English

Top Orthodox cleric leads service at Minsk church on occasion of start of new school year

Metropolitan Filaret, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus, led a religious service at Minsk's Holy Spirit Cathedral on September 1 on the occasion of the beginning of the new school year, BelaPAN reports.

The service was attended by top administrators with Belarusian State University, as well as university faculty and students.

"My beloved brothers and sisters, honorable Belarusian students and especially first-year students. Today you have made a conscious and final choice, which requires everyone to embark on and continue persistently along the path of knowledge" the cleric said.

He described the crowd's participation in the service as a "very responsible and important start to the new academic year."

"Pray God both teachers and students at our schools learn the wisdom that the New Testament and the Bible in general teach us. May God speed you," he said.