On December 9, 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with teaching staff from educational institutions in the Hall of Church Cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The meeting was also attended by Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, and Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, Chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.
The event brought together about a thousand participants from various regions of the Russian Federation. 
Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye greeted the audience.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia addressed the participants of the meeting.
The Minister of Education of the Russian Federation S.S. Kravtsov also spoke. He expressed gratitude for the tireless attention that the Russian Orthodox Church pays to issues of upbringing, education, historical enlightenment and the protection of traditional values of our country.
"Issues related to traditional spiritual and moral values are of concern to every teacher today. The future of our country depends on how we educate the younger generation. On behalf of the President of Russia, education has returned to schools. Today, unified educational programs in all subjects, unified education programs have been adopted, and unified textbooks are being developed. This is the foundation on which Russia's unified educational space, our national identity, and cultural and value sovereignty are being built. We pay attention to supporting teachers and popularizing the teaching profession — the competition in pedagogical universities reaches 12 people per place. Our key areas of activity and achievements will certainly be reflected in the education development strategy, which was developed jointly with the professional community," said the head of the Russian Ministry of Education.
The most important decision in terms of supporting teachers, protecting their work and increasing the prestige of the profession was the exclusion of the term "educational service" from Federal Law No. 273-FZ "On Education in the Russian Federation", which allowed to return the true meaning: values cannot be bought, education cannot be ordered. The Minister drew special attention to the importance of school-family cooperation, the introduction of the position of advisor to the director of education, and the role of additional education for children. As part of the development of educational work in schools, the subject "Spiritual and moral culture of Russia" will be introduced from September 1, 2026, the press service of the Ministry of Education reports.
Then the teachers were able to ask questions to His Holiness and S.S. Kravtsov. The questions were asked via a chat in the Max messenger. Topics of concern to teachers were the formation of values among the younger generation, interaction with the parent community, teacher support mechanisms, etc.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed the audience with his closing remarks:
"The well-being of an individual, family, and nation is largely related to the moral level of an individual, family, society, and the state. Therefore, the topic of a virtuous life, the topic of personal and public morality should not go to the periphery. Pastors, teachers, and our entire intelligentsia still need to do a lot to free us from the vestiges of our former life, which was without God. And the first thing I would like to say is that we should thank God for what we have now. We have an independent country governed by an Orthodox, wise and strong President. There are many Orthodox people in the government who visit churches sincerely and out of office, and this cannot but affect their activities.
The climate in the country is changing, even the relationship between generations. We have reached a trajectory of civilizational development that we could only dream of in the past. We live in a special time, but it also requires us to take special responsibility for what we do, each in his own place. A special responsibility lies with teachers, those who educate young people. A lot of responsibility lies with the clergy, which is why the requirements for the clergy have been raised today in such a way that the priests of the previous generation could not even imagine how many questions are being addressed to them about the organization of parish activities.
But all this is really necessary in order for us to jointly solve all the problems that still stand in the way of our people. And I believe that gatherings like this serve the good cause of improving our public relations and will help solve the challenges that the country and many of us face today.
...Happiness on the scale of both an individual and a country is when we build our lives not contrary to God's will. Someone may believe in God, someone may not believe, but the moral postulates that underlie human life are from God. We must not forget these postulates, and then our civilizational development, going hand in hand with the moral and spiritual development of the individual and society, will really take us to a completely different level. Russia is a country that has enormous potential, including spiritual potential, and the people of Russia, I am sure, can set themselves such tasks and fulfill them."
The event was held in order to strengthen the dialogue between the Church and the educational community, consolidate efforts in the field of spiritual and moral education of children and youth, and support the teaching community.