Capacity to act on God - BBC

the Russian Orthodox Church in the person of Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin offered his recipe for reform of Sciences, including the introduction of scientific criteria for disability. Will the church itself to participate in the development of the criteria and testing for compliance with them is not yet clear. But, as recent events have shown, it is realistic. Churchman said that the ROC has long worked with the scientific community and often finds common ground.

Public Chamber member and head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin has stated its position on the future reform of the RAS. “Science must remain independent, it should not turn into something that would be assessed only in terms of immediate commercial or political gain,” – said the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The priest noted that changes are needed in the administrative part of the scientific community.

«Administrative positions in science involve not only the administration, but also the efficiency of scientific activity, and some people occupying these positions do not publish articles that hardly stand, some of them hardly anyone you know, “- said Chaplin.

In this regard, he suggested that consideration be given to “introduce criteria for viability science leaders, those who took in the Academy of Sciences and its institutions responsible positions».

Who exactly would develop these criteria and who would be engaged in the observance of conformity to them, Fr did not elaborate. Just like that, the church is planning to participate in any incarnation of this idea. But, given the current realities of Russian life, such an initiative could open new perspectives to the church for the development of Russian science.

Recently, the church is increasingly present in the life of society, including in the field of science. In October last year ROC debut in the National Research Nuclear University MEPI opening the chair of theology. Home theological education in an environment of nuclear physicists laid chairman of the department for external church relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Previously, he attended a meeting of the Academic Council of the university, where he said that the introduction of theology in the technical high school students primarily provide all-round development.

The initiative has generated heated debate. Thus, many scientists expressed sharply against the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of a technical college. Head of the department handling the astrophysical observations Physics Institute. Lebedev Sergei Likhachev considered opening the chair of theology in the MEPI political situation, and a graduate of Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, the Institute of Theoretical Physics. Landau Sergei Parkhomenko said that it is contrary to the spirit of the Institute.

«The very essence of science is not to believe in something, and then check it. Students are taught differently. They are taught to experience nature – to try to explain what happened in the experiment. Experiment in the presence of God no one else was able to deliver, – said Parkhomenko “to the Newspaper.” – For the development of science the idea of ??God does not need ».

In turn, the priests say that the opening in the department of theology MiFi well within the European educational tradition. “This chair is at the Sorbonne and other universities around the world – said the rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Khokhlov Alexei Uminsky. – It is visited and agnostics, atheists and believers. It has the same practical use as another discipline ».

Example

MEPI this summer followed and the Russian Federal Nuclear Center (Russian Federal Nuclear Center) in Sarov. There will be established a scientific and spiritual center at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, and of the Holy Dormition Monastery. Negotiations on the establishment of the center are Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepac, Deputy Agriculture Minister Igor Manylov, head of the Patriarchal protocol service Archpriest Andrey Milkin, deputy chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church Igor Philistines, mayor of Sarov Valeri Dimitrov and representatives of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center.

Representatives of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center so far refrained from commenting, but the Russian Orthodox Church reported that in the scientific and spiritual center will host conferences and other events to promote dialogue between the scientific community and the church.

However, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told “Gazeta.ru” that the course of the interaction of scientists and the church – it’s not the latest innovation of the ROC, and has long been a working model. “The relations between the Russian Orthodox Church with the learned world have always been very intense since the 1990s. We have joint projects, such as the Orthodox Encyclopedia, there is an ongoing dialogue, debates, in which we are involved – said Chaplin. – The Church and science often speak in unison relative to the many problems of the country and the world, whether it’s outlook for the global economy, environmental issues, the development of many aspects of science or philosophy. So the dialogue is intense ».

According to the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society, initiated a dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church scholars, not as representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.

former rector of St. Peter and Paul church of the village of Pavlovsk Domodedovo district priest Dmitry Sverdlov, banned in the service for five years, believes that the trend of dialogue between the scientific community and the ROC still early. “It is not clear, it will be a dialogue, or just the fact of presence” – said Swerdlow. Father Dmitry suggested that such attempts interaction of church and science can be aimed at to remove unreasonable distance between the church and the community.

«In the last three or four years, much has been done to the clergy were present in society. This often took the form of an ugly, – said the priest. – All depends on the performers. Overall performers is not very high, to say that this project would have a significant progress ».