It first aired on May 14, 1994 and was a real breakthrough in the relationship between the Church and the media. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (in those years Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad) became the first bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, who addressed the audience weekly from the screen of the federal TV channel.
On May 25, 2024, Channel One premiered the first of three special editions of the TV program "The Word of the Shepherd. 30 years on the air." The second issue was released on June 1.
The third edition of the program "The Word of the Shepherd. 30 years on the air" was released on Channel One on June 8. The program tells about the trips of its permanent author and presenter, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, across Russia and around the world, about divine services in various temples and monasteries, whether it is the ancient Solovetsky Monastery or the recently erected church in Anadyr in Chukotka, the majestic Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Kaliningrad or the modest Church of the Intercession in the capital of Paraguay Asuncion. In different parts of the world, in hundreds of cities and towns throughout Russia, the Patriarchal preaching of the truth of Christ sounded.
"We must always keep in mind the genuine spiritual needs of people, and try to build our work in such a way as to meet these needs. So that the program never becomes so narrowly cultural and works for some small sector of our public. It should be for everyone, including people, and not only Christians, to listen to it with pleasure, understand it and, perhaps, perceive something useful for themselves. In general, it should be for the whole people," His Holiness Patriarch Kirill says, addressing the audience of the program.
The release uses archival footage of the program "The Word of the Shepherd", starting in 2012.
You can get acquainted with the cycle of programs on the website of Channel One: the issue of May 25, the issue of June 1, the issue of June 8.
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Every Saturday morning, for fifteen minutes, sermons and conversations of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church are heard about the meaning of the Orthodox faith, the history of the Church, and the church's attitude to what is happening in the world. An important element of the program is the responses to letters coming to its address from different cities and countries.
All these years, with his televised sermon broadcast to millions of viewers, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, in his words, overcame "the distance between the Word of God and the reality in which we live," helped viewers understand "that the Word of God is relevant to our lives; that, turning to the Word of God, we can understand that It's happening to us today."
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly stressed that the program "The Word of the Shepherd" is addressed to all viewers, and not only to Orthodox believers.
According to V.R. Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and the Media, the TV program "The Word of the Shepherd" became the first step of the Church into the modern information space, which was closed to it for decades by the atheist state.
"Metropolitan Kirill took this step, he determined the readiness of the Church to be present in the media field, changed this media field," said the head of the Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media. "It is impossible not to express gratitude to the head of Channel One, K.L. Ernst, who has always supported this project," added V.R. Legoyda.
A series of programs for 1994-1996 formed the basis for the repeatedly republished book "The Word of the Shepherd", which became a kind of "guide to the Bible".

The program "The Word of the Shepherd", which airs on Channel One, has turned 30 years old.
10.06.2024, 08:00