archpriest Maxim Kozlov.
The Chairman of the Educational Committee cordially thanked His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for the meeting.
His Holiness gave each student an icon of the Savior with the Patriarchal blessing, his books “Dialogue with History” and “Seven Words about the Russian World,” as well as medals commemorating the meeting with the Primate.
Background information:
In 2022-2023, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, together with the Patriarchal Council for Culture, organized two All-Russian Olympiads in Theology among graduate students of theological schools and theological departments of Russian universities.
At the beginning of 2022, the first regional round took place. There were at about 100 representatives of theological academies, seminaries and theological departments of state universities, where church accreditation took part. Each school could submit up to 3 works that passed an internal selection. The expert group of the Educational Committee selected 50 works, the authors were invited to the church-wide stage. To ensure objectivity, evaluations of the competitors’ work were sent to the experts anonymously and each of them was checked by 3 experts.
The final church-wide stage was held during the Holy Week on April 27-29, 2022 within the walls of the Sretenskaya Theological Academy. The program consisted of two parts such as writing an essay and test tasks.
As a result of the Olympiad, a resolution was received from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to organize a church-wide Theology Competition among final year students of theological schools and theological departments of universities on a regular basis.
In 2023, the Olympiad was held according to the scheme that had been worked out and showed itself well in the previous year. Students works were presented for evaluation by an expert committee. The winners of the first round were invited to Moscow for the final stage of the Olympiad, which took place during the Holy Week, on April 19-21, within the walls of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies.
The regional stage of the 2024 Olympiad will begin in December 2023, the church-wide stage is planned to take place at the Moscow Theological Academy on March 11-15, 2024.
Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia/MThA Press Office