The Coordination Council for the development and implementation of joint programs of cooperation between state administrative bodies and the Belarusian Orthodox Church was held on February 22.
The meeting "On the implementation in 2016 of the Programme of Cooperation between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church for the period of 2015–2020" was held in the Memorial Church of All Saints.
The Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus I. Karpenko, Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Pavel, Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs L. Gulyako, chairman of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechesis, Bishop of Borisov and Maryina Gorka Veniamin, heads and teachers of educational institutions, clergy, representatives of other ministries and departments of the Republic of Belarus participated in the meeting. The chief librarian of Library Science Department O. Rynkevich participated in the meeting of the Coordination Council on behalf of the National Library of Belarus.
The Minister of Education opened the meeting with a greeting speech. He noted that the implementation of the tasks of Cooperation Programme between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church for the period of 2015–2020 contributes to the main objectives of education: the formation of children’s and young people’s active life position based on the spiritual and moral and legal foundation, and expressed the hope for the success and fruitfulness of such cooperation.
The Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Pavel greeted the participants of the meeting of the Coordination Council. The Patriarchal Exarch expressed his conviction that only wise cooperation between the state and the church will sow in the younger generation good seeds of faith, kindness, honor, conscience, and other positive qualities.
The Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs L. Gulyako marked in his welcome address that at present 16 ministries, departments and public organizations concluded the cooperation agreement with the Belarusian Orthodox Church. He stressed the importance of the contribution of the Orthodox Church to the patriotic spiritual and moral upbringing of the younger generation, the development of traditions of charity towards the disabled, veterans of war and labor.
O. Rynkevich delivered a report "The role of libraries in the spiritual and moral education and upbringing of the younger generation". She paid special attention in her report to the activities of libraries of educational institutions, she noted that Belarusian libraries are active subjects in the process of spiritual and moral education and upbringing of the younger generation and their activities strengthen social thought is that moral beliefs and norms, spiritual values of the society, their citizen position and their priorities in life influence directly the level of development achieved by the state.
A concert of children’s and youth choir of All Saints parish was at the end of the meeting.
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