Irkutsk State University will begin training theologians in the 2009 2010 academic year, with secular rather than religious theological education. Professor Yuri Abramov believes this will help meet strong interest in religion in the region and later expand the program to include not only Orthodoxy but also Judaism, Islam and other traditions. He also stresses the need for a unified strategy of spiritual education in schools to better prepare applicants for the new specialty.
According to the head of the Department of Political Science and Religious Studies at the University-wide Department of Russian History of ISU, Professor Yuri Abramov, Irkutsk State University will begin training theologians as early as the 2009-2010 academic year.Yuri Abramov emphasized that at a state university, students will not be taught theology in the religious sense. Graduates of the faculty will receive a secular qualification.
Speaking about the relevance of the innovation, the professor noted: «This will make it possible to satisfy that enormous intellectual and spiritual interest in religion that exists among the population of the Irkutsk Region».
According to him, in the future the theology curriculum should include disciplines devoted not only to Orthodoxy, but also to Judaism, Islam, and other religions.
In Yuri Abramov’s view, to overcome the insufficient preparedness of applicants for studying at a university in the specialty “theology,” it is necessary to develop a strategy for spiritual education at the secondary school level. At present, religious studies as an academic discipline exists only in several schools in the Irkutsk Region.
– A unified program is needed, in the development of which all interested parties would take part, – the professor concluded. – Of course, we are working with the Irkutsk Diocese in this direction, but the authorities also need to be involved, for example, the regional Ministry of Education.