Report of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan at the diocesan meeting of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese on December 13, 2023

December 13, 2023. Alma-Ata. Report of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the life and activities of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese:

Your Eminences!
All-honorable fathers, all-honorable mother abbess Love!
Dear brothers and sisters!

I cordially greet all participants in the traditional diocesan meeting, clergy and members of parish councils of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese.

The year 2023 is coming to an end, today we have gathered in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery to take stock of diocesan life and outline ways for the further development of church activities.

Opening the annual meeting of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese, I would like first of all to say words of gratitude to my assistants - vicar archpastors - Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, administrator of the affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, ordained to the episcopal rank by His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' by Kirill in April of this year; presbyters, deacons, monastics, employees of the diocesan administration, leadership and teachers of the seminary and Sunday schools, members of parish councils for their good service, interesting initiatives and active work.

In accordance with the established procedure for annual presentations, I present to your attention the main statistical data characterizing the church life of our diocese.

Currently, the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese includes:
– 77 parishes;
– 2 women’s monasteries and 2 men’s hermitages;
– 3 house churches and 6 chapels.

The administrator of the diocese is assisted by three vicar archpastors:
– Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, who bears the obedience of the administrator of the affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District;
– Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan is the chairman of the church diocesan court;
- Bishop Benjamin of Talgar, appointed this year as the head of the newly formed Talgar Vicariate.

Our diocese currently has 199 full-time clergy, of which 148 are priests and 51 are deacons. There are 7 priests and 1 deacon on staff.

In the past year, two priests of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese were honored with elevation to the rank of bishop. This is Archimandrite Veniamin (Rudy), ordained Bishop of Talgar, Abbot Vianor (Ivanov), ordained Bishop of Ural and Atyrau. I wish the Right Reverend Archpastors strength of mental and physical strength and God’s gracious help in serving for the benefit of the Holy Church.

Last year, the oldest cleric of the Alma-Ata diocese, mitred Archpriest Seraphim Eremenko and Abbot Theodosius (Beloborodov), reposed in the Lord. Let us sing “Eternal Memory” to the deceased.

In 2023, I am as the Manager of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese, did the following:
– 325 services
– 2 priestly and 2 deaconal ordinations;

With my blessing, the vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, performed 118 services; the vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, performed 217 divine services, 2 priestly and 5 deaconal ordinations; The vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop Benjamin of Talgar, performed 143 services.

5 times I took part in the work of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church as a permanent member of the Synod and chaired four meetings of the Synod of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.

The main event in the life of the entire Russian Orthodox Church in the past year was the Bishops' Conference, held on July 19 in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. It was attended by archpastors of the Moscow Patriarchate from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, countries near and far abroad in which there are dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. The final solemn meeting was attended by the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. During the work of the meeting, the hierarchs analyzed pressing issues of church life in recent years; appropriate adjustments were made for its further development. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill emphasized that today there are three priority areas in church life. The first is education: both theological and religious in general. The second is social work, and the third is youth. The Russian Orthodox Church will make the greatest efforts to develop specific programs in these three areas. I remind you that every clergyman must necessarily familiarize himself with the resolutions of the Bishops' Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church and the report of the High Hierarch.

The outgoing year 2023 in the life of the Astana diocese was full of many significant events. The most important of them are the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Metropolitan District on the territory of the Republic and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the celebration in honor of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Kazakhstan. The names of Hiero-Confessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata, Hieromartyr Pimen, Bishop of Vernensky, Rev. Confessor Sebastian of Karaganda and many other sufferers for the name of Christ are inscribed in golden letters in the history of Orthodoxy. We believe that their prayerful intercession helps us and strengthens all who carry out church obedience in the Metropolitan District, who live and work here. Thank God that in recent years in the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District a lot has been done to ensure that the suffering feat of the confessors of faith who shone in the Central Asian region became as well known and studied as possible, both in our country and beyond its borders.

This year, in the spiritual and cultural centers of the Astana and Alma-Almaty diocese, exhibitions dedicated to the memory of those who suffered for Christ were held: “Chronicle of the 20th anniversary”, “Where the mountain peaks shine”, “15th anniversary of the pan-church glorification of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Kazakhstan ", "Seven secrets of Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin)", "The pearl of Kazakhstan - Aksai monastery."
Work has been completed on creating an electronic database of all repressed clergy and laity of the Orthodox Church, whose destinies are connected with Kazakhstan and Central Asia - “Turkestan Golgotha”.

On the territory of the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Alma-Ata, a worship cross was installed and consecrated in memory of the 90th anniversary of the martyrdom of the shepherds who labored in this church at the height of the persecution of Orthodoxy - Archpriests Alexander Skalsky, Stefan Ponomarev and Philip Grigoriev.

This year we prayerfully celebrated the 30th anniversary of the canonization of two especially revered ascetics of our land - hieromonks Seraphim (Theologian) and Theognost (Pivovarov). As part of the celebration, the opening and consecration of a reconstructed walking path to the monastery, called “Ascent to the Monastery,” took place. The project was implemented by the Apostol public foundation under the leadership of President Georgy Gennadievich Sosnovsky. Support was provided by the management and staff of the Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park. After the repair work, climbing the mountain where the monastery stands has become much easier and safer - the path has been cleared of stones and dead wood, difficult sections of the climb are equipped with comfortable and reliable stairs with handrails.

Kazakh artists were invited to the celebrations in the Seraphim-Feognostov Hermitage, for whom a plein air was organized - work on painting outside the studio, in nature, in natural light. A few months later, the artists’ works were presented at an exhibition at the State Museum of Art of the Republic of Kazakhstan named after Abylkhan Kasteev and at the spiritual and cultural center named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov). The exhibition of plein air works is the second significant joint project of the museum and the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

This year, our Metropolitan District prayerfully celebrated the 105th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Pimen (Belolikov) of Vernensky and Semirechensky. As part of the celebrations, the spiritual and cultural center named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) hosted an exhibition dedicated to the holy martyr and a presentation of a book by candidate of philosophical sciences, head of the archives of the St. Petersburg diocese, a famous specialist in the history of Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan O.N. Khodakovskaya “Where the mountain peaks shine.”

A landmark event of this year was the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the revival and the 115th anniversary of the founding of the Iversko-Seraphim convent in the southern capital. For the memorable dates, the water-blessing chapel and the Matroninsky Church of the monastery were restored, and the tombstone chapel was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. This chapel will become the resting place of the honorable remains of the ever-memorable Archbishop Zephaniah (Sokolsky) - the first archpastor of the Turkestan diocese, the apostle of the Great Steppe, and the educator of Central Asia. A photo exhibition dedicated to the history and modern life of the monastery was prepared.

As part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Metropolitan District with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' and with the good consent of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.-Zh.K. Tokaev in Almaty, the opening and consecration of the monument to the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky took place.

With the support of the Apostle Foundation, a full-scale restoration of the oldest church in Almaty, the Cathedral in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, was completed. As a result of restoration work, the temple was restored to its historical appearance and architectural details, lost during the years of persecution of the faith. The reconstruction of the shrine was preceded by a large scientific effort to search and study archival materials in Kazakhstan and Russia.

At the Kazan Cathedral, a chapel was opened in the name of the Venerable Confessor Sebastian of Karaganda, in which a font was created for performing the sacrament of holy Baptism by full immersion, and reservoirs were equipped for the rite of blessing water and distributing it to believers.

The Apostle Public Foundation, together with the publishing department of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, prepared and published the book-album “Kazan Cathedral of the City of Almaty”. The publication contains unique archival materials and rare photographs, research by historians and local historians, memories of eyewitnesses of the events.

The Peter and Paul and Assumption churches of the southern capital were decorated with new paintings. The construction of the water-blessing chapel of the Church of the Epiphany was completed, and a set of bells was installed on the bell tower of the church. In the church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Akzhar microdistrict of Almaty, work on the construction of a belfry and a water-blessed chapel is being completed.

In the past year, construction began on two churches: a church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Malovodnoye and a church in the name of the unmercenary saints Cosmas and Damian of Rome in the southern capital.
The construction of the Sunday school building of the church in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in the Baganashil microdistrict has been completed.

In the past year, the consecration of new buildings of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary took place. The theological school received new premises thanks to the support of philanthropists who responded to the call of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and supported the development of theological education in the Metropolitan District.

This year, a decision was made to reorganize the activities of the regency department. The department is switching to a three-year form of education. As part of the reorganization of the regency department of the theological school, a program for training parish catechists was opened. Completing the course involves an in-depth three-year study of the Holy Scriptures and basic theological disciplines. Graduates of the catechist department will be able to carry out educational and pedagogical work in the churches of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, becoming parish consultants, teachers of parochial schools and youth workers. The updated website of the Alma-Ata Seminary has started working.
Alma-Ata was visited by the great shrine of Orthodoxy - the miraculous image of the Lord Jesus Christ, not made by hands. This ancient icon of the Savior, glorified by many miracles, is kept in the Dormition Paisius Monastery of the city of Galich in the Kostroma Metropolis. It was written in the 19th century by a talented isographer and a man of high spiritual life - a peasant from the Samara province, Grigory Nikolaevich Zhuravlev. For a month, the shrine for prayerful worship was located in the Ascension Cathedral and St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery of the southern capital.

Every day, from early morning until late evening, pilgrims walked in an endless stream with prayers to the miraculous image, wanting to receive spiritual consolation and strengthening. During this time, over 95,000 people worshiped the icon of the Savior.

For this event, the television studio of the Metropolitan District “Semirechye”, headed by director Victoria Posadneva, released the film “Grigory Zhuravlev. Images not made by hands."

In May of this year, a Congress of choristers and singers - workers in the field of church musical art - was held in the capital of the country. The forum was attended by choir directors of parish choirs, choir librarians, and choirmasters from all dioceses of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. As part of the Congress, a scientific conference and a master class were held by the Honored Artist of Russia, regent of the choir of the Kazakh Metropolitan District O.N. Ovchinnikov, dedicated to the practical side of working with singing groups. Significant events in the cultural life of our diocese were the III Lenten Festival among Sunday schools of the Metropolitan District and the II All-Kazakhstan Festival “Easter Song”.

The singing heard in churches enlightens human souls, sings of love and glorifies gospel virtues. It is important and significant to instill a love for Orthodox musical culture in children and youth. To achieve this, parish Sunday schools need to pay more attention to the study of church singing and create children’s and youth choirs that will participate in liturgical life on an equal basis with adults.

In 2025, the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan will prayerfully celebrate the 50th anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Joseph, whose tomb is located in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery. In preparation for the celebration of this significant date, work began on creating a museum on the historical site where Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) worked and lived for some time. The future memorial house is located on Ashimbaev Street, not far from the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery. A memorial office for the saint will be organized in the restored building and exhibitions dedicated to his life and works will be located. The museum will become not only a monument to the life and work of St. Joseph, but also an important center where his handwritten works and personal belongings will be stored.

The following items have been transferred to the museum fund of the Alma-Ata diocese: a bishop's staff, a sakkos, a monastic paraman, a rosary, a staff, a menaion, a handwritten book of akathists, a table clock and other items that belonged to Bishop Joseph. The Church History Museum of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan in the capital of the Republic continues to be replenished with exhibits.

By the grace of God, in recent years, both in the southern capital of the country and in Kazakhstan as a whole, church social ministry has continued to develop. One of the significant steps in this area was the creation of the sisterhood named after Blessed Matrona of Moscow. The sisterhood currently numbers 25 people.

This past year marked 10 years since the founding of the diocesan crisis center “House for Mom.” The center provides comprehensive assistance to pregnant women and women with infants who are in difficult life situations through spiritual, moral, psychological and social support. Through the efforts of the charity’s employees, a close partnership has been established with the social secular public project “Ana uy” (House for Mom). Over the 10 years of the charity’s existence, more than 100 women, including 22 pregnant women, and 158 children, found help there. 7 babies were born within the walls of the center. Over the years of work, we have accumulated unique experience, which allows us not only to carry out effective work, but also to provide assistance to similar projects working towards the protection of the family, motherhood and childhood, as well as the prevention of abortion and child abandonment.

Work continues to translate Bibles into Kazakh. Let me remind you that the first books of Holy Scripture presented to the Kazakh public were the Gospel of Matthew, the Psalter and the Proverbs of Solomon. This year the following were published: the New Testament and prayer book in the Kazakh language. The proposed new translation of sacred texts was made by ecclesiastical and secular speakers of Kazakh culture and the Kazakh language, taking into account modern linguistic norms and rules. Experts used the entire palette of linguistic means to convey the beauty and diversity of biblical texts, their spirit, meaning and style. A religious examination of the translated texts was carried out, according to which these publications were recommended for distribution and use in Kazakhstan.
The publication of Bible books in the Kazakh language has invaluable educational, historical and cultural significance. The appearance of this translation provides an opportunity for a huge number of people to become familiar in their native language with the greatest literary monument of mankind, on which a significant part of the entire world culture is based.

Translating the Bible into the Kazakh language is a good incentive to study and understand it, and, of course, a serious and significant contribution to the spiritual and intellectual development of multi-confessional and multinational Kazakhstan - our common Home.

On June 19, 2023, as part of maintaining and developing the dialogue of the Church with the highest government bodies of Kazakhstan, my meeting took place with the President of the Republic K.-J.K. Tokayev. During the conversation, a wide range of issues related to church-state interaction, as well as the mission of the Church in modern Kazakh society were discussed. The head of state highly appreciated the activities of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District aimed at strengthening interfaith peace and interethnic harmony in the country.

As part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Metropolitan District and the 15th anniversary of the pan-church glorification of the Council of Kazakhstan New Martyrs, my visits took place to all dioceses of the Republic, meetings were held with akims of the regions of the country, leaders of local religious communities, clergy and laity, members of ethnocultural associations and public organizations.

The life and spiritual and educational work of the parishes of Astana and Almaty should serve as an example for all parishes not only of our dioceses, but also of Kazakhstan.

Our clergy tries to work with honor and dignity in the field of Christ. But there are a number of serious questions. First of all, we are talking about increasing the level of spiritual education. Unfortunately, not all the clergy of our diocese, due to various circumstances, completed the full seminary course. It happens that a priest serves at the throne of God for many years with only a certificate of graduation from a diocesan school. This deficiency needs to be corrected urgently. The level of education, competence, ability to respond to the challenges of the time for every clergyman is extremely important in any era, especially in our difficult times.

Our plans include conducting regular advanced training courses for clergy. It often happens that pastors forget the theological knowledge acquired in the last century due to current economic and administrative concerns. In addition, every year of our life brings with it new challenges that we could not even imagine ten or fifteen years ago. These questions are not far-fetched, not theoretical - all this worries our parishioners.
New challenges require a modern pastoral response based on a deep knowledge of Scripture, patristic thought, church history and Orthodox tradition.

Unfeigned piety, love of prayer, zealous service at the Throne of God must certainly be combined with you and me with a diligent attitude towards the quality and depth of our knowledge. Constant work on self-education, thoughtful reading of spiritual books, conscious and active participation in the process of raising one’s own intellectual level is part of the duties of every clergyman.

The upheavals of recent years have led to the fact that many of our parishioners and those who belong to the Orthodox Church by virtue of receiving the sacrament of Baptism or cultural tradition have become more vulnerable, anxious, and psychologically vulnerable people. This situation places even greater responsibility on each of us for everyone who comes to church. In the above-mentioned conditions, shepherds are called upon to be especially attentive to themselves and their appearance, and must be wary of alienating the person who comes to the temple with indifference, arrogance or an inattentive attitude. The priest is called upon to observe the dignity inherent in the office both in church and in everyday life; according to the apostolic word, to be an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12).

Regarding the topic of caring for people who come to churches, I urge you, dear fathers, to remember all those practical recommendations that we have discussed many times at past diocesan meetings and which are becoming even more relevant today. We are talking, in particular, about organizing the duty of catechist-consultants in churches, distributing educational leaflets on the most popular topics (for example, about the meaning of the main holidays, about the sacraments; about the meaning of holy water, about the symbolism of divine services, etc.), about the design of information stands, about the distribution of the most commonly used texts of holiday services with parallel translation into Russian. It is within our power to achieve all this. This does not require enormous expense or unusually long preparation times. I would like to draw the attention of the rectors of churches to the quality of liturgical reading and singing, to the clarity of the pronunciation of sacred texts by clergy and readers.

The service should not be unduly delayed, nor should there be a rush that irritates many parishioners. Divine services should always be performed reverently and clearly, both on holidays and on weekdays. The same applies to sermons at Liturgies and all-night vigils. Unfortunately, some of the pastors of our diocese have the habit of preaching a sermon for an hour and a half or longer.

Remember that human memory is designed in such a way that the material is absorbed best only in the first 10 minutes of listening and then everything turns into an empty shock of air. Soul-saving conversations should be presented not from the pulpit, but in communication with parishioners at the end of the services.

Another side of spiritual and educational activity is pastoral work in the Internet space. I remind you that each temple must have its own official information website, and this resource should not be just for show in the report, but certainly live, filled with useful information. We often complain that church ill-wishers are driving us into a confessional ghetto, but we do not notice that by demonstrating a lack of desire to be open to society, we are driving ourselves underground.

When we talk about the development of parish life, we should remember the following: it is not enough to build a church or a Sunday school building; it is necessary to prepare and educate qualified teachers and enthusiasts who can work purposefully and systematically in the field of spiritual education. Children and teenagers should be occupied with interesting activities in the parish. It is wrong to refuse the services of competent and morally strong secular specialists if they are ready to organize a sports club, creative club, or training courses at their arrival.

All these buildings and spiritual centers must be filled with life. All good undertakings will truly be effective only if the priest-leader of the parish and his assistants are filled with the spirit of Christian love.

We may have different approaches to conducting pastoral practice, but we are called to invariably maintain unity in the Holy Spirit, deep churchliness, and devotion to the Hierarchy. The activity of a priest on the Internet must be accompanied by wisdom and prudence. No work should be done without the blessing of one’s ruling archpastor. Participation in the information space of a priest imposes enormous responsibility on him. We should not forget that the average person, as a rule, projects any speeches by a clergyman onto the entire Church. In these difficult times, any careless statement can bring trouble to the believing people, the clergy, and the Church. Thoughtless words are often used by external forces to provoke. This should not be allowed - “don’t give a reason to those who are looking for a reason.”

Do not forget that your personal life, with the modern level of means of communication, can become public property at any time. The eyes of many people are fixed on any of you, not only Orthodox Christians or those looking for the way to the temple, but also ill-wishers. People with little church or those who are alien to Orthodoxy judge a priest most often by his appearance. All aspects of the pastor’s behavior are assessed by those around him: his manner of communication, deportment and conversation, appearance; even what food he takes, where and how he does it; what he uses to move around the city or village.

Some respected clergy take liberties with their clothing, wearing colored jackets over a cassock or cassock. An unpleasant impression of appearance is created when a priest, along with a cassock, and, even more so, with liturgical vestments, wears sports sneakers instead of classic black shoes.

The habit of some clergy to wear headdresses of the Georgian or Romanian Local Churches instead of traditional skufei and kamilavkas is puzzling. Our Orthodox Church has ancient pious customs that must be carefully preserved. Wearing elements of clothing that are alien to our age-old traditions is unacceptable.

I remind you that to all official events, including receptions with archpastors, the clergy must come in a cassock, and priests must wear a priestly cross.

I would like to draw attention to cases of non-compliance with church protocol:
- documents addressed to the ruling archpastor are always submitted to the office in advance, a month before the planned event (except, of course, in emergency cases);
- you must also make an appointment with the archpastor in advance, preferably a week in advance;
- it is mandatory that every cleric answer telephone calls coming from the diocesan chancellery or the metropolitan’s reception office. The time frame does not matter. We must understand that sometimes urgent issues arise that require immediate communication between the archpastor and the clergy.

Moving on to the final part of my speech, I would like to say a few words about the significant anniversary celebrations for the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, which will be celebrated in 2024.

The coming year will mark 25 years since the formation of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese.

Together with the entirety of the Russian Orthodox Church, we will celebrate significant dates - the 15th anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'; 785th anniversary of the appearance of the Feodorovskaya icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and 300th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky.

Next year we will prayerfully honor the 225th anniversary of the birth of the first hierarch of the land of Kazakhstan, Archbishop Zephaniah (Sokolsky); The 145th anniversary of the birth of the holy martyr Pimen (Belolikov), Bishop of Vernensky and Semirechensky, and the 140th anniversary of the birth of the venerable confessor Sebastian, the elder of Karaganda.

Concluding my report, I would like to thank the Most Reverend Bishops and all-honorable shepherds for serving the Church of Christ this year, for the proper performance of their duties, for their willingness to continue not to weaken in zeal, to be fervent in spirit and to serve the Lord (Rom. 12:11). Words of my special gratitude to Mother Abbess Lyubov, the heads of diocesan departments and commissions and the staff of the diocesan administration, headed by the Secretary of the Metropolitan District O.N. Ovchinnikov.

In the coming New Year, I wish everyone prosperity, wisdom, patience and God’s all-generous help in their labors in the field of Christ.