General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius

General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies (OCAD) ― a higher educational institution of the Moscow Patriarchate, which trains highly qualified personnel to serve the Church in the field of science, education, administration and diplomacy.

By April 2019, in the first 10 years since the founding of the OCAD, a total of more than 2,000 people were trained in this educational institution, including more than 100 newly appointed bishops. At least twenty significant international scientific conferences were held. A publishing house was created and operates, the total circulation of the publications released by him has already exceeded 500 thousand copies. A media system has been created, covering tens of thousands of people. An association uniting rectors of dozens of leading universities of the country has been assembled around the OCAD.

Financing

Since 2010, Leonid Sevastyanov (husband of opera singer Svetlana Kasyan) headed the St. Grigory the Theologian, to whom Catholic structures annually transferred hundreds of millions of rubles to support theological education in the Russian Orthodox Church (General Church Graduate School Mitr. Hilarion).

According to the Religion Today telegram channel, by the summer of 2019, relations between Sevastyanov and Metropolitan Hilarion became strained, allegedly due to the fact that the OCAD could not show the results of multimillion-dollar influences, and most of the funds were spent on private needs of the leadership.

The nail in the coffin of many years of relations was the dismissive remark of the priest Alexy Dikarev from the headed Vl. Hilarion DECR. Recall that Sevastyanov's wife, Svetlana Kasyan, invited Pope Francis to visit Russia, to which the pope agreed. Dikarev's comment immediately flew from the DECR: "This whole story is a purely personal initiative of Svetlana Kasyan and her husband, Leonid Sevastyanov... And anyone who stays in this hotel can freely meet with the Pope when he passes there. This personal conversation has no general church significance and no meaning for inter-church relations. "

As a result, at the end of July 2019, Sevastyanov leaves the post of executive director of the St. Gregory the Theologian, and on August 29 becomes the head of the World Union of Storovers registered by the Ministry of Justice.

History

2024: Conducting an advanced training course on the use of AI

At the Higher School of Economics and the General Church Graduate School and Doctoral Studies named after the Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius (OCAD), he took an advanced training course "Principles, Methods and Ethical Aspects of the Use of Artificial Intelligence." It was attended by representatives of theological educational institutions. As a result, the listeners presented the ideas of their own projects using AI and discussed them with experts. This was announced on February 22, 2024 to TAdviser by representatives of the Higher School of Economics.

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"I consider it an extremely important precedent to conduct advanced training courses" Principles, methods and ethical aspects of the use of artificial intelligence "by the joint work of the Higher School of Economics and the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies. The topic of artificial intelligence has already touched upon and in the coming years will even more affect all of us, including higher educational institutions. We need to prepare practically, understanding how we will conduct intermediate and final certification, how we will take into account the realities of the use of artificial intelligence when writing graduation qualification and scientific works, "said Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, Chairman of the Training Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the Church-wide graduate school and doctoral studies named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

According to Maxim Kozlov, the theological and ethical assessment of the use of AI in the academic environment is also equally important. As he believes, combining adequate intellectual and technical training with a well-worn moral assessment is what a modern higher Russian school needs.

The course included lectures and practical classes with teachers and researchers from the Higher School of Economics and the OCAD. The audience was told about the principles and technologies that underlie modern methods of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as the experience and prospects of AI in theological research. The participants, together with the teachers, using examples, analyzed the current directions of the introduction of artificial intelligence, discussed methods for collecting and analyzing data and tried to create an AI model using no-code tools.

"History remembers many examples of technological revolutions, when the emergence of new tools for working with information changed the idea of ​ ​ how to build education, which is worth referring to the learning process, due to which to form certain competencies among students. AI technology is another such tool created by a person, "said Sergei Roshchin, Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics.

According to him, artificial intelligence opens up opportunities for creating a new one and is extremely important, among other things, for dialogue with young people. At the same time, Sergei Roshchin stressed that traditions are also important in education: their preservation in spiritual educational organizations is even more important than in secular ones.

"As part of the course, we tried to show how to build a dialogue between these two parties and how to use advanced technologies for good deeds and for the benefit of education," added the Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics.

Particular attention was paid to the ethical aspects of the application of technology. The audience, together with experts, tried to identify the weaknesses that accompany the introduction of AI into the scientific and educational space, and evaluate the existing proposals for soft regulation of technology in education to maintain high standards in the academic field.

The course ended with the presentation of project ideas from students. The course participants in the groups proposed potential solutions using AI, discussed them with experts and presented them to other teams. Such work was aimed at developing the competence to translate real tasks into the language of machine learning.

The students of the advanced training program were representatives of seven educational organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church located in the Moscow region: Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, General Church Graduate School and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, Moscow and Sretensky Theological Academies, Kolomna, Perervinsk and Nikolo-Ugresh Theological Seminaries. Among the students are vice-rectors, heads of educational, scientific and information divisions, teachers.

2022: Archpriest Maxim Kozlov - new rector

On June 7, 2022, at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion was appointed Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary with the dismissal of the chairman of the DECR and the rector of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius. It was noted in the media that in the journal of the Holy Synod (No. 61) he did not express his traditional "gratitude for the work incurred" in such cases. On June 10 of the same year, in the Department of External Church Relations, he transferred affairs to his successor, Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk). Read more here.

As of September 2002, the rector of the All-Church Graduate School and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, chairman of the Training Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Maxim Kozlov.

2019

Project Management, Fundraising and Crowdfunding Workshop

On June 24, 2019, a week-long seminar for project managers and fundraisers working in the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church began at the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

Before the opening of the seminar in the academic church of the General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies in honor of the Beheading of the Head of John the Baptist near Bor, a prayer service was held to begin classes.

Representatives of more than 15 dioceses arrived to participate in the seminar.

During the week, lectures are delivered by:

• A.V. Tretyakov, Chief Advisor of the Internal Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation,
• deputy prefect Troitsky and Novomoskovsky administrative districts of Moscow for work with the population I.P. Okunev,
• Chairman of the Information Commission of the Moscow City Diocese, rector of the house church of St. Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky,
• expert in the field of Internet marketing, PR management, strategies for promoting the brand and image of M.I. Vedernikov,
• Honored Professor of the Faculty of Political Science of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Head of the Laboratory of Applied Political Research G.N. Butyrin,
• Deputy Chairman of the Youth Chamber of the Moscow City Duma, President of the Russian Land Foundation, director, actress and producer A.G. Danilova,
• the head of the fundraising department of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service A.I. Belavina and others.

Among the topics of the seminar are project management and fundraising in the construction of churches, journalistic (with the participation of social networks) project support, church-state partnership in the development of the urban environment, social design in the Church, crowdfunding^[1]

Departments

For 2019, the following departments operate in the structure of the General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies:

• theology and liturgics;
• biblical studies;
• external church relations and social sciences;
• church history;
• foreign languages.

At this time, the OCAD implements the following educational programs:

• The program of church postgraduate studies "Actual problems of theology," aimed at training clergy and employees of religious organizations (full-time and correspondence forms);
• Master's program "External Church Relations" in the direction of training 48.04.01 "Theology" (full-time form) ";
• The program of the church magistracy "External Church Relations," aimed at training clergy and employees of religious organizations (full-time form);
• Program for training scientific and pedagogical personnel in graduate school "Actual problems of theology" in the field of training 48.06.01 "Theology" (full-time form);
• Church doctoral program.

Features of the educational process of the General Church Graduate School and doctoral studies are in-depth study of languages.

Special emphasis is placed on mastering the methodology of scientific and theological research.

On the basis of the OCAD, the General Church Doctoral Dissertation Council, the Joint Dissertation Council for Theology and the Candidate Dissertation Council operate.

General church postgraduate and doctoral studies carry out activities in accordance with the license for educational activities dated February 8, 2017 No. 2533, issued by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science.

2010

Placement of postgraduate studies in the churches of Chernigov Lane

In June 2010, His Holiness Patriarch Cyril both churches of Chernigov Lane

• Temple of the Beheading of the Head of John the Baptist near Bor
• Holy Martyrs Michael and Theodore of Chernigov

transferred to accommodate the General Church Graduate School and doctoral studies named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

Metropolitan Hilarion appointed rector of the Patriarchal Compound in Chernigov Lane

On February 1, 2010, Alfeev Grigory Valerievich (Hilarion) was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan, and on August 18 of the same year he was appointed rector of the Patriarchal Compound - churches of the holy martyrs Mikhail and Theodore of Chernigov and the Beheading of the head of John the Baptist near Bor.

2009: Decision to establish a General Church Graduate School

The decision to create a General Church Graduate School was made at the initiative of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at a meeting of the Holy Synod on March 31, 2009 (journal No. 20).

At a meeting on July 27, 2009, the Holy Synod approved the Charter of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius (journal No. 57).

The general church graduate school became the successor to the graduate school branch of the Moscow Theological Academy under the Department of External Church Relations, which was organized in 1963 at the initiative of the Archbishop of Yaroslavsky and Rostovsky (later ― Metropolitan of Leningrad and Ladoga) Nikodim (Rotov), chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.