Servicemen are in particular need of spiritual support, and military priests of the Russian Orthodox Church should appear in the army and navy in the near future, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at a meeting with the personnel of the 16th squadron of submarines of the Pacific Fleet on the pier of the closed port city of Vilyuchinsk on Kamchatka.
“By the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, the institution of military clergy is beginning to develop in the Russian Armed Forces. We are still taking the very first steps - perhaps not energetically enough. there will be clergymen who, side by side with the military, will serve, spiritually strengthening those who really need spiritual support, the patriarch said.
A military man, according to him, needs spiritual support. “Because the risks associated with military service are so great that they cannot be compensated for by any material benefits. No material benefits can compensate for injuries, and even more so for the loss of life. This means that this type of service to the country and the people requires tremendous moral strength, said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
He is convinced that duty is a moral concept and "no laws can force a person to go towards the fire, only the inner consciousness of the need to fulfill the duty, trust in the will of God and his help help a person not to lose courage in the most difficult circumstances in the face of death." "All this is the reason why the church has always been, is and will be with the armed forces, doing everything to spiritually support, strengthen and educate military personnel in their devoted service to the Motherland, impeccable allegiance to the oath, readiness to protect their people even at the cost of their lives," - stressed the patriarch.
He recalled that every day during the divine service a prayer is offered up in each church "for the authorities and the army."
The Primate expressed gratitude to the submariners for the fact that in the most difficult time through which Russia passed in the 90s, they did not leave their combat post and in the most difficult conditions, "which were perceived by many as humiliating," with humility and firmness they performed their military feat.
According to him, already in 2005, when he visited Kamchatka, the situation was changing for the better. "Now, when another Rybachiy (a village that is part of Vilyuchinsk) is ahead of us - with renovated buildings, with a well-groomed naval infrastructure, when you see a completely different picture, then you understand that many things have happened over the years that have changed for the better the life of our sailors, "the patriarch noted.
He thanked the leadership of the Pacific Fleet for the high level of interaction with the church. "This interaction began in those very difficult years. The Church took a step towards the sailors and was received with love and trust. God grant that as a result of this interaction the spiritual power of our army will be strengthened. If this spiritual power is supported by modern military and technical might., then this will mean that Russia has a reliable shield, "the primate said. He wished the sailors health and God's help "in their difficult military service."
The patriarch noted that nowhere, as in the Far East, the problem of lack or shortage of people is not realized and presented awards - the patriarchal sign of motherhood, a diploma and a cash prize of 20 thousand rubles - to four wives of sailors with more than three children. "A multi-child family is a spiritually healthy family, and this is especially important for the military, because it is the rear of everyone who goes on a campaign," he said.
Commander of the troops and forces in the northeast of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Maklov, the Primate presented the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker, who is considered the patron saint of sailors.
The sixteenth submarine squadron of the Pacific Fleet presented the patriarch with a model of a strategic nuclear submarine - an analogue of the submarines in service with the Pacific Fleet.
Expressing gratitude to the patriarch for the prayers for the servicemen and their spiritual and moral education, Rear Admiral Maklov noted that, on the basis of the concluded agreements, the Russian Orthodox Church takes special care of the submarines George the Victorious and Nikolai the Wonderworker, that all battle flags in Kamchatka are consecrated, and the sailors fleets are participating in a fundraising campaign for the revival of the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt - the main temple-symbol of the Russian fleet.
The Patriarch presented the icon of St. John of Kronstadt to the garrison church of St. Andrew the First-Called in Vilyuchinsk, which he also visited.
The rector of the garrison church is a captain of the second rank of the reserve, a former submarine officer, priest Alexander Ponomarev. On the wall of the church there are granite plaques with the names of the dead sailors, and the St. Andrew's flag serves as the curtain of the Royal Doors.
Together with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the choir of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow arrived in the closed city, which gave a concert of secular and sacred music in front of the residents of Vilyuchinsk.
In 1938, a base of diesel submarines was created in the Tarinskaya Bay of Avacha Bay. From the end of 1959, the ship-repair industry began to develop, and a few years later nuclear submarines of the Pacific Fleet settled in Krashenninikov Bay.
The city of Vilyuchinsk was formed in 1968 by the merger of the workers' settlements of Rybachy (nuclear submarine base), Primorsky (coastal support units for the Pacific Fleet) and Seldevaya (Navy shipyard). In 1998, the nuclear submarine flotilla was reorganized into a squadron of nuclear submarine missile cruisers. Nuclear submarines with cruise missiles of project 949 "Omsk", "Tomsk", "Vilyuchinsk", "Irkutsk", "Chelyabinsk", "Krasnoyarsk", submarines of project 667 BDR "Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky", "Saint George the Victorious" other. The power of one warhead of the missiles on these boats is comparable to the power of the explosion of the bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.
The population of Vilyuchinsk, according to data for 2009, is more than 25 thousand people, most of them are military personnel and members of their families.
The Diocese of Peter and Paul and Kamchatka was established in 1840; the future Saint Innocent of Moscow became its first head. Currently, according to the Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, the diocese has 43 parishes, two monasteries and one skete.
