Russian Theological Seminary in France. Information: Orthodox Theological Seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church MP in France

The Orthodox Theological Seminary in France is the only higher educational institution Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe, established by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate on April 15, 2008.

The idea of ​​​​creating the seminary belongs to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, now the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. He expressed it for the first time during his last visit to France in November 2007 on the occasion of the presentation of the French translation of “Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

In addition, the project to create a Russian Orthodox seminary in France is one of the main results of the visit of Patriarch Alexy II to Paris in October 2007.

The Paris Seminary is at the disposal of not only the Korsun diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, but also the rest of the dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate in Europe (Brussels-Belgium, Geneva and German ROCOR MP, Sourozh in Great Britain, the Dutch-Netherlands, Austria) and Russian parishes in Italy. The ruling bishops of these dioceses are members of the seminary's Supervisory Board, which is headed by Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and rector of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies of the Russian Orthodox Church MP.

Objectives of the seminary:

1. Training of highly educated clergy for the Russian Orthodox Church MP who speak foreign languages ​​and are familiar with both Russian Orthodox and Western culture.

2. Training of Orthodox laity participating in the life of the Church, to prepare them for the church mission and teaching the catechism;

3. Training of secular and ecclesiastical heterodox students interested in Orthodoxy of the Russian tradition;

4. Intellectual and spiritual witness to Russian Orthodoxy through divine services, various scientific, publishing and cultural projects.

Since September 1, 2009, the seminary has been located in the house of Saint Genevieve in Epinay-sous-Senart, 21 km southeast of Paris. The building, rented from the Catholic diocese, previously belonged to the monastery of the auxiliary sisters (French: Societe des Auxiliatrices des ames du Purgatoire).

So far, the lease agreement with Catholics has been concluded for one year with the possibility of extension and the prospect of purchasing the building as a property. The rent is 250 thousand euros per year, including all utilities and electricity. Money to pay the seminary's operating expenses comes from private donations.

A chapel was opened at the seminary in honor of St. Martin the Confessor and St. Genovefa of Paris.

Seminary studies

The seminary provides three forms of education: full-time with residence in the seminary for future clergy, a three-year external study for those who want to become familiar with the Russian spiritual tradition and the theological and liturgical heritage of the Orthodox Church, and free attendance of courses. Students of the first two forms of education receive special diplomas.

Individuals of the Orthodox faith of any nationality are accepted for full-time study at the seminary. The course of study in French and Russian lasts five years (three years of bachelor's degree and two years of master's degree). Students with a theological education are admitted to the fourth year (first year of the master's degree). Classes are held both at the seminary itself and at higher educational institutions in Paris (including the Sorbonne). Upon successful completion of their studies and defense of their dissertation, seminary graduates receive two diplomas: a master's degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne University of Paris and a church theological diploma from the seminary.

The seminary is bilingual. For those who do not speak French (or do not speak it well), intensive courses are organized from the very first days of training.

The seminary bears all expenses for students sent by dioceses or other theological schools. Each seminarian is provided with a separate room (with washbasin) and three meals a day plus an annual travel pass (for trips to classes in Paris). In addition, the building is equipped with a library, computer room and wireless Internet.

In addition to students sent by dioceses and theological schools, the seminary accepts those who are willing to pay for their studies on their own. Considering the level of prices and salaries in the Paris region, the amount of payment is low - 350 euros per month. For this money, free housing is provided (subject to availability), food, educational materials and unlimited Internet access. The tuition fee for external studies is 250 euros per year.

Schematically, training at the seminary looks like this:

Preparatory Course:
- intensive study of French, Greek and Latin, as well as introductory theological subjects at the seminary;
- a course in history and social studies developed by the French government for clergy (at the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Paris).

Bachelor's degree (3 years):
- Theology, history of the Russian Church and Russian philosophy, history of Local Orthodox Churches, liturgics, modern and ancient languages ​​in the seminary;
- a full course in philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Sorbonne;
- Biblical studies and general Christian history at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris.

Master's degree (two years):
- Theological and religious subjects in the seminary;
- Patristics and history of Christian teaching at the Faculty of Religious Sciences of the Sorbonne.

The teaching corporation of the seminary is formed from the best specialists in their field, living both in the CIS countries and in the West. Lectures are given by teachers from France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Russia and Ukraine. Among the lecturers are Archpriest Nikolai Makar from Milan, a specialist in the field of canon law; Archpriest Sergius Ovsyannikov from Amsterdam, specializing in biblical studies; Priest Sergius Model from Brussels, known for his publications on the history and current situation of the Orthodox Churches in Europe.

Administration

Archbishop of Korsun Innocent (Vasiliev) - chancellor, chairman of the administrative council;

Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov) - rector, chairman of the pedagogical council;

Archpriest Anthony Ilyin - Vice-Rector for Public Relations;

Hegumen Nestor (Sirotenko) is the chairman of the disciplinary council.

Rector Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov) was born in 1981 in the Levokomsky district of the Stavropol Territory (Russia). He graduated from the University of Toulouse, St. Sergius Theological Institute and the Sorbonne University in Paris (all three in France). Fluent in French, English, German and Greek languages. In September 2003 he was ordained a hierodeacon, in November 2004 - a hieromonk by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev) of Vienna and Austria. He served in Paris, being the secretary of the Korsun diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP for public relations, press and religious organizations. From 2002 to 2005 he taught Russian civilization, Church history and ancient Slavic philology at the Sorbonne. By decision of the Holy Synod in April 2008, he was appointed rector of the theological seminary in Paris. In January 2010, accusations arose among seminary students and the Parisian Orthodox community against Fr. Alexander, who maintains liturgical communion with the Roman Catholic Church and instills in his educational institution Catholic views that are unacceptable in Orthodox tradition. Currently, these accusations are being actively discussed in Orthodox blogs.

Based on materials from Wikipedia, the website of the Russian Theological Seminary in France, Pravoslavie.Ru, Portal-Credo.Ru

In the story:

06 July 2010, 12:36 The last meeting of the Academic Council of this academic year was held at the Russian Theological Seminary in France
05 July 2010, 13:38 MEDIA MONITORING: “I take communion with Catholics, maintaining my Orthodox beliefs.” Dmitry Sinyakov, the current rector of the Paris Seminary, admitted that, as a novice, he participated in a joint liturgy with Catholics
June 28, 2010, 18:56 From now on, it will be possible to enter the Paris Seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church MP only with the personal consent of Patriarch Kirill
03 March 2010, 12:36

We accidentally ended up on the Catholic TV channel “K.T.O.” and with some bewilderment we saw a program in which the leading roles were played by the rector of the Patriarchal Seminary in Paris, Hieromonk Alexander Sinyakov. Only later did we realize that this was connected with the notorious “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” which was very popular about 30 years ago and to which the media, at least in France, paid a lot of attention, but which today passes relatively unnoticed, that’s why we’re just talking about it and didn't think so.

Why did they look “with bewilderment”? It would be quite understandable to catch an interview with Alexander Sinyakov on Catholic television, or his conversation with some interlocutor on a church or spiritual topic. There would be nothing surprising or reprehensible in this. But here Alexander Sinyakov was with a group of seminarians-choristers in a Catholic church, which also would not be surprising or reprehensible if he served there for the Orthodox flock. But here about served ndash; one can say just that without exaggeration, although, admittedly, not in vestments - not in front of Orthodox, but in front of Catholic nuns. And he served not alone, but alternately with a Catholic priest. We remember how this “Week” took place in “glorious” times. The main participants, as a rule, were Catholics and Protestants, but it was very much appreciated, and even necessary, to have at least one Orthodox Christian at such a meeting, who would appear in a cassock especially for this occasion, even if he usually always wore civilian clothes. They put this Orthodox hostage in a place of honor, gave him a little book, followed by a kind of ecumenical ritual, in certain time he would get up, go to the microphone and read some passage Holy Scripture, often from Old Testament, and at the end of the event, everyone stood up, raised their hands up and all read the Lord's Prayer together. More or less the same Then This “Week” was celebrated. But what we were given to see here looked completely different.

The prayer began with an opening chant performed by a mixed choir. It turned out that the male voices shimmering with the voices of Catholic nuns belonged to Russian seminarians, and the man standing in the altar in a black robe, who could only be called a cassock with a stretch, turned out to be an Orthodox priest, the rector of the Paris Seminary, Hieromonk Alexander Sinyakov. We cannot remember the entire sequence, but the “service” was conducted either by a Catholic or by an Orthodox Christian. The singing of the Beatitudes sounded, then the priest. Alexander read an excerpt from the book of Genesis about the Tower of Babel. After which he preached for a long time and, it must be admitted, intelligently, often referring to St. Maximus the Confessor, but sometimes offering innovative conclusions, such as that St. Maxim is the strongest connection between the West and the East, directing the audience’s thoughts to the fact that he is almost the forerunner of ecumenism. It seemed to us that the memory of this wondrous saint, who once told his tormentors “I am not thinking about the unity and division of the Romans and Greeks, but about not deviating from the right faith” , Korea is associated with his fearless confession of faith and unconditional defense of the purity and uniqueness of church teaching, for which they even cut out his tongue and subjected him to various terrible tortures. After the sermon, for some reason, the singing of the Cherubic Song was heard, then the Catholic proclaimed in the Orthodox manner a kind of ecumenical litany, to each petition of which all those present responded “ Kyrie Eleison" Then the choir of seminarians sang the Trisagion and Our Father. Alexander Sinyakov proclaimed: “Let us pray to the Lord,” read the final prayer and the ecumenical prayer ended with the hymn of the Theotokos, performed by the same Orthodox seminarians...

It is somehow very strange and unnatural to mention the name of St. Maximus the Confessor within the framework of such a prayer service patchwork is not it? How strange it is to see this from the Orthodox rector and seminarians, future Orthodox pastors...

This extraordinary prayer, completely beyond what is acceptable in the Church, is nevertheless not some unexpected exception in the practice of this seminary and its young rector. The scandal that broke out just three months after the opening of this seminary in Paris immediately comes to mind. In an open letter widely circulated on the Internet in January 2010, one of the students, Andrei Serebrich, directly and unvarnishedly stated the reasons for his leaving the seminary because he considered “continuing his studies at the seminary to be unsustainable and therefore unacceptable.” The seminarian’s argument is all the more convincing because, as he himself writes at the conclusion of the letter, he has no personal complaints against the leadership of the seminary.

One can imagine that more than one young Russian seminarian was internally envious of those lucky ones who managed to pass a strict selection and be sent to Paris, which gives even more convincing and faith in the plausibility of the testimony of this seminarian. After all, the attractive power of France, and in particular Paris, is not empty word. I remember the inspired letter from the great N.M. Karamzin, who wrote on April 2, 1790: “I’m in Paris!” This thought produces in my soul some special, quick, inexplicable, pleasant movement... “I’m in Paris!” - I say to myself and run from street to street, from the Tuliers to the Champs Elysees, suddenly I stop, look at everything with excellent curiosity: at the houses, at the carriages, at the people. What I knew from the descriptions, I now see with my own eyes - I am having fun and rejoicing in the living picture of the greatest, most glorious city in the world, wonderful, unique in the diversity of its phenomena.” The young seminarian Andrei, although with less delight, remembers with what hopes he came here : “When we went to study at the seminary, we thought that this seminary would be the light of Orthodoxy for the Western European Catholic and Protestant world, a place for preaching Orthodox values ​​for secular European society.” But disappointment came very quickly: “Unfortunately, the seminary at the moment is not a place of Orthodox witness, either in doctrinal, disciplinary, or everyday matters.”

What exactly repelled the Orthodox soul from this seminary? This is precisely what its rector continues to do with impunity, right up to these days, as we see: not only fraternization with Catholics, but, as he himself writes, imposing clearly non-Orthodox teachings and views on students. Judging by the statements of the seminarian, for the rector there is no specific Orthodox teaching on the procession of the Holy Spirit, and the Creed can be pronounced filioqu or without. After attending a lecture at the Catholic University of Paris, the rector agreed that the Entry into the Temple of St. The Virgin Mary is still one of the Twelfth Feasts! - has no historical basis and is only symbolic in nature. Seminarians are obliged to take a blessing and kiss their hand when meeting with Catholic bishops; they are forbidden to testify to Catholics about Orthodoxy; on the day of the Nativity of Christ, January 7, they had to attend a lecture at the University of Paris so as not to offend their “Catholic brothers.”

The scandal caused by the letter went far beyond the walls of the seminary and outraged many patriarchal parishioners in France, who demanded clarification from the hierarchy about what was happening in the seminary, but all these protests had no result. Should we be surprised? Of course not, because Sinyakov is not doing anything reprehensible from the point of view of his patriarchal superiors. Maybe he’s just not careful, but his behavior has the full support of all levels of the hierarchy, right up to the patriarch.

And these regularly repeated “indiscretions” only inspire confidence in the reproaches put forward by Andrei Serebrich. Isn’t it Sinyakov himself who jokingly defines himself in the Catholic press as “half-Dominican, half-Orthodox.” But is this a joke? Much earlier, in the leading French Catholic newspaper La Croix, in 1999, he himself says that, as a novice(!) in Dominican monastery in Toulouse: “I ultimately take communion with Catholics, preserving my Orthodox beliefs” ... Today, having matured a little, he no longer speaks openly about taking communion with Catholics, but in an interview with the newspaper Le courrier de Russie dated January 16, 2013 G. continues in the same spirit that his desire is to create a mixed Orthodox-Catholic seminary and hopes that the schism between East and West will soon end, since this division causes him great suffering, since he cannot share his priesthood with his Catholic friends priests.

Behind the screen - admittedly very transparent - of the official words of the leadership of the MP about leaving the ecumenical movement, which some overly naive fools fell for, there are facts, indisputable facts. These are the words of the second person of the Patriarchate, Hilarion Alfeev, who openly recognizes the fullness of grace among Catholics: “We (with Catholics) actually have a mutual recognition of the Sacraments. We do not have communion in the Sacraments, but we recognize the Sacraments... If a Catholic priest converts to Orthodoxy, we accept him as a priest, we do not ordain him again. This means that de facto we recognize the “sacraments” of the Catholic “Church.” “In our country” this must be understood from Gundyaev, from Alfeev, from Sinyakov and other patriarchs who have completely gone off the church rails, but not from the Orthodox Church and the Orthodox.

What is happening in MP now is simply scary. This is more dangerous than Sergianism itself, it is a complete perversion of the Orthodox faith.

Therefore, what is happening at the Paris Seminary can be considered as a laboratory of what the entire MP with Gundyaev at its head is. Is it possible to blame Sinyakov for the fact that his seminarians should kiss the hand of Catholic bishops and take their blessing, when everyone can see on a video clip on the Internet how Gundyaev kisses the hand of the Pope... In the recent interview quoted above, Sinyakov talks about to his patriarch: “Spiritually I am very close to him. He made me what I am today, thanks to him I run this seminary. I love him very much, for me he is my father, he gave birth to me”...

It is not for nothing that someone very correctly said that this seminary is a kind of “Orthodox MGIMO”. Young seminarians are not only brought up in it in a non-Orthodox spirit, but also in a non-Russian spirit. Actually quite far awayiviewpoint Alexander Sinyakov from F.M. Dostoevsky, for whom to be Russian is to be Orthodox. For Sinyakov, there is no way to connect Russian identity with Orthodoxy, because there are many Russian identities, not only Orthodox, but Muslim, godless, and such diversity can be wealth (!) - the rector says without any embarrassment...

In conclusion about the tragic picture of the MP, tragic first of all for its believers, and especially for those who joined it five years ago and madly continue to present this spiritual crime as the realization of God’s will, let us quote the words of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Agafangela: “The recognition of the Latin heresy in the MP, unfortunately, is, as they now say, systemic in nature. That is, this heresy is professed by the entire ruling clan of Patriarch Kirill in the MP, and they received this “confession” from their teacher Nicodemus (Rotov). Until now it was quite latent, but now it has come out openly. This is, indeed, the real end of MP, without any hope of healing. /.../ With such a person (Alfeev), without a doubt, it is no longer possible to pray together, since recognizing the fullness of grace among Catholics, he automatically recognizes all their heresies as Orthodox doctrine. That is, Hilarion (Alfeev) is the most natural heretic. Having prayed with the heretic, according to the rules of St. fathers, is excommunicated from the Church. This applies both to those who concelebrate with the heretic Hilarion, and to those praying in the temple during his blasphemous “divine service.” Let us add from ourselves - as well as the former foreign bishops who served him with Hilarion (Corporal) at their head, as happened in London, which we wrote about in the previous article.

Protodeacon German Ivanov-Thirteenth

Original, read thanks

What about the Parisian seminary: is there really a danger of Catholicization for Orthodox students studying in a non-Orthodox environment, or, on the contrary, will they only harden there? We invite you to look at the seminary with your own eyes, listen to the rector’s story and live two days with the students:



Listen to the story of the rector of the seminary, Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov):

The day at the seminary always begins with liturgy. All students participate - some sing, some read, some serve at the altar. Seminarians receive Holy Communion often, almost every day. In the evening, only Vespers is served, but also daily, and the presence of all seminarians is obligatory.

After the service, breakfast and classes begin

In the afternoon between classes, lunch and a short break - you can relax in your room...

...or take a walk in the seminary park

And again - study. Singing is also a lesson

Although after it you can play the guitar a little

After classes - Vespers

Seminary Temple

After the service there is dinner. But while the table is being set, there is a moment to call home. True, not everyone has such an opportunity - a call to Russia is expensive, and seminarians do not receive a scholarship

Every day kitchen duty is appointed - they set the table. And the cooking at the seminary is done by a cook or one of the priests of the seminary church who loves to cook and does it for his own pleasure

Call for dinner!

The seminar meal does not have a wide variety of dishes: for lunch - main course and baguette, for dinner - soup and baguette. Breakfast is “European” - tea, coffee, baguette with jam. The dining room, like the entire seminary, is designed for 40 people, while there are only 10 students so far, so all of them, along with the priests, fit at two tables

The people on duty wash the dishes and prepare sandwiches for tomorrow

In the evening, do not turn on the lights in the corridors and passage rooms - they save money. Only the emergency signs “sortie” - “exit” are lit, making the seminary, with its long passages and flights of stairs, look like a submarine.

After dinner - free time. You can study French on your own, you can write letters home or look at photographs. All students have Wi-Fi access. But someone goes to his room, for example, to paint an icon

A night at the seminary starts late and ends quickly

Each student has his own separate room, with a washbasin, wardrobe and desk - not every seminary can boast of such conditions!

Such a magnetic sign is nailed to every door - they were left over from the Catholic convent, who was here before. If a seminarian leaves his room, he can notify his potential guests or supervisor about this

Three days a week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) classes are held at the seminary, and on Thursday and Friday - in Paris. On such days, after the liturgy, seminarians go to the station

The path from the seminary to the railway station takes 25 minutes on foot - along the picturesque streets of the provincial town. Men in strange long robes in Epinay-sous-Senar do not surprise anyone, since in addition to the Orthodox seminary, the city has a large Jewish community, a Catholic monastery and an almshouse

The train journey to Paris takes about 30 minutes. The seminary covers all travel expenses for students. On the train, most of the students immediately fall asleep; after all, the day usually starts very early and ends very late. But some enthusiasts try to read textbooks and on the way

In Paris, seminarians study at two universities - the Sorbonne (pictured above) and the Catholic University. They are within walking distance of each other through the Luxembourg Gardens

The guys don’t have money for a cafe. Therefore, they dine on benches in the Luxembourg Gardens with baguettes with saury or tuna, which they bring with them. Very soon seagulls start circling around and begging for bread! The break between classes at the Sorbonne and at the Catholic University is about an hour, during which time the children have time to have lunch and walk to the second university

Catholic University

All classes are held in French, so most of the seminarians, who have never studied this language before, do not understand a single word from the lecture. Therefore, they are all busy with their activities - who is doing what. Someone is playing on the phone, someone is reading a book, someone is trying to translate the abstracts of the lecture with a dictionary (the teacher distributes the abstracts of each lecture on pieces of paper before the start of the lesson). After the lecture or during a break, seminarians share their impressions of the lesson with each other and persuade their French-speaking classmates to explain what the teacher was talking about. Father Alexander, the rector of the seminary, convinces the guys that this is a necessary period of adaptation, in a year they will understand everything and speak - that’s why none of the seminarians are taking exams this year. The first year is preparatory.

First temptations

On January 8, 2010, former Paris seminary student Andrei Serebrich (pictured above, second from left) published on the Internet open letter, in which he accused the leadership of the seminary of not being critical enough of the Western tradition. The heterodox environment, studying at the Catholic Institute - all this gave Andrei reason to suspect that something was wrong. In his letter, he claims that seminarians are being deprived of the opportunity to attend Orthodox parish in Paris, they are forced to kiss the hand of Catholic priests and take their blessing, they are forced to impose “obviously non-Orthodox teachings and views” that are “taught as undeniable.” As an example, Andrei cites the doctrine of filioque, regarding which, as he understood from his studies in dogmatics, the Orthodox Church “does not have a clear opinion.” Recently, one of the students, Georgy Arutyunov, was expelled from the seminary. Andrei Serebrich claims that the reason for this was Georgy’s uncompromising defense of the Orthodox position.
The rector of the seminary refutes Andrei Serebrich’s accusations as untrue. “No one has ever forced seminary students to kiss the hands of Catholic bishops, much less take their blessing. By the way, I have not seen any of them do this,” writes Father Alexander (Sinyakov) in particular in a response letter - The accusation that the doctrine of filioque is allegedly preached in the seminary is unfounded. Andrei Serebrich was embarrassed by the fact that, commenting on the treatise of St. Basil the Great "On the Holy Spirit", I pointed to a passage to which Catholics refer in their teaching. However, I also had to point out the passages of Holy Scripture on which the Arians are based and I have not yet been accused of this heresy. Student Georgy Arutyunov was expelled from the seminary by decree of Archbishop Innocent of Korsun dated December 1, 2009, at the request of the majority of the seminary teachers for provocative activities. Moreover this student still lives in the seminary with his family: Bishop Innocent allowed him to stay until April 15."
The chancellor of the seminary, Archbishop Innocent of Korsun, commenting on the open letter, quoted the words of the Gospel of Luke (12:1): “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” and noted with regret that “this act is a typical example of jealousy beyond reason and immaturity. It is our duty to strictly adhere to the Orthodox tradition—we must not fall into radical “Phariseism,” as in the case of Andrei, but neither into liberal “Sadduceeism.” The Lord condemns both of these in the Holy Scriptures.”
“The guarantee of “neo-Catholicism” in a heterodox environment is the strong faith of the students themselves and devotion to the Mother Church. A person truly devoted to his Church will not be afraid of meeting with representatives of other faiths and the secular world, especially living in an Orthodox environment, as in our seminary,” believes the rector. - No matter how we treat Catholics, in modern world we cannot avoid meeting them. Objective knowledge of the teachings of others Christian Churches very useful both in pastoral ministry in the West and in inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue."

Father Grigory Prikhodko is a Catholic priest who teaches Latin and comparative liturgics to seminarians. Listen to his own story about how he does it:

Is it possible to live in a Catholic environment and not be influenced by Catholicism? Archpriest Nikolai Ozolin, rector of the Spaso-Kizhi Patriarchal Metochion in Petrozavodsk, Priest Andrei Kordochkin, rector of the Church of the Nativity in Madrid and Abbot Arseny (Sokolov), rector of All Saints Parish in Lisbon, Portugal, share their experience:

Archpriest Nikolai Ozolin (born, raised and educated in France): Getting to France does not at all mean getting into a Catholic environment. French society perceives itself as post-Christian, based exclusively on secular humanistic principles, so there is no danger of “Catholicization” for students there. To confess Christ in modern France is a great feat, much greater than being a Christian in Russia today, and if a young man is honest with himself and faithful to his tradition, he will always be respected in a Catholic environment, precisely as a bearer of the Orthodox tradition. Very little is known about Orthodoxy in Europe, including among Catholics. So it will be very interesting for them to get to know him first hand.

Priest Andrey Kordochkin, rector of the Nativity of Christ parish in Madrid. Spain:
Is it possible to live in a Catholic environment and not become “Catholicized”? To answer this question, I will have to remember myself when I was sixteen.
I began to take my first steps in the Church in my native St. Petersburg. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands on Konyushennaya Square. Then a desire arose in me to enter the seminary, I planned to go to America to study; I wanted to gain experience of church life that was not crippled by the Soviet regime. But the Lord judged differently - I was invited to a Benedictine boarding school in the north of England for three months. The monastery has its own college in Oxford, where about 30 students study - monks and laymen. I came to this college for a few days, and received an invitation to receive a university education at Oxford. True, for this I needed, after graduating from school in Russia, to return to the same boarding school for a year. Father Henry, the director of the college, advised him to meet with Bishop Callistos of Diocleia, the largest specialist in patrolology at the university. “And one more thing,” said Fr. Henry, “there is a student here from Russia, you should see him. He is writing a dissertation with Bishop Kallistos, his name is Father Hilarion Alfeev.” These two meetings strengthened my decision to stay to study in England. I can’t say that the decision was easy for me: in the fields of North Yorkshire, it seemed to me that everything that was most important - the Church, family, friends - remained in St. Petersburg, and I found myself in England cut off from life - for a long time or forever.
And then for the first time I began to pray seriously.
...Every Orthodox person has the experience of his first close contact with monastic life. Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Optina Pustyn, Valaam. I remember a small monastery forty miles from the school, not far from the town of Whitby. Village buses, a road through fields, a cold wind - the sea is very close! Here is the monastery; unless you see the cross on the eaves, you might not realize that this is not just the ordinary farmhouse from which it originated. In one wing of the monastery lived an old Russian nun, Mother Thekla, in the other - Archimandrite Ephraim, an elderly Englishman who had once taken monasticism on Mount Athos. Behind the monastery is the grave of Mother Maria, a Swiss woman and the founder of the monastery. The monastery is cold, especially in winter. A small church, only a few people at Sunday Liturgy. The monastery gave me strength, I felt like an Orthodox person, I understood that I was not alone.

In addition to the monastery, there were visits to Oxford, and services in the Orthodox church on Canterbury Street. Two bishops, Greek and Russian, warm and personal relations with them, tea for all parishioners after the Liturgy - after the church of St. Petersburg, many things were a wonder. During another three years of study at Oxford, I regularly went to this temple, living for some time across the road from it.
Then a year in London. From Notting Hill Gate, where I lived, it takes about twenty minutes to walk along Hyde Park to the Jesuit Heathrop College, where I studied. And if you walk through the park - the Assumption Cathedral. Sunday. Here Metropolitan Anthony, as usual, approaches the throne, leaving his apartment behind the altar. "Blessed is the Kingdom..."

Thus, for five years I lived and studied in a Catholic environment, four years with the Benedictines, and a year with the Jesuits. At the same time, not only did I not “become Catholic,” but on the contrary, it was during these years, as is clear to me now, that I was formed as Orthodox man who wishes to devote his life to serving the Church of Christ. For a thinking person, being in someone else’s tradition is an incentive to think more deeply about one’s own. But what does “stranger” mean? After all, life in the Catholic Church is not limited to discussing the filioque and the primacy of the Pope. I remember how Henry's father waited on the students and guests at every dinner at Oxford. “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant”; This approach to life is much closer to me than honoring rank and serving one’s own authority as the main form of relations with the outside world, which looks especially ridiculous in the Church. Close acquaintance with the West does not allow one to dismiss important issues about the essence of Christianity; if in real life Catholics turn out to be different from the Teutonic knights from the film “Alexander Nevsky”; they have to think with their own heads, without relying on images familiar to the Orthodox consciousness.

Of course, you can take a position of complete isolation in relation to the Catholic world, divide the universe into “us” and “strangers,” adapting Soviet fears of the “world behind the scenes” with an indispensable branch in the Vatican to the quasi-Orthodox worldview. Students preparing to enter the priesthood could be prohibited from studying in the West. However, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) once rightly noted: “In the Russian Church... there is a panicky fear of everything Western, everything heterodox and foreign. The leadership of our religious educational institutions does not like to send people to study abroad, especially to the West, for fear that the students there will become Catholic. But what is the price of Orthodoxy if it “becomes Catholic” at the first meeting with the West? If students become Catholic, the teachers of Orthodox theological schools are primarily to blame for this: they were the ones who failed to educate students in the Orthodox spirit. Let me give you a simple example. Among the Ukrainian priests who last years have joined the Uniate movement; there are quite a few graduates of Russian theological schools. Nobody sent them to the West, they were raised in the spirit of intransigence and fanaticism, but here they are and “converted to Catholicism”! This means that the problem is not that we send students to study somewhere in the wrong place, but that we ourselves teach them the wrong thing.”

It is unlikely that a person can become poorer from meeting other people. Only a person suffering from ignorance can “become Catholic,” or, conversely, take an irreconcilable fanatical position in relation to the Catholic world. Therefore, I thank God for the experience that He gave me, and I am sure that a person who has a thoughtful and deep attitude towards his faith and love for Orthodoxy will never give it up.

To those who go to study in the West - theology and not only - I can say: this is a precious experience. Sometimes it is useful to be outside the Motherland and see it from the outside in order to understand the processes taking place at home. The Western education system stimulates independent thinking, the ability to analyze information, and the ability to convince an interlocutor with clear, clear arguments. Respect for the interlocutor, a culture of communication is not a virtue, but a norm in Western society. Great Britain is a special country in this regard. We often treat these qualities with contempt, accusing the West of replacing “spirituality” with “education.” But when a claim to spirituality is combined with rudeness and humiliating attitudes towards people, it can hardly be taken seriously. I remember how Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, a student of St. Silouan of Athos, described in one of his letters how strongly he was impressed by the British sense of tact and respect for other people.
Orthodox life in the diaspora often differs from the forms we are accustomed to, and there is something to learn here - openness to the world, the readiness of people, many of whom have traveled a difficult path to Orthodoxy, to “give an answer with meekness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3.15) to those who still takes his first steps in the temple. What at first seems to Russian people only a connection with the Motherland turns out to be incomparably greater; It is in the Church that we are given a heavenly Motherland, which the divine service calls “the longed-for fatherland.”

Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), rector of All Saints Parish in Lisbon, Portugal:
One can only rejoice at the opening of an Orthodox seminary in Paris. Paris was once famous for its theological school. But it is common for theological schools to be born and die. The St. Sergius Institute, alas, is almost entirely a thing of the past. New times require new solutions. The Paris Seminary, we hope, will eventually become not only an advanced theological school, but also a very important platform for dialogue between Orthodoxy and the Western world. Christian world and with Western European society. This is necessary to consolidate the healthy church forces of Europe in opposition to secularization; here we are natural allies with the Roman Catholics.
Fears that seminary students might fall under Catholic influence and become “Catholicized” are completely empty. I have been serving in church for the second decade in Europe - in Italy, Spain, Portugal - and nowhere have I ever heard of any conversion of our students to Catholicism. Those who convert to Catholicism are those who do not go anywhere and do not study, for example, Orthodox believers in the western regions of Ukraine. But those who are not afraid of dialogue with the West, in meetings with it, only become even more firmly established in their loyalty to Orthodoxy, in their loyalty to their mother Church. So, fortunately, fears are unfounded.
One young man from our Lisbon community entered the Paris Seminary. Since he already has a family and three small children, he studies externally, which involves traveling to sessions four times a year. He, brother Valentin, is our first Portuguese swallow. I hope that in the future other young men and women from our Portuguese communities will be eager to receive a theological education. Now they will not have to go to Russia or Ukraine. Right here in Europe, they will be able to receive theological education. Therefore, the opening of the Paris Seminary cannot but rejoice.

Text and photo: Ekaterina STEPANOVA

Interview with the rector of the Paris Theological Seminary, Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov).

— Father Alexander, the Paris Theological Seminary, which you head, occupies a special place among all theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church. What do you think makes it unique?

— Our seminary was created in 2007, but opened its doors only two years ago. The initiator of the creation of the Russian seminary in Paris was Metropolitan Kirill, the current His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The idea was the following: to simultaneously combine training in secular educational institutions, universities in Paris (Paris, as you know, is rich in secular educational institutions in which religious sciences are studied: patristics, biblical studies, Church history, etc.) and at the same time training in the theological school of the Moscow Patriarchate, organized according to the criteria of the Educational Committee, according to the rules of the Holy Synod, which provides canonical spiritual education to students striving for church service. On the basis of this, our seminary was created, and in this regard it remains unique, because only two seminaries of the Moscow Patriarchate exist outside the canonical boundaries of the Russian Orthodox Church: one in Jordanville (in the United States of America) and our seminary in Paris. But the seminary in Jordanville now functions according to the Russian pre-revolutionary model, as an autonomous educational institution in which students study inside, within the walls of the monastery. Our seminary is not an autonomous educational institution, but a collegium that exists at secular and ecclesiastical universities (“university seminary”). Now we have only started the third academic year, so... We are a very young educational institution. Currently there are 22 students studying in our seminary. Every year we accept an average of 7 people. Sometimes a little more. The students are mainly from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, there are students from Russian immigration in Western Europe, and there are students from Western countries who have converted to Orthodoxy. Now we have three such students: one is from Colombia (already a deacon), the second is from Ghana, who has just been ordained a priest (Patriarchate of Alexandria) and will soon leave the seminary to devote himself to church service, and the third is from Haiti, who is currently waiting for his student visa.

— If I may, a few words about the seminary building itself. As far as we know, is this a former Catholic monastery?

— This is a building of the 17th-18th centuries, which really was a Catholic monastery. It is symbolic that the community of this monastery was created for an educational (teaching) mission. The sisters moved to other monasteries, including Paris. Now the Russian seminary is located in this room. Only on August 1 of this year, the Russian Orthodox Church became the owner of the building and the entire adjacent territory. Now this territory belongs to the Korsun diocese, which represents the Moscow Patriarchate in France. This is a large building in which there are 25 student rooms and five rooms for teachers and priests who come to the seminary. Now our building is almost completely filled, because we are trying to create conditions for students so that everyone has their own room. This is necessary for them scientific work. We currently have 22 students, which means we only have 3-4 available rooms left.

— What is the daily routine of students at the Paris Theological Seminary? How is the spiritual life of students structured?

— We try to give students wide freedom to organize their daily routine, because students study in different educational institutions. Some students are studying at the preparatory course, others are already at the bachelor's degree. Some study at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Sorbonne University of Paris, some at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Paris or at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. There are students who are studying for a master's degree, mainly at the Sorbonne, or those who have begun writing a doctoral dissertation. Therefore, each student has his own schedule, but there are main points of the program that are mandatory for everyone. In particular, a feature of our theological school is that the seminarian’s working day begins with the service of the Divine Liturgy every day, with the exception of Great Lent, when the charter does not provide for the daily celebration of the Liturgy (on such days we perform Matins). It does not take long - about an hour and a half, although we serve it in its entirety. All students participate in the liturgy whenever possible. The seminary school day ends with Vespers, which is served every day at 7 pm. In addition, we have common meals. Naturally, not everyone gets to lunch, since many universities are located in Paris, and then students dine in university canteens, where they have the opportunity to communicate with secular students and do a little Christian mission. And in the evening everyone usually attends dinner. Naturally, on Saturday and Sunday we perform the required services of the liturgical cycle. From time to time, some of our students go to help parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church or parishes of other jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church in France, thereby gaining experience in shepherding and organizing the parish.

— Does the Paris Seminary have such positions as vice-rector for educational work, inspector, assistant inspector on duty? A few words about the educational process itself.

— We have an inspector, Father Sergius Borsky, a graduate of the Smolensk Theological Seminary and the Roman Biblical Pontifical University. In the Western context, Father Sergius and I are trying to develop in our students not so much the fear of discipline and punishment from the inspectorate, but rather the responsibility for the fact that they - future Orthodox priests - represent the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian culture, Russia in a foreign, foreign cultural context in general or their country, and that by them, by their behavior, by the way they study and communicate with people at the University, they will judge the Russian Orthodox Church in general. It is this sense of responsibility that we try to develop in our students. We see the mission of our seminary as helping students, firstly, to get acquainted with another culture, with another university methodology, to meet Christians of other Churches, with representatives of other religions, and secondly, to strengthen themselves in their own spiritual culture, in their roots, in its Orthodox faith, prepare yourself for the Christian Orthodox mission in order to talk about Orthodoxy in a language understandable to Westerners.

— What is the teaching staff of the seminary like?

— Our students listen to approximately two-thirds of the lectures at universities in Paris, and a third of the lectures at the seminary. At the seminary itself, we have 14 teachers of theological and canonical sciences, and about 10 teachers of French, English languages, basically, these are native speakers of these languages. Among the teachers we have representatives of Russian immigration, the clergy of the Korsun diocese, who have university experience or who are engaged in teaching or scientific activities, because in the West, as you know, very often Orthodox priests have secular work, in particular, some of them are teachers or work in scientific structures French state. In addition, the dean of the St. Sergius Theological Institute has been teaching here since last year. The secretary of the Academic Council of the seminary is priest Sergius Model, secretary of the Brussels-Belgium diocese. Canon law is taught here by Hieromonk Ambrose (Makar), former vice-rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, and now rector Orthodox church in Milan. In addition, we supplement weekly lectures and monthly seminars with Saturday lectures. Every Saturday we invite specialists from different countries, from different backgrounds, religious and university, talk about their research. And these Saturday lectures are obligatory for all seminarians.

— Do seminary students visit the general Christian shrines of France?

— Yes, this is one of the important elements of the seminarians’ stay in France and their training, the formation of spiritual consciousness. We often travel and take part in pilgrimage trips. Our seminary choir sings very often during pilgrimages to the shrines of France. For example, on the day of remembrance of the holy martyrs Sophia and her daughters Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov, the choir of our seminarians sang at the Orthodox liturgy in the city of Esho, where a small part of the relics of the martyrs is kept. This is one example of such trips. Naturally, the seminarians and I make a pilgrimage to the Savior’s crown of thorns in the cathedral several times a year Notre Dame of Paris. Starting from this academic year, we have concluded an agreement with the leadership of the cathedral, according to which a student from our seminary will necessarily take part in all removals of the crown of thorns and coordinate the Orthodox part of the pilgrimage, since many Orthodox priests come, including from neighboring countries (Germany, Belgium, Italy, Russia, etc.). We try to travel to other places and do it regularly.

— A few words about historical significance visit of the blessed His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' to France.

— The visit of Patriarch Alexy II to France was the beginning of a completely new era for the life of the Korsun diocese. It was from that moment that it became much more visible, both in the inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian contexts of France. The visit of the Most Holy Bishop gave a huge impetus for the development of our diocese. It was then that the project to build a new Orthodox Cathedral in Paris, it was then that the idea of ​​​​creating a seminary in Paris was first discussed. Thus, all the current most important projects of the Korsun diocese were given impetus by the visit of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, moreover, it aroused enormous interest among French Christians in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church, because a huge number of people gathered for a prayer service before the Savior’s crown of thorns in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris - about 5 thousand. The cathedral was completely filled. People were also standing on the porch. Imagine what a filled Notre Dame Cathedral means. This says a lot. Among them were Orthodox Christians from various jurisdictions: the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Church, the Constantinople Church, etc. These were representatives of other Christian Churches who came to greet the Patriarch of Moscow. There were even people who were far from Christianity, but who were interested in the historicity of this visit. It was truly amazing to see the Patriarch of Moscow entering the main, central gates of Notre Dame Cathedral, which are rarely opened. Last year, another historical event took place - for the first time since the time of Emperor Nicholas II, the President visited Notre Dame Cathedral to venerate the Savior’s crown of thorns. Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev. It is interesting that on this occasion the rector of the cathedral even reviewed the rite by which Emperor Nicholas was received and adapted it.

— At what stage is the construction of the Russian cultural and educational center in Paris currently?

— This is a major historical project. The Russian Federation has acquired a wonderful plot in the center of Paris, right on the banks of the Seine. It is now home to the French meteorological service, which is due to move by the end of this year. In December 2011, the meteorological service moved to a new building. This building is being vacated. Part of it will be destroyed to build a temple, which will be the cathedral of the Korsun diocese, the main temple of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe. Part of the building will be converted into diocesan administration, a spiritual and cultural center, auditoriums, including our seminary, and parish premises. It is planned to obtain a construction permit and approve all projects within the next 2012. Tentatively, construction work is planned to be carried out in 2013-14 so that by 2014-15 the cathedral and the adjacent complex can already be in use.

— The debate about the Islamization of Western Europe continues in the media. Let us recall, for example, Elena Chudinova’s rather controversial dystopian novel “Notre Dame Mosque.” Is it really?

— It seems to me that it is necessary to somewhat relativize the statement about the Islamization of Europe, which is occurring in different proportions in European countries. In France, for example, Muslims are present in large numbers, but in proportion they are hardly more numerous than, for example, Muslims in the Russian Federation. The peculiarity of France in relation to other countries is that it is a country with a well-known imperial (colonial) past. Therefore, the Muslims who are currently present in France are not so much emigrants who came to work in France, but rather people from former French colonies. These are people who were born French. The situation is more or less similar to the one that exists in the Russian Federation, where the majority of Muslims are not just emigrants, but people born in Russia. The experience of Muslim integration into French society at the moment seems to me to be more significant than in neighboring European countries. Now the French government has taken seriously the issue of the Islamic presence in society and the relationship between this religion and the French tradition of secularism. The French state helps build mosques, but at the same time prohibits street prayer. Paradoxically, at the Catholic University of Paris, on the initiative of the French state, a department was opened to improve the qualifications of future or current imams. France does not like to accept imams from abroad and strives to allow only those who have been trained at the Faculty of the Catholic University to preach on its territory.

- The millionth mass, the two millionth hajj... Let's remember, for example, World Youth Day Roman Catholic Church, which took place in August in Spain, attracting 1.5 million young people. What unites so many young people of the same religion at one time in one place and what do we lack?

— I also often wondered about this question. Even in a secularized country like France, where attitudes towards Christianity are rather ambivalent, the Catholic Church manages to gather large numbers of young people. I remember when Pope John Paul II died, at that time I was teaching the history of Russian civilization and the Russian Orthodox Church at the Sorbonne University, on the day of his funeral a huge screen was installed in front of the porch of Notre Dame Cathedral, and everyone who could not for one reason or another reasons to go to Rome, I could watch the funeral ceremony. It is significant that of the forty of my students, of whom I was sure that they were non-practicing Catholics, very few came to the lecture; all the rest were on the porch of the cathedral and watched the funeral ceremony. The love for such large, mass religious events is very strong among Catholic youth in the West, but this, unfortunately, has a negative impact on weekly church practice. In the future, this may extend to young people of the Orthodox Church. That is, young Orthodox Christians will attend services less regularly, preferring to participate in major religious events. This is a new challenge for pastors in Western Europe, and we have to take such influences into account, reminding us of the importance for the Christian of active and regular participation in the Lord's Table.

Seminaire orthodoxe russe en France) - an educational institution of the Korsun diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, training priests and clergy. The center is located in the city Epinay-sous-Senard, a suburb of Paris.

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Background

The Spiritual and Educational Center named after the Venerable Genevieve of Paris is not the first educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church in France. In addition to the one created in 1925 by the works of prominent figures of the Russian emigration, headed by Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), which since 1946 has been the highest educational institution of the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Churches of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 1944, the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Evgraf Kovalevsky and his associates in Paris was created, which in 1953, together with Evgraf Kovalevsky, left the Moscow Patriarchate.

The seminary at Villemoisson lasted only a few years. It was closed after the retirement of its founder, Metropolitan Nicholas (Eremin), in 1963, and later in 1973 the monastery was also closed.

Story

After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the opening of a significant number of new parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe, the need to open a seminary to train clergy specifically for foreign parishes was increasingly realized. The idea of ​​creating a seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church in France was developed shortly after the pastoral visit to Paris in October 2007 of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. According to Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov): “Firstly, Paris is the center of the largest diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate outside the CIS (not counting Berlin). Secondly, the intellectual resources of Russian emigration are concentrated to the maximum in Paris. The fact that we had good relations with the Catholic Church played a role. Finally, it was easier for us to establish relations with secular educational institutions - with the same Sorbonne, where I taught.”

On April 15, 2008, after hearing the report of Metropolitan Kirill, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to open the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Paris. According to Archbishop of Korsun Innocent (Vasiliev): “it took us more than a year to resolve the necessary organizational issues, find premises, and form a teaching corporation.” According to Rector Alexander (Sinyakov) “We cannot ignore the fact that, despite obvious secularization, French culture and history are closely connected with the Catholic Church. It was not easy for us to interest our Catholic interlocutors in the project of creating a Russian Orthodox seminary in France. But when we succeeded, they agreed to help us find premises, which is currently quite difficult in the Paris region with the limited funds that the Korsun diocese has at its disposal.” The Catholic diocese offered several dozen buildings to choose from. We stopped at the house of Saint Genevieve in Epinay-sous-Senard (Fr. Épinay-sous-Sénart), 21 km southeast of Paris. The first classes at the seminary began on October 5, 2009. The grand opening on November 14 of the same year was headed by the chairman of the DECR MP, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Alfeev).

At the beginning of 2010, a public outcry was caused by an open letter from former seminary student Andrei Serebrich, who criticized the order established in the seminary by its rector Alexander (Sinyakov).

In November 2013, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' established a special commission responsible for the distribution of graduates of the Russian Theological Seminary in France. The commission consists of the Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Foreign Institutions, the ruling bishop of the Korsun diocese and the rector of the Paris Seminary. The decisions of the commission are submitted for approval to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

On February 13, 2014, at the Russian Theological Seminary in France, a cooperation agreement was signed between the seminary and the Russian Orthodox University.

On December 24, 2015, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church stated: “Over the years of the existence of this institution, the peculiarities of its functioning have been formed, involving accommodation and spiritual care, listening to a small number of lectures while receiving basic education in other educational institutions in France. Taking into account the fundamental difference between this institution and the theological seminaries of the Russian Orthodox Church and based on the results of the inspection of the Paris Theological Seminary, the Educational Committee proposed to rename the Paris Theological Seminary and determined that the Paris Orthodox Theological Seminary should be considered the Theological and Educational Center named after St. Genevieve of Paris under the Korsun Diocese, while retaining the right to use the name "seminary"

In November 2017, at the spiritual and educational center, on the initiative of friends of the seminary, fathers and mothers of children of French-Russian families, the Phoenix additional education school was opened with lessons in the Russian language, speech development and reading, entertaining logic and mathematics.

Education

The Spiritual and Educational Center named after St. Genevieve of Paris is a unique educational institution that allows you to combine training and scientific research at a secular university with spiritual education and liturgical practice. All students of the center study at one of the universities in Paris, receiving additional education within the walls of the spiritual and educational center. Thus, the Spiritual and Educational Center named after the Venerable Genevieve of Paris “is not an autonomous educational institution, but a collegium existing at secular and ecclesiastical universities (“university seminary”).”

Training at the educational center is conducted in French and Russian.

Admission to the seminary

Candidates for admission to the spiritual and educational center must be baptized Orthodox Christians of any nationality.

Enrollment occurs in two stages:

Learning programs

The Spiritual and Educational Center provides four different training programs: Pastoral, Bachelor's and Master's with residence in the seminary, as well as a three-year external program.

Preparatory Course

The preparatory course, lasting one academic year (two semesters), is intended for graduates of Orthodox religious institutions (seminaries and academies) preparing to study in a bachelor's or master's program.

The main objectives of the course are:

Pastoral program

Approved in September 2013, the pastoral program lasting two academic years is addressed to two categories of students:

1. people from Western countries who have no experience of studying in a seminary and are preparing to take holy orders;
2. students from the CIS countries with higher theological or other education, but without experience of studying in pastoral theological institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The two-year pastoral cycle is a full-fledged program, the main goal of which is to prepare the candidate for pastoral service, to compensate for the lack of Orthodox spiritual education, taking into account the specific context of Western countries.

After graduation, at the personal request and with the blessing of the clergy, the student can continue his studies within the standard model of the Paris Orthodox Seminary: bachelor's and/or master's degrees at one of the universities in Paris with additional theological education at the seminary itself.

Bachelor's and Master's degrees

In December 2010, the seminary released the Sequence of Daily Vespers: a parallel edition in Slavic and French.

In November 2013, the Liturgy of the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord, was published, also in a parallel edition in Slavic and French.

In December 2013, the Publishing House of Saint Genevieve (French: Éditions Sainte-Geneviève) was created at the seminary. The publishing house sets itself educational goals: to introduce the Russian-speaking reader to the history and life of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad and to open the heritage of the Eastern Orthodox tradition to the French-speaking reader. The publishing house publishes books in French and Russian, as well as bilingual publications.

Since 2014, the online store of the publishing house prp has been operating. Genevieve at: www.editions-orthodoxes.fr

In February 2014, the Seminary Publishing House published the first book - “La conversion au Royaume de Dieu. Méditations du Carême”, which is a French translation of the book of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill “The Mystery of Repentance. Lenten Sermons". The presentation of the book took place on March 12, 2014 at the residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Paris.

In November 2014, the publishing house released a book by Fr. Sergius Model in Russian about Orthodoxy in Belgium: “Every foreign land is a fatherland for them”: 150 years of the presence of Orthodoxy in Belgium (1862-2012).

Building

Since September 1, 2009, the educational buildings of the spiritual and educational center are located in the house of Saint Genevieve in Epinay-sous-Senard (fr. Épinay-sous-Sénart), 21 km southeast of Paris. This building of the 17th-18th centuries belonged to the Catholic monastery of the Helping Sisters (French).

Work on the improvement of the house temple began in August 2011. The floor of the temple was paved with white stone slabs. The altar part of the temple was painted by masters of the icon-painting workshop of the Three Saints' Compound under the direction of Emilia van Taak. In October 2011, an iconostasis made of carved wood in the Moscow workshop “Nikopeya” was delivered to the seminary and installed. A group of icon painters from Moscow under the leadership of V. A. Ermilov, a teacher at the MDA icon painting school, painted the main part of the seminary’s house church.

The southern wall of the temple is decorated unique fresco with the life of the Venerable Genevieve (blessing by St. Herman of Auxerre, healing of the mother from illness, dedication to virginity by St. Marcellus of Paris, founding of a basilica in honor of the Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, bringing bread to the besieged capital). The north wall depicts Pentecost, Candlemas and Mid-Pentecost. The western wall is decorated with frescoes of St. supreme apostles Peter and Paul, a fresco of Christ surrounded by Russian saints Alexei and Peter, and a fresco depicting Holy Mother of God surrounded by the prophets Moses and Isaiah.

On November 14, 2012, on the third anniversary of the opening of the seminary, Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk performed the great consecration of the house church.

Divine services in the house church are held daily (on weekdays liturgy at 7:30, evening service at 19:00; on Saturday liturgy at 9:00 at 18:00 all-night vigil; on Sundays and twelfth holidays liturgy at 10:00) and are open For everyone.

Language of worship: Slavic and French.

Temple shrines

In the house church there is a reliquary with a particle of the relics of the Venerable Genevieve. It would be solemnly handed over by the Bishop of Pontoise Jean-Yves Riocre Korsun diocese for the church of the Russian Theological Seminary in France. The ceremony of transferring the relics took place in cathedral Saint Maclovius of the city of Pontoise on July 1, 2010.

The house temple also contains the Thorn from the Crown of Thorns of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ceremonial transfer of the reliquary with a thorn to the Korsun diocese took place on Saturday of the Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 9, 2011 in the home church of the Paris Orthodox Theological Seminary. The shrine was donated to the Russian seminary by the Congregation of the Helping Sisters (fr. Société des Auxiliatrices des âmes du Purgatoire), formerly occupied the monastery of St. Genevieve in Épiney-sous-Senard, which now houses the seminary.

The thorn from the Crown of Thorns of the Lord is sealed in a rock crystal capsule, which is inserted into a cross made of massive gilded silver. Along with the shrine, the sisters handed over ancient and modern documents to the theological school on the history of this Thorn Thorn.

The Congregation of the Helping Sisters received the shrine as a gift from the Archbishop of Vienna in 1960. The reliquary containing this Thorn was taken from France during the revolution and brought to Prague in 1790, from where it was later transported to Vienna.

A new reliquary for the Thorny Thorn was made in Russia in December 2011. It is made of wood, on which are carved images of the Crown of Thorns, the Flagellation, the Stations of the Cross, and the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the Four Evangelists.

For worship, the Thorn of the Crown of Thorns is worn at the Tuesday and Thursday evening services and at the Divine Liturgy on Saturday.

Church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In September 2012, a wooden church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in the park of the spiritual and educational center. This first church in the Paris region, built in the traditions of Russian temple wooden architecture, was donated to the seminary by A. S. Shapovalov, a philanthropist from the Tver diocese.

In the second half of July 2012, work began on the construction of the temple's foundation, which was completed in August. On September 6, 2012, the temple was delivered to the seminary in disassembled form. Work on the construction of the temple was carried out by a team of volunteer craftsmen from Russia under the leadership of A. S. Shapovalov.

On September 21, 2012, the construction of the temple was completely completed. A set of six bells, cast at the Voronezh plant and donated to the seminary by E. V. Osadchi, was installed on the bell tower.

The total area of ​​the temple is 100 m2. The height of the temple is 18 meters.

The solemn consecration of the temple was performed on September 21, 2014 by the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Foreign Institutions, Archbishop Mark (Golovkov) of Yegoryevsk. The service was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to France A.K. Orlov, the mayor of the city of Epinay-sous-Senard Georges Pujals and members of the municipal council, advisor for religious affairs of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Jean-Christophe Pocelle, head of the Val-d Agglomeration 'Yères and deputy of the Essonne department Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, deputy of the local district and mayor of Bussy-Saint-Antoine Roman Kolya, general councilor of the district Monique Ntinu, mayors of neighboring cities, representatives of the local Catholic parish, Muslim community, numerous Orthodox believers. The opening of the temple was included in the TOP-20 events of the “Days of National Treasure” in the Paris region according to France Bleu radio.

In September 2015, the last stage of major internal improvement work was completed this week in the wooden Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary: a staircase to the bell tower was installed.

Administration

• Bishop of Korsun Nestor (Sirotenko) - chancellor, chairman of the administrative council
• Hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov) - rector, chairman of the pedagogical council
• Archpriest Anthony Ilyin - Vice-Rector for Public Relations

Notes

1. Two Orthodox Christians from Martinique undergo an internship at the seminary // official website of the Russian Orthodox Seminary in France October 15, 2015
2. Lossky V. N. Outline of the Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church
3. John-Nectarius
4. Priest Vladimir Golubtsov. Russian Orthodox diaspora in the second half of the 20th century
5. Orthodox theological and pastoral courses in Paris // “Bulletin of the Russian Western European Patriarchal Exarchate”, Paris, 1955. No. 23. P. 192.
6. Bolshakov S. Abode Venerable Sergius and Herman of Valaam in Villemoisson near Paris: Memoirs. S. 3.
7. Bolshakov S. Monastery of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam in Villemoisson near Paris: Memoirs. P. 9.
8. Smirnov Victor. Russian Orthodox Seminary in Villemoisson (Français) = Le séminaire orthodoxe russe de Villemoisson // Slavonika: Lettre aux amis du Séminaire orthodoxe russe en France: Revue annuelle du Séminaire orthodoxe russe en France. - 2014. - No. 3. - pp. 26-31.
9. https://mospat.ru/ru/2009/10/07/news6227/
10. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/32150.html
11. Journal No. 15 of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated April 15, 2008 // Patriarchia.Ru
12. http://www.blagovest-info.ru/index.php?ss=2&s=5&id=32681
13. http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/?act=monitor&id=14453
14. The first meeting of the Academic Council of the Russian Theological Seminary took place in Paris
15. “I consider continuing my education at the seminary unhealthy”
16. Is the Russian Theological Seminary in France not Orthodox?
17. Paris Seminary or Orthodox MGIMO
18. Maria Nikiforova. Paris is still worth a mass
19. A Commission has been created for the distribution of graduates of the Paris Orthodox Seminary, Mercredi 11 December 2013
20. The Russian theological seminary in France and the Russian Orthodox University signed an agreement on cooperation // seminaria.fr, 15 Février 2014