Metropolitan Hilarion takes part in closing of the 8th International Film Festival ‘Radiant Angel’

The closing ceremony of the 8th International Charitable Film Festival ‘Radiant Angel’ took place on November 8, 2011, in Moscow. The ceremony was opened by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations and rector of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Post-Graduate and Doctoral School.

Having conveyed to the participants a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that the Radiant Angel film festival was one of the significant projects carried out under the national program ‘The Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia’s Younger Generation’. It shows that the moral improvement of society has become a joint task for the Church, society and state.

‘The ethical education of a person is one of our primary tasks today. In today’s complex and instable world going through a reassessment of spiritual and ethical values and traditions, the youth find it especially difficult to find a spiritual support and meaning of life. The tough competition rules lived up by the world today tend to harden hearts and compel one not ‘to love one’s neighbour as one loves oneself’ but to see in him a rival or a tool for one’s own career promotion. The rejection of religious and cultural values, which Russia used to live up for centuries, has created unfavourable conditions for a spiritually strong, morally healthy and economically stable society’, he said.

The education of the younger generation should be based on moral ethics, the idea that there is the absolute good. This is a guarantee of the development and well-being of a state, he believes. He reminded the audience of the word of Aristotle: ‘Nature does not tolerate a vacuum’. ‘If the younger generation is not given ethical guidelines, they will be replaced by the ‘ideals’ of immorality, he warned. ‘It is very important that the ideals of the good should be instilled in a person as early as in his childhood. A child should get help in getting the inner pivot, the spiritual and moral immunity against evil, which will make a positive impact on his development and cut off everything that causes inner corruption’, he said.

‘It is gratifying that the films presented at the festival tell the viewer about the basic values, compel him to think over the essential problems of life and help a young man to become aware of his responsibility for himself, his family and his loved ones. These films combine professionalism with the commitment to lofty Christian principles’ he added.

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The 62 films produced in Russia and other countries were seen by 25 thousand viewers. The festival is conducted with the support of Russian Ministry of Culture, the Moscow Government, the Socio-Cultural Initiatives Foundation and other organizations and with the assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Education Committee.

The festival is patronized by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Ms. S. Medvedeva, the wife of the Russian President.

Source: DECR Communication Service