Lecture at the Northern Pedagogical College – News – Novosibirsk Metropolistranslated

On October 6, in the city of Serov, Sverdlovsk region, at the Northern Pedagogical College, a lecture was held by Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, head of the Center for Apologetic Mission in the Siberian Federal District and chairman of the missionary department of the Novosibirsk diocese. Father Alexander took part in the event at the invitation of Bishop Feognost of Serov and Krasnoturinsk and with the blessing of Metropolitan Bartholomew of Novosibirsk and Berdsk. Archpriest Alexander gave a review report on destructology and sectology to the students on the topic: “Destructive formations as a threat to the individual, family, society and state.” During his speech, he explained that often, under a religious veneer, activities are hidden that do not have truly religious goals. According to him, in sectarian practice there is a denial of history, a desire to monopolize the “religious factor” and subordinate it to hidden, undeclared tasks.

The lecturer referred to the assessment of Patriarch Kirill, who calls sectarianism “a very painful phenomenon” directed in Russia primarily against the Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch points out that pseudo-religious groups spiritually traumatize people, tear them away from their homeland and subjugate them...