Saint Philaret’s Institute Holds its 
Annual Academic Review Evening

“Our Institute has existed for 37 years. I can hardly believe that number: while it isn’t much for an institute of higher learning, but it is a long time in the life of a single person,” said Candidate of Theology Fr Georgy Kochetkov, SFI’s Founder and First Rector, as he welcomed guests to the ceremonial evening.

“Our faculty and students carry out their service and the challenging work of education with joy. Students aren’t always cheerful or full of joy. Yet when bright talents emerge, when people have the chance to shine and to make mistakes without fear—that’s truly wonderful. We aspire for theological education to be creative, grace-filled, and spiritual not merely in its subject matter but in the very nature of the learning process itself. Seeing this brings us great joy,” Father Georgy continued. “Freedom holds enormous potential, for ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Corinthians 3:17). This isn’t just something we know intellectually—we experience it and strive to live it. I deeply hope we never lose this quality, that our Institute will forever embody this spirit of grace and the joy of exploring spiritual depths, and that it will strengthen the Church. After all, church life cannot be whole without genuine spiritual education.”

With the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Abbot Dionisij (Shlenov)—Deputy Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, Director and Executive Director of the Synodal Library named after His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, and Hegumen of the St. Andrew's Stavropegial Monastery in Moscow—conveyed congratulations to the St. Philaret's Institute community on behalf of the ROC Educational Committee.

“In 1918 the Moscow Theological Academy prepared an issue of the ‘Theological Herald’ (Bogoslovskij vestnik) marking the fiftieth anniversary of the blessed repose of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow. Even as Russia was hurled into the furnace of revolution and every foundation was crumbling, the students and faculty of the Academy lived in the remembrance of St. Philaret. This is profoundly significant: in times of upheaval, the theologian’s soul must abide in tranquillity, and theology must remain a wellspring of spiritual power,” Abbot Dionisij continued. “St. Philaret of Moscow embodied a distinctive patristic tradition, which his theological thought freely and livingly re-presented and transmitted.”

On behalf of the Educational Committee, Abbot Dionisij delivered His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s blessing to the St. Philaret's Institute community, as well as warm greetings from its Chairman, Fr Maxim Kozlov, expressing hopes for the Institute’s ongoing creative flourishing.

Igor Zaitsev (Candidate of Philosophy), Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies at the Dostoyevsky Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy (St. Petersburg), conveyed greetings and congratulations to St. Philaret's Institute on behalf of the Academy.

Congratulations and greetings were extended by: Metropolitan Evgeny (Kulberg) of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechization; Metropolitan Constantine (Ostrovsky) of Cairo and North Africa, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa; Abbot Arseny (Sokolov), renowned biblical scholar, translator, and professor at Nikolo-Ugresh Theological Seminary; Fr. Dmitry Trifonov, Director of the Centre for the Preparation of Church Specialists in the Kostroma Diocese; Olga Sedakova, acclaimed poet, prose writer, translator, and philologist; Andrei Teslya, Senior Research Fellow at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University; and other distinguished figures.

As is traditional, members of the Association of SFI Graduates and Students presented their congratulations to the Institute.

Vice-Rector for Development Marina Naumova presented the report on Institute activities during 2025.

Marina Anatolyevna noted that the Institute currently has 5 departments offering 15 different educational programmes, with overall student enrolment standing at 624 – up by 133 from the previous academic year.

"For the third consecutive year, SFI graduates have taken part in the nationwide 'Be First' competition for outstanding final qualification works. This year, first prize in Philosophy went to Yulia Stepanova’s master’s dissertation: 'St. Philaret of Moscow’s Priorities in Shaping Monastic Life (Drawn from His Correspondence with St. Anthony of Radonezh)'. We are particularly touched that our students persist in studying the life and legacy of the Institute’s heavenly patron, uncovering fresh dimensions of his character and writings," Naumova continued.

"The Institute pursues scholarly research in eight principal areas: Theology and Liturgics, Mission and Catechesis, Biblical Studies, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, the social history of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries, and religion within its sociocultural framework. Two major research projects are actively being carried out at SFI: 'Issues in the Theory and Practice of Translating Liturgical Texts' and 'Christian Anthropology.'"

SFI organized 7 conferences during 2025, and another, the 11th Annual Averintsev Lectures, is planned for December 2025. (There were a total of 8 total conferences in 2025.)

In July 2025, “The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute” was indexed in Scopus, the international multidisciplinary database of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

On October 28, the Gorky Institute of World Literature (Russian Academy of Sciences) hosted the successful doctoral defence by SFI Professor Evgenia Smagina: “Evolution of Biblical Motifs in Early Christian Apocrypha (On the Material of Coptic Texts).” Subsequently, on November 17 at Lomonosov Moscow State University, SFI Senior Lecturer Zoya Dashevskaya defended her candidate’s dissertation entitled “The Genesis and Development of Historical Liturgics in the Spiritual Academies of the Russian Empire (1808–1884).”

This year the Institute mounted several public scholarly exhibitions. Chief among them was the exhibition marking one hundred years since the repose of Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin), under the title “The Era of St. Tikhon: ‘Establish Spiritual Unions!’” It was displayed in numerous Russian cities and regions: Moscow (Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery), St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, Kostroma and Kostroma Oblast, Udmurtia, Voronezh, Tver, Penza, Shuya, and beyond.

"We are delighted that this year our students, employees, and teachers had the opportunity to join the citywide Cross Procession in Moscow. We deeply appreciate Patriarch Kirill’s work in seeking ways to manifest the unity of the Church and society. This is precisely what the Russian Orthodox Church and our nation urgently need right now," Naumova stressed.

The keynote address, “The Reception of the Ecclesiology of the Elder Slavophiles in Russian Thought of the 19th–21st Centuries” was delivered by Dmitry Gasak, First Vice-Rector of SFI.

“Every serious student of Russian religious thought eventually encounters the Moscow aristocratic circle known as the Slavophiles. One cannot ignore the sharp opposition, commonly referred to as the Slavophiles vs. Westernizers debate. Yet the Soviet period etched the Westernizers especially deeply into our collective memory. Names like Alexander Herzen, Nikolai Ogarev, Vissarion Belinsky, and Nikolai Chernyshevsky remain far more familiar than those of Aleksey Khomyakov, Ivan and Pyotr Kireevsky, Konstantin and Ivan Aksakov, or Yuri Samarin. Museums, universities, streets, and squares bear the names of the Westernizers, while no such public memorials exist for the Slavophiles — neither in place names nor in museum displays. It is hard even to quickly list all the members of this modest Moscow intellectual group,” observed Dmitry Sergeevich.

In his presentation, Gasak explored the meaning of the term “reception,” outlined the core features of the ecclesiology of the elder Slavophiles, and illustrated how this ecclesiology has been received within Russian humanities scholarship over the last 150 years.

“Reception of particular theological ideas forms a vital dimension of the Church’s life. Especially intriguing is how the Church itself received and assessed the degree to which the elder Slavophiles’ perspectives were truly adopted,” stressed Gasak. “Collecting and tracing this reception across Russian intellectual history from the 19th to the 21st centuries is a difficult yet captivating endeavour, precisely because this span encompasses an era of profound and painful trials.”

A video of SFI’s Annual Academic Review can be found on the SFI website, as well as on  VK, RuTube, YouTube.