“Victory” will have to be paid for with poverty and lost generations.

As a priest and as a citizen, I always receive with pain the news of the death of any person. In this case, Muammar Gadaffi is no exception. A terrible crime was committed, and even if it was a dictator, it is still a lawless murder of a person. If the people of Libya had any grievances against their leader, then in any case a public trial and a public decision on his fate were necessary. But Gaddafi's killers became like himself, who is said to have killed his political opponents.
The war in Libya and Iraq are links in the same chain. This is a Western war for energy resources, an attempt by Western monopolies to establish control over the resources they need for economic development. And it doesn’t matter what the country is called - Iraq or Libya: the principles of action are the same. This is the tragedy for ordinary people.

Ta social system, which was built under Gadaffi, would give a hundred points modern system social security, say, in Russia and in other countries, including NATO countries. A simple search on the Internet will reveal that the average salary of medical and paramedical personnel in Libya with our money was about 30 thousand rubles per month. Each citizen there received a portion of the funds for the energy resources that Libya sold abroad. The state helped ordinary Libyans buy apartments and cars, paying 50% of their cost (75% for military personnel).

Social security and medical care in Libya, education were an order of magnitude higher than in Egypt, Tunisia or Algeria. That is why a huge flow of migrants came to Libya from countries in Africa and the Middle East, without reaching Europe. Libya became a buffer in which it was not the laws of Sharia that were in force, but the relatively strict laws of secular morality.

Happiness and prosperity are not born from war, from blood. And, receiving armed support from Western countries, Libya will pay for this with the poverty of its own people and lost generations that will serve the raw materials of Western monopolies.

Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev

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“He who endures to the end will be saved,” is how the chief priest of the Airborne Forces, Archpriest Mikhail (Vasiliev), a graduate of the department of scientific atheism of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University and the Higher Courses of the Academy of the General Staff, defined the ministry in the video studio of Pravda.Ru regimental priests and all military service. Father Mikhail is a selfless warrior, a participant in more than 30 business trips to hot spots, he went through minefields and artillery shelling.

Chief priest of the Airborne Forces about the army, Russia and faith in God

He believes that only personal example and participation in the daily hardships of army service on an equal basis with the soldiers give him the right to speak to the soldiers about Christ. Only by personal example can one revive the former military spirit and cope with hazing. The army does not tolerate falsehood and hypocrisy. Everything is in plain sight here, especially in airborne units. The priest said it best back in 2007: “The Church has always been a state-forming structure. Today, while preserving the cultural and spiritual identity of the nation in times of global change, it all the more cannot remain outside the process of forming interaction between society and the armed forces.”

— Father Mikhail, is it correct to call you the chief priest of the Airborne Forces?

- No, completely wrong. I am just the rector of the courtyard of His Holiness His Holiness Patriarch at the military command authority, the headquarters of the airborne troops in Sokolniki.

— Do you have several parishes?

— Yes, several churches on the territory of the Airborne Forces, as well as a patriarchal courtyard consisting of two churches at the headquarters of the strategic missile forces.

— You talk about faith in places that are very exotic for ordinary clergy. You have already been on business trips to hot spots more than 30 times.

- I did not count. Yes, they are not that hot, to be honest, not so scary, still, by the grace of God, alive. The devil is not as scary as he is painted, as we know. Secondly, it is absolutely obvious that it is not so easy to hit a person with a piece of iron. There are all sorts of footnotes to the wind and so on. I assure you, in an accident on the roads of a metropolis, an ordinary person has a greater chance of dying than a priest who is not really needed as a target in some place where troops are used.

It's just everyday life. There's nothing special about it. The Airborne Forces are troops for war, and, naturally, if you don’t go on business trips with the guys, work, spread the word of God there, then there is no point... After all, there a soldier can leave the trench and go to an ordinary church.

— In 2007, in the information sheet of the Pskov diocese, you wrote that when you walked through a minefield, you were scared. It’s unlikely that such a risk is comparable to the threat of an accident on the streets of a metropolis, would you agree?

“The mines are placed awry and not very tightly, but in the metropolis people fall into sewer manholes. So, I assure you, this is all mostly an invention of journalists. It's not all that scary and complicated. And the most important thing is that people are all family already, you know everyone. Here is a general, and I remember him as a lieutenant, so many years have passed... Children were baptized together, someone got married... I don’t perceive them as some kind of special people performing special tasks. These are family and friends whom I love and respect, I learn a lot from them, it’s always interesting to me. You will definitely find something new.

I spoke with General Vladimir Ananyevich Danilchenko, Chairman of the Veterans Council Russian Airborne Forces, and he told very interesting things about the commander of the Airborne Forces, General Ivan Igorevich Zatevakhin. It’s just that every day, by the grace of God, some amazing facets are revealed, and I am a curious person, interested in such things.

The commander of the Airborne Forces during the war, Lieutenant General Alexander Grigorievich Kapitokhin, when he was still a student at the cadet school, even before the outbreak of the First World War, spoke with great reverence about the priest who taught the Law of God at this school. They listened to his every word. The general wrote about this in his memoirs in the 50s - that in him moral core This is exactly what the priest laid down.

This was said by the commander of the Airborne Forces - a very worthy person with a very tragic fate. He was unjustly removed from his post because he did not agree in the Dnieper operation on the famous Bukrinsky bridgehead to mediocrely use his landing corps and throw them at a deployed mechanized formation fascist army with a delay - not at once, but in many echelons at equal intervals.

Then (without him), a few hours after the next landing, several dozen transport planes again arrived and unloaded the guys, and the German mechanized columns, which had already reloaded their guns, met them from the ground, and also shot them from the planes.

At the airfields loading our landing force, the Germans even dropped leaflets: “Come on, paratroopers, we are waiting for you.” So, General Kapitokhin tried to get this decision reversed. For this he was due to be shot, but he was simply removed from his post and sent with a demotion to the rear, because his forecasts were completely justified: people died, the tasks were not completed.

In general, the Airborne Forces are qualitatively different from all other branches and types of troops precisely in the airborne brotherhood. I was convinced personally (here is the holy cross) that this is not a beautiful image, but the ability of one to lay down not only his life, but also his reputation, career for another, for the sake of the interests of the community of all paratroopers. During all these recent Russian organizational vicissitudes, for two decades now, Airborne Forces officials have often sacrificed their prospects and shoulder straps, but did not make decisions to the detriment of the troops.

This ability to lay down one’s soul for one’s friends is, of course, a Christian attitude to business. And example is important. It's not "do as I say" but "do as I do." There is an indicator of the number of officers killed in hot spots - it is disproportionately high in relation to the number of soldiers killed. That is, generally the father-commanders go first and are also often the first to die.

The famous general Georgy Ivanovich Shpak’s son Oleg, a young lieutenant, may he rest in heaven, died in Chechnya. It is not customary for us to excuse our sons. Vasily Filippovich Margelov tested the landing system of an airborne combat vehicle on his son. This is in the tradition of more than one generation of troops.

— How are things going with hazing in the army now?

— My opinion will probably not be very representative; I work more with officers now. But after 19 years in the army, I still see that the situation has become much better. This does not mean that a person cannot be injured by some barracks hooligan. Both in society and, accordingly, in its part called the army, there is plenty of everything, including moral monsters. These deformities can appear on the street, in a park, in a subway car, on an electric train - anywhere.

But statistics on injuries, hooliganism and barracks crimes are steadily declining. Here, first of all, great credit goes to the country’s leadership, which is systematically acting in this direction, including by reducing the length of conscription and increasing the number of those who serve in the army under contract.

Now a conscript soldier can no longer be a sergeant. He cannot be a specialist in those positions that require to a large extent professionalism. There remain only positions that do not carry much intellectual load. The army now, as we speak, kindergarten“Parachute” (12 months in total), and the entire main load is borne by contract soldiers, especially in the Airborne Forces.

The homeland is not the architectural buildings in the center of the capital, first of all it is not them, but first of all it is your family, your home, your relatives. That's why we carry out tasks as intended. The main thing is the people themselves, and the people consist of families. If there are normal families, we will have normal conscripts and talented generals. And if we kill children through abortions, refuse to fulfill the task as intended, be it military duty or marital duty, then, of course, there will simply be no future.

Interviewed by Alexander Artamonov

Prepared for publication by Yuri Kondratyev

Konstantin: What to do if you think that there is no God? How to find it? And what to do if you don’t even want to look? Hello, this is the “I DON’T BELIEVE!” program. Hello, dear friends. Maxim, you are a blogger and the creator of a very large community in social network, which is called “Atheists”.

Maxim Demakh: Yes, that's right.

Konstantin: What was the meaning and idea of ​​​​creating a community on this basis? Are you missing something from some community of atheists around you?

Maxim: Well, you need to understand, first of all, that this community was created, if I’m not mistaken, about six or seven years ago, when such a community format as a public page had just appeared on this social network.

Konstantin: Were times different?

Maxim: Times were different and then, in principle, there were no communities of atheists and, in principle, there were no ideological communities, differentiated by philosophical, religious, political views, there was nothing like that. So, and, accordingly, as I was already quite clearly aware of myself as an atheist at that moment, I wanted to find like-minded people and so...

Konstantin: That is, it was important to establish ourselves in this atheistic worldview, which...

Maxim: No, well, not really, I already suspected that I was not the only one. Find like-minded people, gather them, create some kind of circle of people thinking in the same direction.

Konstantin: It’s more or less surprising to me that if believers want to talk to someone about their faith, it turns out that an atheist wants to talk to someone about their atheism, to communicate somehow?

Maxim: Well, we are talking not so much about atheism, but about some new scientific discoveries, in principle, about various sciences. About some social issues in which atheists and believers collide, which, in principle, modern world happens almost everywhere, etc., etc. That is, some philosophical questions are, of course, also discussed, there... questions of evolution about the creation of the universe, etc. etc.

Konstantin: How many people are in the group now?

Maxim: Well, now it’s about 650,000, give or take.

Konstantin: Well, look, you are a shepherd, for you the existence of a group on social media. a network of more than 600,000 people united by the principle of their disbelief. What kind of phenomenon is this for you? How do you feel about this, how do you look at it?

Father Mikhail: I look at this as an opportunity, first of all. Talk to people who think differently, but for me, for a person who entered the department of then scientific atheism at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University in 1988, for me this is one environment. I was formed in this environment, yes. I still consider many of these respected teachers to be my teachers. And it is quite obvious to me that their atheistic views do not prevent me from still praying for them for good health, and in no way does this mean, don’t think, some kind of pastoral mentoring tone or mockery, well, these are really the people who taught me basics Christian faith. In the first year of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, the kingdom of heaven, Kirill Ivanovich Nikonov, a now deceased professor, performed his funeral service several years ago, and was honored. We were not allowed to take the exam if we could not confidently recite by heart the Our Father, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and explain it by member, at least most fluently. That is, it was simply regardless of ideological positions, simply the information that we were obliged to know already, accordingly, in the very first courses.

Konstantin: Maxim, do I understand correctly that for you in the matter of faith, religion, the acute problem is this, or at least there are thoughts: about where the border is between hallucinations, something so incomprehensible, inarticulate, such bad mysticism , and, in fact, religious spiritual experience, is that how you formulate it for yourself?

Father Mikhail: Yes, but you need to understand that I stand on the position, in principle, of quite simple scientific materialism, and, accordingly, I am superficially familiar, plus or minus, with the work of the brain, so. Accordingly, for me, I have always been very interested in the question when it comes to some revelations, about some kind of spiritual experience, insights, how to distinguish this? After all, all this happens in an individual human consciousness, the subjective perception of an individual person. How to separate this from any malfunction, electrical, chemical, or electrochemical activity of any of the lobes there of the prefrontal cortex, how to distinguish this from the same hallucination, which can be caused either by any substances or by some kind of internal malfunction process work?

Konstantin: Father Mikhail answers.

Father Mikhail: Well, it’s very easy to check. So we will take you and ask ourselves whether there is something here in this wonderful studio electromagnetic radiation? Are there, with a high degree of probability, radio waves from, say, microphones? Any other signals? And can we feel the presence of all these various types radiation without a special device? How do you think?

Maxim: Well, no, of course.

Father Mikhail: Of course. Can we feel the existence of God, the presence of God without a special device? I, in turn, will answer: no, of course. Because such a device is our heart, our free choice. And until the moment we want the Lord to reveal himself to us, he in no way imposes or puts us in a situation of having to believe. As the Holy Scripture says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The Lord God respects our freedom of choice. If you want, no question, Max, you are absolutely free man and we respect your choice. It is stupid to impose on someone a young lady to start a family or worldview, but you need to clearly understand that you are a product not only of some psychosomatic activity of your brain, but also of many people who lived before you. Let's say, in the glorious city of Voronezh, starting from St. Mitrophan of Voronezh, yes, from Peter the First, who once founded a shipyard there for the Azov campaigns. Since this period, many generations of your ancestors lived there, and, probably, we can hypothetically assume that they were not completely hopeless when they chose certain Christian ideologies for themselves, to put it mildly, and, probably, this experience of yours personally ancestors, people who lived before you within the framework of this very Christian worldview context, well, at least, left some imprint on you, were you baptized in childhood?

Maxim: I was baptized as a child.

Father Michael: So, that means I have every reason, like our respected TV viewers, to pray for the servant of God Maxim, so that the Lord...

Maxim: ...But this was not my conscious choice...

Father Michael: ... Wait, the question is that you are still a cross-bearing member of the church, you cannot forbid me to pray for you ...

Maxim: ...No, definitely not...

Father Mikhail: ...So that the Lord God sends you good children, not a bitchy wife, which, by the way, is very much appreciated in general, including in youth subculture, probably, and so that the Lord will gradually reveal himself to you to the extent that he is able to perceive it with your wonderful scientific baggage, that’s all. I’ll pray about it, and you’re a great guy, it’s obvious, especially since you’ve created such a wonderful community. Will you take me there? True, I’m not very good with the Internet, I’ll sign up there.

Maxim: Absolutely, of course, no problem. Our community is open.

Konstantin: How will people in the community react that the priest has come, sorry Father Mikhail.

Maxim: Firstly, they write to me very often, including from actual clergymen, more often, unfortunately, fanatics, very sad, but also often extremely adequate acting priests. And, we have an open list of discussions, so-called, that is, there is a separate forum thread, so to speak, and there are heated discussions going on there all the time, and there are a lot of believers there. That's kind of the beauty of it. Until a certain point, comments were open, until they turned into a completely obscene bacchanalia, unfortunately.

Father Michael: That is, among the 650,000 there are believers in your group?

Maxim: Well, I don’t know if they are subscribed, because a person can come in and participate in discussions without subscribing to the group.

Father Michael: Well, can a believer sign?

Maxim: Anyone can subscribe, of course, a person of any religion, any views.

Father Mikhail: Are there any conditions for entry?

Maxim: No, this is an open community.

Father Michael: So, God forgive me, I shouldn’t spit on the icon in order to join your group?

Maxim: Of course not.

Father Mikhail: That’s it, then I’ll come in, no question.

Maxim: Welcome.

Konstantin: Maxim, well, what are the most pressing topics in a conversation between a believer and a non-believer, according to the experience of your group? What do you personally find most interesting to read?

Maxim: This is the topic of abortion, well, in general, I won’t say anything new now, because these are topics that affect both religious views. This is the topic of abortion, the topic of human origins, the topic of age and the creation of the universe and the earth separately, and everything else is, perhaps, some pressing social issues. This is what is currently at the forefront of discussion.

Father Mikhail: Well, that is, the priests are stupid, the priest is in a Mercedes, there’s something else, right? Does loot conquer evil?

Maxim: Well, there’s something like... promoting religious education in schools...

Father Mikhail: That is, the clericalization of the church, the army, and some others were imposed...

Maxim: ... Well, socialism, in a word, and we are discussing various manifestations of these social clashes.

Father Mikhail: That is, what, unfortunately, in the Christian blasphemy, if I may say so, this very thing looks like an INN, the world behind the scenes, Jewish Freemasons, everything is bad, a gas cylinder, Penza we are saving ourselves.

Konstantin: I hope that there are viewers to whom this means nothing, they are happy and live outside of this context.

Father Mikhail: Well, thank God.

Konstantin: Well, look, important topics have been raised. I might not suggest that you discuss the topic of abortion right now, because the topic is big, painful, and, most likely, you need to ask doctors and women about it, what topic is important to you now, you can contact the priest now with it, maybe suggest discuss.

Father Mikhail: No, don’t worry, you don’t have to contact me, I can contact you myself.

Maxim: I have no doubt. I would like, firstly, to answer about the distinction between spiritual experience and this device, the heart, the soul...

Father Mikhail... In fact, if there is no device, we cannot, I will allow myself, if you allow... yes, that is, if something is not clear in my answer, if I avoided answering, then I am ready...

Maxim: ... No, no, everything is clear to me, I kind of have a further question about it. Well, relatively speaking, how does this or that device work, diagnosing or detecting some kind of wave activity, sound, well, in general, we know how to read any types of waves, at the physical level.

Father Mikhail: To one degree or another.

Maxim: Well, this or that person to one degree or another, etc. At least the designer knows well. Now, when we talk about a materialistic worldview, we cannot talk about the soul, about the heart as an instrument and about divine revelations, try to decompose them into atoms, try to find something inside the heart that captures some other types of energy, Right?

Father Mikhail: You can’t because you don’t want to, that’s the only reason. Nothing interferes with you, you yourself put in certain...

Maxim: ... I mean dissect chest, pull out the heart, dissect the heart...

Father Mikhail: This will not help, at least...

Maxim: ... Well, because, as I understand it, this is simply talking about some kind of transcendental part ...

Father Mikhail: Please tell me, do you have a wife, Max?

Maxim: No, I don’t have a wife.

Father Mikhail: Just imagine a situation by chance, that suddenly you liked some young lady, and you want to see your wife in her, right? That is, to change her social status as a kept woman to a legal spouse for life, to be responsible for her, and not just to take advantage of her while she is young and beautiful, right? Suddenly she gives birth to children, suddenly you randomly give this young lady the opportunity to have a higher social status in the eyes of her girlfriends, nannies in the maternity hospital, and random passers-by. And you could, let’s say, if God forbid, of course, a tram runs over you, inherit the property you have, well, it’s still a trifle, but it’s nice when what’s left of you is not just a suitcase without a handle, right? Well, let's say, an apartment, that helps. So, try to rationally explain to your friends why you chose her. Try to break it down into components and explain the feelings that bind you, but unless, of course, she is a completely successful shareholder of some large joint stock company, which one way or another has some capitalization, everything else is irrational, you must agree.

Maxim: Well, here I partially agree, because we cannot rationally explain why we fall in love with someone. But love has certain period suitability.

Father Mikhail: Wait, so it passes?

Maxim: Falling in love certainly passes. And if after falling in love nothing began, then there is some deeper, stable connecting feeling...

Father Mikhail: ...Okay, I agree. Falling in love as the beginning of a very serious feeling, which we Christians call love, as we say directly in the texts scripture and we know this from divine revelation as the highest virtues and forms of manifestation of feelings towards us, even not only among ourselves but towards God towards us, right? We say that the Lord sent his only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to us on the cross because he loved the world, that is, he loved people. And we are talking about the fact that this is a completely clear, clear and understandable criterion for everyone, I am sure, even for people who, like you, are, say, an agnostic, well, atheism, it seems to me that you are appropriating this term for yourself, rather an agnostic. That is, a person without knowledge and without experience in this transcendental, as you said, sphere, right? But at the same time, behaving very nobly and not denying the possibility of such, well, from your point of view, errors, for example, I have a sick military father, well, you admit it, especially since I’m sitting here?

Maxim: I admit, in principle, everything. The question is the methodology of evidence.

Father Mikhail: Yes, we are talking about the fact that this methodology of proving your feelings, let's call them the first degree of love, or the last respect in many years happy marriage, you have broken down your friends from the same community, your virtual one, well, they are clearly unconvincing, they will find many arguments if this thread in the blogosphere continues, then a lot will become clear that will probably interfere with this mutual happiness, right? Classmates will remember her some peculiarities of behavior, there will be attending doctors who will lay out her diagnoses, add to this girlfriends who know more than she told you and it will turn out that marriage is undermined by this very gnosis - knowledge, to put it mildly, that is, how says the servant of God Ecclesiastes: “knowledge multiplies sorrows,” right? Therefore, let's admit that not everything in this life can be touched with your hands, agree?

Maxim: Bye.

Father Mikhail: Well, what does “for now” mean?

Maxim: Perhaps, well, if we don’t know something, then perhaps we don’t know it just yet.

Father Mikhail: Well, okay, in this case you and I live in time, even though time is a created category, right? And we perfectly understand the limitations, we are in this river of time, even Heraclitus said “abide”, and, therefore, in this system of coordinates: spatial, temporal, right? With, respectively, these leaders, at, respectively, this temperature, with so on, so on, so on, right? And in general in solar system It’s also hard to deny, here we are. So, based on these data, we should try to find, find for ourselves, this equation called “life”, and this question, which is simply formulated meaning, for ourselves, right? And here we should pass by the semantic load of this limited period of time, called “our life,” I say - earthly, you say - the only, real, river of time flows in one direction, right? And the time will surely come when, say, my or your medical record will get fatter, and, accordingly, the time when it will shrink, not a parliamentary expression, will end, right? Earthly life, the sand, will pour out of us or from the clock, but it will also end. And, here, irrational moments already enter, which we call, for example, the history of religion, religious studies, as a discipline where the religious experience of the most different nations, countries We can compare this, we can find commonality and difference in this, but why am I saying all this? To the fact that we do not know, believe me, as a religious scholar in basic education, not a single society, not a single society, not even on the most primitive forms public life, wherever there are no religious beliefs. That is, and in this sense, your community, or your views, we can classify this absolutely correctly as the belief that there is no God. This is the denial of God, it is the same as your faith, the simply postulates of this faith are the scientific limitations of our scientific discourse of this research.

Konstantin: Maxim, would you agree that you believe that there is no God?

Maxim: Well, relatively speaking, we can say that the hair color is bald, for example, right? Etc. This is not a belief in the absence of something. For me, the world looks quite logical, complete and functioning according to fairly understandable principles. basic principles. And, in principle, transcendence for this world, in any of its representations, be it some kind of Hegelian essence unfolding itself in time in history or...

Father Mikhail: ...You behave exactly the same way, so much the worse for the fact, I understood, just like Hegel. I would like to just talk about simple...

Maxim: ...If I may finish?

Father Mikhail: Yes, sorry.

Maxim: Yes, the point is that it is simply not needed. This is just an extra entity, according to the principle of Occam's Razor. Why create an extra entity...

Father Mikhail: ... It cannot exist, it is no longer an entity, if it is an extra entity. So, I’m saying that if there is no evidence base, let’s be consistent in this sense, if there is no evidence base, then your main thesis, that there is no God, remains as unproven as my personal religious experience is destructive for you, not meaningful. And in this sense, you and I are in an equally difficult situation. We find ourselves in a situation where we live in the same time, in the same public education, in one space, and the lack of experience or practical opportunity does not allow, say, you now to prove to me the absence of a creator in our world in every possible way...

Maxim: ... Just like the subjectivity of your experience does not allow me to prove its presence.

Father Mikhail: Of course, that’s why I respect this youthful honesty in you, I’m not afraid of this word.

Konstantin: Translating into ordinary language for us mere mortals, the existence of God can neither be proven nor disproved scientifically. You cannot prove that it exists, you cannot say that it does not exist.

Maxim: I will be very happy if it is proven within the framework of scientific methodology.

Father Mikhail: The fact is that within the framework of the Christian worldview, if as a result of the experiment at the bottom of the test tube there is sediment and God, then there is no most important thing, there is no feat, there is accordingly no merit before God, the very essence of our worldview is eliminated, this is faith. That is, confidence in things invisible. If this thing is visible, then there is absolutely no merit, no labor of achievement, and therefore a failure, Max. And we want everything to be real. Do you know why I became a priest? Not because I had problems with career guidance or, for example, I was hit on the head with a heavy object while studying at the department of scientific atheism.

Konstantin: There were thick books there.

Father Mikhail: Yes, we even had the remains of a library stolen from the Moscow Theological Academy. And delving into these church periodicals and academic publications, which had not yet been republished even in the 80s, I very clearly identified for myself that what they tell us when I was studying as an official, Soviet ideology, atheist, is not convincing , this does not work. Although I studied with straight A's, unfortunately, this did not give me answers to my questions, and when I asked these questions completely honestly and sincerely, being a simple student from the family of a simple Soviet officer, who came from Naryan-Mar, when I asked questions , I was by no means a refined Muscovite, I am from the people. And I’m a completely simple guy, a worker and peasant, I asked questions, I saw that the answers of my senior colleagues were unconvincing, and I was upset, citing the fact that this smacks, how can I put it with permission, in the wrong direction, I think , religious dope. And then I was not baptized, by the way, like probably many at that time. That is, I was baptized consciously, and for me it was completely indifferent, or as they say now - the same, in fact, Christianity, or Buddhism or Judaism, or Brahmanism or Jainism, respectively, but nevertheless, reading books and understanding it, for me it was completely, very quickly, I’ll honestly say that the circle narrowed, and the only question was whether to accept Christ or reject him, for me personally.

Konstantin: Now, if we said that the existence of God can neither be proven nor disproved scientifically...

Father Mikhail: For a person, I emphasize, who does not want this.

Konstantin: Yes, this is exactly what I want to address. Who doesn't want to. It turns out that faith is only an aspect of will and desire? What about those who say “I would like to believe it, but I can’t”? Maybe, I don’t know, Maxim, I probably won’t speak for him here, but if everything is so simple, then why is it so difficult?

Father Michael: There is a possibility and it always remains, we know that there is a possibility of what we call a miracle, right? Are you saying there is a possibility? I say there is. But it's outside of that context, right? That is, beyond the level of our discussion. And in this sense, no one will dare to speak for God, whether the Lord touches Maxim’s heart or not. I already said, I believe and pray that it will affect me, it may not happen, it’s a gift.

Konstantin: So, when Father Mikhail mentioned that you were baptized as a child, you said very so, emotionally, I must say that it was not your choice. This is so important to you that...

Maxim: It doesn’t matter to me at all. Well, a certain... for me it’s just a certain ritual that was performed at an age that I, naturally, do not remember. Because it was there conditionally at the age of up to a year.

Father Mikhail: So your parents raped you?

Maxim: No.

Father Mikhail: Essentially. That is, you have something for them, in this sense, like...

Maxim: ... No, I have absolutely no complaints, because for me this ritual does not carry any sacred meaning. Well, if it helped them at that moment, it somehow calmed them emotionally, they began to sleep better at night, maybe their grandparents felt better.

Father Mikhail: Did you receive communion as a child? Grandparents or parents?

Maxim: I went to church as a child, yes, they took communion, they took communion.

Father Mikhail: Well, thank God, especially since our colleagues and clergy can listen a little for you in these wonderful days before Easter. Listen, please tell me, at some point you...

Maxim: Well, the prosphora wasn’t always tasty, of course.

Father Mikhail: Listen, I assure you that we are not always lucky even with Cahors. Sometimes they tell you something bad, but what can you do, well, that’s life. Girls are different and priests are different.

Konstantin: And Cahors is different.

Father Mikhail: And Cahors is different.

Konstantin: Maxim, as far as I understand, the topic is important for you, for example, and you have already mentioned this in part, about religious education in schools.

Maxim: Yes.

Konstantin: Are you against this?

Maxim: Yes.

Konstantin: Can you explain to us why?

Maxim: I’ll explain. I believe that in school age personality is not yet fully formed. She is plastic, more plastic than at a later age. And she is more susceptible to some kind of suggestions from the outside. Accordingly, I see this as an interference in their ability to make a free choice at a more conscious age, when they have already become at least somehow established as people, as members of society, have gained some knowledge and will be able to make decisions and choose, including a confession, on their own. .

Konstantin: Father Mikhail, what do you think about this?

Father Mikhail: Well, I want to say that there is no subject for dispute here, because apart from confessional educational institutions, well, there is an Orthodox gymnasium or Islamic Midras, or, accordingly, other secondary or primary educational institutions that were not created with budget money by the religious dominations themselves, in Russian Federation, is not taught in schools, that is, it is a threat that is still a phobia. That is, the subject that is taught, say, one quarter or two in the fourth grade, is actually the basis of cultural studies, where they say that St. Basil's Cathedral is a church that was built by such and such an architect, such as Barma and Postnik, and accordingly, there were such and such baths and a cross, which symbolize such and such. But there is nothing there at all, believe me, so far everything is in order, as long as yours are winning in Russia. So far, we cannot break our inertia and return to, even to a small extent, being a clergyman... and, by the way, we are not even allowed to go to schools. And more than once I have had people invite me to school and say: “Father, here you come, yes, we respect your diploma, which gives you the right to teach or give a lecture, but please, in civilian life.

Konstantin: That is, without a cross? Without a cassock?

Father Mikhail: Without a cassock, yes. I never agreed to this, but I said that I am in no way against the teacher’s dress code including, say, a miniskirt. Or some kind of cosmetics, or some kind of jewelry, forgive me, please, let me, a sick university teacher, come with these attributes that... it doesn’t irritate you very much, Maxim, I even asked you?

Maxim: It doesn’t annoy me at all.

Father Mikhail: Yes, that is, there is nothing offensive in it, I can take it off. I wouldn’t want our discourse to be like this...

Maxim: No, the fact is that I have more or less decided...

Father Mikhail: Because I come to schools, I regularly come to schools, for some conversations, for example, in our schools where I visit, in the Moscow region, regularly, I feel my moral responsibility, because they are near my parish, we were faced with the fact that suicide groups had been created on VKontakte, where children, according to a whistle from somewhere on the Internet, took, for example, and inflicted deep cuts on their legs with a razor. And after some time we were faced with what happened, thank God, not in our school, but in others, a whole epidemic of suicides that were controlled, you know, like a joystick.

Maxim: I know, I’m in this topic.

Father Mikhail: So, and, accordingly, I was used as a very local, if you want local anesthesia, means of vaccination against stupidity, and they asked me to talk with the guys. I talked with them, but, believe me, I did not engage in violence against their unformed personality. I just said that in life there is much more interesting and, undoubtedly, useful for you than, accordingly, the virtual space from which you draw these mentoring notes that control your not only today, but also tomorrow, but also always, that's all. But believe me, I try to maintain this opportunity, this is for me as a shepherd, in fact, this is the only thing that is interesting when I do not force anyone with my worldview. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” believe me, if someone tried to agitate me for Orthodoxy, then with a very high degree of probability, in accordance with youthful maximalism, I would say: “Baba Yaga is against it.” Well, thank God, I was formed at a different time, and now, believe me, I take upon myself the obligation not to agitate you either FOR or against the Soviet regime, God forbid.

Maxim: Regarding the fact that while “ours” are winning, I’m not even talking about the fact that now this problem is acute here in Russia. But now it is already being said, firstly, just recently, dear Kirill, it was said that it is necessary to return university priests to universities, as in tsarist times. Such news slipped through, naturally, there was no bill.

Father Mikhail: Not only in tsarist times, in European universities, all of them have, respectively, churches and... let's say, all of them with traditions.

Maxim: Yes, and, again, in most cases this is a tribute to tradition, but not the point. Secondly, with regard to suicide, it is not a priest who is needed, but rather a psychotherapist. And, if a priest can talk to these children who are subject to something... pernicious influence and act as this psychotherapist who will pull them out of this hole into which they are falling, I am all for it, naturally, because...

Father Mikhail: So at least I didn’t sin in this?

Maxim: I am not such a deep apologist as to allow myself to judge who sins and who does not sin in Orthodox Christianity...

Father Mikhail: Well, you are probably in these most remarkable ones, absolutely rightly, in my opinion, and it is very important to say that we do not, very often, correspond to the ideals that we ourselves, accordingly, declare. And, this is a very big problem for the clergy in general and more broadly for us Christians, we often do not live up to those ideals that... well, we realize this and we admit our sinfulness and forgive us for that. In the person of your community, to which I hope I will be included, I will honestly tell you that yes, we are stupid, but we are trying to improve, while we do not cheat on our wife and homeland, we do not drink vodka, but we try to make it as... then everything was not “blah blah blah”, but honestly. That is, here I am, as a priest for twenty years, harnessing myself in a genre that is usually, well, ignored by philosophers, right? This is what is connected with the armed forces of the Russian Federation, sharing with them the simple everyday life of airborne troops, being with them from Bosnia and Kosovo to now, in all hot spots. Trying, indeed, to testify to the truths of Christ where a person is often at the last frontier, in the face real death. Unfortunately, we have killed and wounded, we see before our eyes how a person from a young, strong, healthy person, whose biceps are not like a sparrow’s knee, turns into a load of 200. And it is very painful. And that is why we priests are in the army, in our airborne troops with them. Because we see how quickly it happens, yes, everything is still fine with him, but we know how it happens, so we are with them to support, to avoid if possible, using, including ours, like you say irrational means, such as prayer. Inviting those for whom it is important. So I regularly, before making a jump on an airplane, when the ramp is already opening, I ask: “Who does not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ?” I have not yet met a single person who is already up there, preparing for the jump, who would say, that he doesn't believe. That is, on the ground, they again become agnostics, atheists, and there, when there is no flight attendant, when the Il-76 howler screams so loudly that it is easier to jump out than to stay, when you feel turbulence, the plane is shaking and you understand that this is it, you’re at the last line, somehow your not-so-atheistic worldview contributes to his apologetics, somehow everything just freezes, and then starts up again.

Maxim: Well, of course, this is a normal defensive reaction of the psyche.

Father Mikhail: Do you assume that you will have such a reaction? When you find yourself, for example, under fire from a BM-21, well, in common parlance, “Grad”.

Maxim: In order to understand whether I will have such a reaction or not, I need to come under fire from a BM-21...

Father Mikhail: ...Come with me, you will have a new interesting experience.

Maxim: This is an interesting proposal...

Konstantin: ... There are very important point, as far as I understand, it’s just a kind of mental reaction for you, just psychology, emotions, etc., but, in your opinion, this should in no way move you to faith, to religious experience.

Maxim: I'll explain, there are two things. Firstly, yes, this is a defensive reaction, religious worldview can perform an explanatory function on the question of why in all human communities from primitive to modern, there has always been faith, mysticism, etc., in something, in someone, secondly, I am not militant, that called an atheist, that is, I am certainly not an attacker, at least a defender. If a person in his life, in situations that he has to face regularly or irregularly, is helped by his faith, in whatever it is, in the irrational, in any religion, any esotericism, I don’t know, then that’s very good, please, I I have nothing against this. I'm only against it if it's trying to be forced on someone against that person's will, in the most different forms and manifestations.

Konstantin: Do you feel such pressure on yourself? Today?

Maxim: Today I don’t feel this pressure on myself, but it’s more likely, I don’t know, connected with my circle of friends.

Konstantin: Look, I would like to offer you a topic about the education and raising of children in the faith or not in the faith. The idea was voiced in you that religious upbringing in childhood at school or in the family, for example, narrows the vector of a child’s search for a free child, obliges him to follow one particular picture of the world that is offered to him, and not choose for himself. Here there is often some continuation of the fact that when a person is brought up in a secular picture of the world, in a secular, non-religious one, this is the full spectrum of free search, nothing is imposed here. But in response to this, a critic, your conventional critic, would often tell you that this is also an imposition, simply of a non-religious picture of the world, but of a secular picture of the world, which also has its own laws, its own principles, that is, it is impossible to be completely neutral, no matter what you are -you offer a picture of the world that is, if not religious, then secular. How are you prepared to deal with such criticism?

Maxim: Easy. Baby this Blank sheet, in principle, what you write on it, especially depends on how hard you press on the pencil, is what will happen on this sheet. Of course, not everything depends on the family, a lot depends on the social circle, on the school, whether he goes to school at all, I am not for imposition, not for religious education, not for secular, atheistic education. Giving freedom of choice means showing everything possible options, this means telling about all the world’s religions, this means telling how people live there, there, there and there, what morals can be there and there, what morals specifically in our society, whether you like it or not, but in any case, if you want to adapt to society, and you will have to adapt to it, then you need to know, first of all, the rules of this particular society in which you were born and growing up, etc.

Father Mikhail: We are talking about the “City of the Sun” again. Again about a utopian society. And already in the twentieth century we had plenty of experiments with building a non-religious society. There were already clean conditions for the experiment. For the most part, we expelled all those who did not fit into them from the country or destroyed them. Two hundred thousand clergy were accordingly rolled into cesspools and graves. They took and destroyed the overwhelming majority of churches, you probably heard about it, I, the young people, just remember it. That is, I am a Soviet person and, accordingly, I remember how a non-religious society functioned, where at the level of worldviews, even ideologies, these very, in general, completely harmless-looking theses were imposed, that is, we know how it existed atheistically. I lived in it, inside it. And I remember all this very well, they made the number 7 out of me there from my class on November 7, they made me out for Pioneer Day, I don’t remember there, 1 or 9. We already went through all this and learned the corresponding poems that had to be read with expression. Let me explain once again that theory and practice are two big differences. With this thesis, I am sure that the majority of your colleagues will remain in this very blessing sphere. Yes, we know, unfortunately, sad examples, not only among Western Christians, but also among us, Orthodox Christians, when we behaved completely inconsistent with the ideals of the Gospel. And we know that among our brother, just as among the apostles there was Judas, so there are also Judas among us, unfortunately. I myself am a sinful person, but we must clearly admit that a society that is religious, a Christian society, has passed big way, and this path, civilizational, includes the emergence of European universities at monasteries, in the Western Church, and, accordingly, many inventions and discoveries, starting with I don’t know where, with a fork, and ending, respectively, with artillery, which in one of the German monasteries, Now I’ve forgotten which priest the hieromonk invented, and in this long journey we find many worthy names of scientists, educators, who, being believers, remained with a good name in science, so let’s have enough experiments on Mother Russia and our long-suffering Russian people, if possible, experiment in some other part globe now, and here we will gradually build a society that is built on the gospel commandments and love. If you throw it away, as already in Soviet period tried to imagine about God, leaving only morality and Christian ethics, the moral code of the builders of communism, then it will simply stop working. Already tried, it doesn't work. I assure you that the society in which this morality of yours, irreligious, correct and good, neutral and toothless, will be embodied, will slide into totalitarianism even faster than we did in the Middle Ages and all sorts of Arab caliphates will seem like flowers. We Christians, unfortunately, are very, very weak. Glory, including, to resist this eternal enemy of the human race - the devil, who, undoubtedly, stands behind your religious community, since your community, we have already said today, is in fact truly religious, you believe that this no, and speaking about the limitations of scientific publications in fact...

Konstantin: Maxim did not agree with this...

Father Mikhail: ... I understand that they did not agree, but this is again a matter of faith. This is not an agreement with me; you and I are in exactly the same situation. We have already talked about this. So I would not like experiments. Now, if possible, let’s leave everything the same way as it is now, let everyone, accordingly, competing in opinions, respect and not impose. So I hope that my children, of whom I have six by the grace of God, will not impose ideology or will not impose any completely ideological values. This will be done by the family.

Maxim: If possible, I will answer. Regarding the experiment, this is what I said at the very beginning when I first answered the question, that the imposition of an atheistic worldview is also violence, and I do not call for this, this is the first thing. Secondly, if we talk about the Soviet period, I would not call it irreligious at all. There is a very clear ideology, which was actually more powerful than it is now, a quasi-religion with its own idols, with its own god; let’s say there was bigism, after ’53.

Father Mikhail: What kind of bitheism, in more detail?

Maxim: Lenin and Stalin.

Father Mikhail: Until what year? How long is this? I just didn’t catch it, I was born in ’71.

Maxim: I understand the irony, I mean that there was also a powerful ideology that was close to religious in fanaticism.

Father Mikhail: I would still warn you against the term bitheism, after all, it has some allegorical context, there was no obvious smell of dualism here, much less of any kind...

Maxim: No, okay, I agree, in this context I used this term incorrectly. Well, I hope that I was able to convey the main idea.

Father Mikhail: This is still not Mithraism.

Konstantin: Father Mikhail, just the topic with which I addressed Maxim, it seems to me that it is very, scientifically speaking, relevant for our conversation. The idea is often heard that religious upbringing or education...

Father Mikhail: Listen, well, these are cliches, it’s still not very interesting, colleagues, the fact is that...

Konstantin: ...Can I finish?

Father Mikhail: Yes, sorry.

Konstantin: ... This is something so enslaving and very dogmatic. But secular ideologists and some kind of secular worldview are absolute freedom. At the same time, today you yourself uttered this New Testament phrase, that where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom. How is the presence of rules, dogmas and the spirit of freedom combined in religion? After all, this is precisely what religions are reproached for, that everything is enslaved there.

Father Mikhail: Well, listen, without form there is no content, those who created these materialist postulates for dialectical materialism know this, and there is no contradiction here at all. Try to convey 3 liters of water, well, for our TV viewers, so it’s clear that if you don’t have a form, you won’t convey the content. The same is true here; in no way should we think that some structure, say a skeleton, is holding back our development, on the contrary. This is what shapes us, makes us individuals and is a vessel, as we Christians say: “forgive our souls,” that is, there is no need to think that this same one, in the words of Francis of Assisi, my brother is an ass and if his body is like that to say completely level it out, you will have to drag the cart yourself; if you spoil the donkey, that is, the body, it will dominate the soul, then this will lead to the fact that you will still have to bear responsibility for it yourself. Yes, we will agree with Maxim, normal person, his dad is an officer, and in general I really like that he is honest. Well, why invent a religious experience for yourself if you don’t have one? Why sublimate the feeling, pretend and roll your eyes? Max, I’m sure it’s a matter of time, and you’ll find the time when you believe in stopping by for a cup of coffee with me at the Airborne Forces headquarters. And you and I will laugh together at whatever seems funny to us, to you or to me. I promise to try to understand your sense of humor, and this is something... That is, I won’t come up too much, as they say in youth environment because you think differently now. I respect your freedom and have absolutely no intention of imposing anything on you, but leave the right to us here in Russia, where for a thousand years Christianity has truly been the basis of a culture of tradition, where everything, including in your native Voronezh, is imbued with it. Leave us the right to live in our country, in our historical area of ​​settlement, the way we want.

Maxim: So, why am I encroaching on him if...

Father Mikhail: I’m only telling you that a person who is now coming to Russia, is born into this world, this person is probably near and dear to many Christians living here. If his parents want him to be a Christian and receive religious knowledge, we cannot do this, we are not allowed to do this in our country to this day. This is a big problem, my children go to school, and there... my son tells me... I say, well, how is it in your class, how do you like it? He studied at another school, we left there. Said my son: “My school sucks.” I say, but in Russian? Well, now I’ll try to formulate it for dad... All the girls swear, all the boys smoke, and most girls smoke too. One of the girls and a boy, how can Dad tell you, lost her virginity, and they talk to this classmate at recess about how cool it is. And this completely sucks, I don’t want to be here and he asked us to transfer him to another school, where we were forced to give him money accordingly in a more or less moral environment, transferred him to an Orthodox gymnasium, not because we have extra money , they really don’t exist, but because in a regular school we don’t give these things any voice or meaning very often. And we are forced to go to the reserve, the game reserve, you know, to the cage, to the nursery, because we believe that teachers should not swear themselves, and allow the children to do this, and this is not about religion.

Maxim: So, the question is, yes, why is only religion a panacea for this? After all, it is absolutely possible to raise a child in secular morality, without religion.

Father Mikhail: You are a natural scientist, tell me, does a vacuum exist?

Maxim: It depends in what area you talk about it.

Father Mikhail: Well, we are here in the studio of the Spas TV channel, is there a vacuum here?

Maxim: Terminologically, yes.

Father Mikhail: Well, wait, what is this terminologically?

Maxim: You can’t actually touch it.

Father Mikhail: Now, I’m talking about very simple things. We are talking about the fact that the vacuum is always filled with something. And what we terminologically call vacuum, factually...

Maxim: ... And I’m talking about this, but it is not necessary to fill it with religion ...

Father Mikhail: ...So I’m saying that if we don’t vaccinate against stupidity, it will be filled with sects, totalitarian consciousness, “Aum Shinrikyo.” There will be gas again, in some metro, God forbid, we will slide if there is no enlightened, I emphasize, enlightened Christian worldview with forms of vaccination against stupidity that we, including Christians, have encountered in history. If we do not work on our mistakes, we will slide into a new swamp, and perhaps it will be worse than what we read in the Russian history textbook.

Maxim: Why is morality necessarily based on religion? Is it impossible without religion? Is it impossible to raise a person adequately without religion?

Father Mikhail: We have already said today that there have been no such examples in history. You are talking about the City of the Sun. And I tell you that it is turning into Bolshevism, that’s all.

Konstantin: Two positions were voiced today, at the end of our conversation, and I would like us not to lose this topic. You said that the number of believers is statistically decreasing, let’s say.

Maxim: Insignificantly, but it is decreasing.

Konstantin: Well, let's say yes. Father Mikhail said that no, the number of believers is growing according to statistics, we also agree that statistics are such a thing...

Father Mikhail: On planet Earth, yes.

Konstantin: This is what I would like to ask in this regard. Does the church care about the number of its members? Because, after all, this conversation, which goes to the level of statistics, is usually a conversation about “your team has fewer fans than ours. Yes, your fans are fewer than your party.”

Father Michael: Again, what church, terminologically speaking? we're talking about? The Church is, as we say, militant, that is, consisting of the living, at war with sin, that is, which is still moving somewhere, the Lord knows. And the church is triumphant, as a community of holy and righteous people who pray for us in heaven. And in this case, what church are you talking about in your question?

Konstantin: Both.

Father Michael: Well, of course, the church is one, but you must clearly understand that I cannot reflect to you the position of that church, I am not included, not included, and because of my sins. And he’s still alive, more likely than dead. Therefore, you demand from me an answer to the question that, please wait until my earthly life, come and ask, I will answer you there.

Konstantin: Okay, as a shepherd, do you see the task of increasing the number of your flock?

Father Mikhail: Appeal to me personally somehow. I will tell you personally for myself that of course this is important and significant for me, but not so much that it affects my inner component. This is important for me as a shepherd, it is easier for me to pray if I see that there are people standing next to me who are participating in this prayer and gathered in the name of Christ, but I know that if no one is nearby this is not a reason for me to mow down. prayers. This is not a reason for me to refuse, well, let’s admit that quantity does not always translate into quality, but at the same time it is absolutely obvious that if, say, in Australia there is a problem of unmarried women of reproductive age, then they somehow solve it with the help of external migration. If such a problem does not exist in Russia, then our male part of the population allows itself to behave mediocrely, unfortunately, often in relation to ladies, immorally, become an alcoholic, degrade, knowing that the young lady will endure everything, and this worries me as a shepherd more than yours question. Maybe I answered.

Konstantin: Thank you very much...

Maxim: Statistically, we actually need to make one small correction here, since statistics are made up of opinion polls, unfortunately...

Father Mikhail: ...Social polls are a very specific thing...

Maxim: ...Yes, because many of those who call themselves, for example, in Russia, believers, in fact are not.

Father Mikhail: No, well, you are definitely a believer. You are already included in our statistics. You are baptized, secondly, good man, thirdly, obviously completely non-militant, that is, they never tried to beat me in this studio, so in any case, I give it a plus and write it down...

Maxim: Well, the cameras are on for now, but what will happen then...

Father Mikhail: ... Then I’ll fight back, not the first. I’ll definitely write you off at the Synod, you’ve already got it, Maxim.

Konstantin: Now we’ll turn off the cameras and then, dear friends, we’ll see what happens without you. To be honest, I’m already worried. You had the program “I don’t believe it!”

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They started talking about the revival of the institution of military clergy in Russia quite recently - it began thanks to the decision of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, taken in July 2009. However, in the Russian army itself, priests have been serving on a voluntary basis for about fifteen years: they support recruits, jump with a parachute, accompany the military in hot spots and often die under the bullets of militants.

On August 2, Russia celebrates the Day of the Airborne Forces - one of the most powerful and combat-ready in the Russian army. On the eve of the holiday, Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev, head of the Airborne Forces sector of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies, rector of the Patriarchal Compounds at the headquarters of the Airborne Forces and Strategic Missile Forces, spoke to RIA Novosti about the service of priests in the Airborne Forces.

– How many priests in total work directly with paratroopers today?

“We have nine priests serving in our airborne troops. These are the priests who not only participate in events, such as taking the oath, the day of celebrating the Airborne Forces, but those who live the life of those military units and the compounds they nourish. They participate in exercises, move together with paratroopers to areas of local combat operations, and share with them all the hardships and deprivations of military life.

“They tell amazing things about the priests serving in the Airborne Forces - they say that many of them take part in paratrooper exercises and jump with a parachute. Why is this type of spiritual support needed?

– Of course, this is a form of pastoral work. For example, priest Andrei Shelomentsev serves us; he is a master of sports in hand-to-hand combat. Of course, he does not apply physical force to the soldiers, but they still know that the priest is a reserve officer, a major in the Marine Corps, was in Chechnya, and was awarded military orders. He represents authority for them not only as a shepherd, but also as a reserve officer who perfectly understands what they breathe and live. Some of our priests are already quite “skilled” in making parachute jumps, for example, Archpriest Savva (Shcherbina), who has about 550 parachute jumps. This is especially important for young soldiers, when they are accompanied and supported by a priest who blesses them before the flight.

– How does the command feel about the work of clergy in the airborne troops?

– Very positive. Our Commander of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov owns the already winged words that there are no atheists in war. He said this back in the first Chechen campaign, and then he himself was baptized. In the Airborne Forces alone, over the years of local conflicts, our priests baptized about seven thousand military personnel in the combat zone - soldiers, officers, and generals. Our priests work sacrificially, they are moneyless, and by and large this is why, after talking with some of them, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decided to revive the institution of military clergy in the Russian army.

– Patriarch Kirill recently said that the most worthy clergy are needed to serve in military units. What are the features of the work of a priest in the airborne troops?

“In our ranks there were wounded, shell-shocked, and dead. Four priests died during anti-terrorist operations of the Airborne Forces in the North Caucasus. Air Force Reserve Major Father Anatoly Chistousov, rector of the Grozny Archangel Michael Church, was brutally tortured by militants in 1996. Two years ago, priest Dimitry Vasilenkov was wounded in Chechnya during a counter-terrorism operation when a convoy was attacked by militants. Father Dimitri called for reinforcements by mobile phone, was wounded, and was subsequently awarded the Order of Courage. However, today none of the priests receive a salary, and for most of them there are no regular “cages” at all. In the 45th regiment airborne special forces priest Sergei Arkhipov has been working daily with paratroopers and members of their families for the third year now, parachuting with young recruits, and participating in field trips. However, a full-time position is not provided for him, and the same situation is typical for other units and formations of the Airborne Forces.

– Will the program to revive the institution of military clergy, according to which 240 full-time positions for clergy will be created in the Russian army in 2011, change the situation?

- The position of a military clergyman is provided only at the rate of one per division, and a standard airborne division includes four regiments, which are stationed in several regions - for example, in Tula, Narofominsk and Ryazan. It will be difficult for one priest to care for all these places of deployment. But we hope that this issue will be worked out in the future. The salary of a full-time priest will be about 10 thousand rubles. Unfortunately, today the majority of priests do not in any way connect their future with such an official status, which will not help solve the social problems of the priests themselves and their family members. However, we believe that steps towards the revival of the institution of military clergy will be accelerated, and the salary of a military priest will allow him not to work somewhere on the side in civilian parishes, but to devote himself entirely to his ministry.

– Society expects a lot from priests in the army - reducing the number of suicides, stopping hazing, instilling patriotism. What is actually the task of a military clergyman?

– The duties of priests in the army are very broad, but we ask everyone to understand that the tasks facing a priest do not include the fight against hazing and suicide prevention. The priest’s task is to help save the souls of those warriors who desire this. We do not come to military groups to agitate them to be good. We are not engaged in moralizing or forming a new ideology, we do not force a person to make moral changes. The priest helps military personnel to become better, cleaner and kinder, but only if the person himself wants it. And when faith is born in a person’s heart, he does not seek to humiliate another person, he knows that the most serious sin is suicide, he does not betray either his wife or his homeland. A serviceman’s participation in worship is strictly optional. We work with military personnel in the format of a conversation, which comes down to the basic principles of morality, we talk about those things that their parents or teachers should have told them in reality. primary school. When we tell military personnel that swearing or betraying one’s homeland is a sin, this does not cause rejection among the guys from Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Dagestan or Ingushetia. Because the principles we are talking about are shared by the bearers of all three Abrahamic religions. There is nothing here that does not fit into the ideas of traditional Islam or Judaism - although I have not yet met practicing Jews in the armed forces. We want military personnel to build relationships not according to the pack principle, but like brothers, which is why we are doing this work.

Reference:

Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev is the son of an officer, graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University in the department of scientific atheism. Then graduate school, I taught at the university for a year. In 1998 he became a priest. He served over 30 business trips to “hot spots”, between which he completed retraining and advanced training courses at the General Staff Academy with a specialty in command and staff operational-strategic training. Rector of the Church of St. Elijah of Muromets with a chapel in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara on Vlasikha.

The chief priest of the Airborne Forces, Priest Mikhail Vasiliev, did not crash when falling from a height of 600 meters during a recent exercise near Vyazma. I am convinced that I was saved with God’s help
Over 15 years, more than 150 paratroopers crashed in Russia. And although the contribution of the landing party to these figures is minimal, there are no absolutely safe jumps.
The theory states that the free fall speed of an average weight skydiver is approximately 180 km per hour. A flight from a height of 600 meters to the ground without a parachute takes 13 seconds. It takes 3-4 seconds and 250 meters of altitude to open the main parachute. If the parachute fails, then there are only a few moments left to do everything, 300-350 meters to the ground. What is overlap? The line grabs the canopy of the main parachute, the rate of descent sharply increases, and the parachutist is twisted and thrown in all directions. You need to have time to assess the situation, get rid of the main parachute, throw away the reserve. If you panic, you will die.
Last year in Ukraine, the commander of the capital's special-purpose police regiment "Berkut" died because of slings that overlapped. The 43-year-old special forces colonel had five times more jumps than Priest Mikhail. But the colonel was unlucky, and the priest managed to land on a half-opened parachute. Main secret simple: nerves of steel and a little luck.
Of course, there were some injuries. We met with Father Mikhail at the Central Hospital of the Strategic Missile Forces.
“It’s my own fault for what happened,” the priest defends the parachute handler. - I opened the canopy early, got caught in a stream of turbulence, the lines immediately overlapped, and it began to tear. But there was no fear.
According to him, Father Mikhail had been scared before: under fire and when he once had to walk through a minefield. And here, near Vyazma, he desperately fought for life. As taught, he “unwinded” the almost extinguished dome. "Spun" to an area of ​​20-30 square meters(in a fully expanded state, the area of ​​the canopy of the D-10 landing parachute is 100 square meters). He even managed to approximately calculate the speed of the fall: 20 meters per second. And he realized that he would survive the landing.
“I grouped myself, landed on my feet,” says the priest, wrapped in a bandage and chained to a hospital bed, cheerfully. - I had great boots. "Pindos", brought from Bosnia. But still, upon landing, I heard a crunch - a vertebra broke. But then it wasn’t even this that bothered us, but the fact that in fifteen minutes they would drop their guns behind us. I also thought: there’s no time to lie on the ground, otherwise the BMD will seal it so hard that it won’t seem like much...
Diagnosis: vertebral compression fracture. The doctors promise that he will walk. And the priest does not intend to give up jumping.
Father Mikhail regularly has to risk his life. Somehow, during another exercise, a soldier’s parachute did not open. The incident undermined the spirit and the young soldiers refused to jump. “Batek” climbed into the An-2 with a prayer and was the first to step out of the plane. They say it was unnecessary: ​​just the sight of the “father” in camouflage with a parachute made a strong impression on the personnel. The jumps went well, everyone's parachutes opened.
He is 36. The son of an officer, he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University in the Department of Scientific Atheism. Then graduate school, I taught at the university for a year. In 1998 he became a priest. Married, three children. Combat experience is like that of a full-fledged battalion commander: over 30 business trips to “hot spots”.
WITH Vladimir icon Mother of God met ships with landing troops in Thessaloniki, and then made the famous forced march to Kosovo on the lead armored vehicle. There, in the Balkans, the An-22 he was flying on had an engine failure. Nothing, we've arrived. There are also military awards for Chechnya, where, by the way, he christened about three thousand soldiers. According to the officers, he himself, in faded camouflage, cannot always be distinguished from a paratrooper. If it weren't for the beard Orthodox crosses in the buttonholes instead of the Airborne Forces emblems...
“You see, the point is not at all that some priest did not crash while falling on a failed parachute,” Father Mikhail gets excited. - It’s much more important if people ask themselves: what is this priest even doing in the army?!
Father has the answers ready. He even knows exactly how many priests are needed to ensure the right to freedom of conscience in the army. Approximately 400 Orthodox priests, 30-40 Muslim mullahs, 2-3 Buddhist lamas and 1-2 Jewish rabbis. The priest must receive a salary - approximately 15 thousand rubles a month, plus another 10 thousand for expenses. Our state can do this. The costs will be worth it.
The position of Priest Michael, if we bring it into line with historical canons, is a general. Before the revolution, the chief military priest Russian army had the rank of protopresbyter, which was equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general. Mikhail Vasiliev - deputy. a modern “protopresbyter” for the Airborne Forces (and in fact, for all other types and branches of the military). Accordingly, he must be a major general. In addition, he completed “general” retraining and advanced training courses at the General Staff Academy with a specialty in “command and staff operational-strategic training.” In a word, an Orthodox general. Although he himself categorically disagrees with this.
“A priest should not be a general or an officer,” explains the strategically prepared Father Mikhail. - Our main task is not to increase the degree of patriotism. We help a person in uniform realize his right to freedom of conscience.
None military ranks- this is not his personal opinion, but the principled position of the church. But as for the “degree of patriotism,” you must agree, he said it well. And in general, the main airborne priest does not mince his words.
“How do I celebrate the Day of the Airborne Forces?” he asks mockingly. “But there is no time to actually celebrate, the holiday coincides with preparations for the day of Elijah the Prophet, the patron saint of the Airborne Forces. And there are people who can swim in the city fountains even without me.”
Yes, about the holidays. Father Mikhail doesn’t want to talk about his heroics, but he admits that he actually came close to death three times. A priest cannot be afraid of death, but Holy Scripture does not prohibit celebrating not one, but three birthdays a year. All three are noted.
Although now, apparently, he already has four of them.