International Orthodox Christian News

Moscow, February 21, Interfax - Metropolitan Laurus of East America and New York has urged to be more active in preaching Orthodoxy among young generation of Russian emigrants and do it in a comprehensible language.

"Russian church schools exist and flourish (abroad - IF), but we don't address people and young generation as often as we should," the metropolitan said in the Kremlin at an opening ceremony of the 12th World Russian People's Council.

'We should present them Orthodoxy in a comprehensible form. People coming to services don't understand much in them. It refers both to liturgical language and the course of a service," he noted.

According to Metropolitan Laurus, it is necessary to "explain everything": what is clerical robe, why a priest blesses in such a way, why he says such-and-such proclamations, "why certain things are performed during the divine service."

"From my personal experience I can say it works, people become interested. They ask more questions, read more and become more sensible in attending the Church," the hierarch of the Russian Church Outside of Russia said.

He considers assimilation, 'a threat of alienation from the Church", one of the basic youth problems abroad.

"Assimilation remains a great problem as we live in non-Orthodox and non-Christian environment, in a secular society, which serves up a different outlook and does it very seductively," the hierarch noted.

According to him, Orthodoxy and "Russianness" are preserved only at the Church. "It is experimentally proved: one can't keep the faith, the language, and the culture without the Church. If we meet a young man who considers himself Russian, it is most likely that he is a churchgoer and takes an active part in parochial life," Metropolitan Laurus said.

Source: