The penitentiary system in its general form and details is a rather complex, multi-component formation, much more diverse than ordinary people imagine. This also applies to the role of clergy in the functioning of this system, and this refers to both foreign and domestic experience. From a spiritual and moral point of view, the significance of the prison ministry of Orthodox clergy in Russian penitentiary institutions remains an important, essential element, relevant from both a legal, methodological, and ecclesiastical point of view [4; 1].

The issue of interaction with penitentiary system facilities has always been practically important and significant for the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter referred to as the ROC). The ROC has never refused to contact prisoners, to cooperate with the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, to participate in the transformation of the country’s penitentiary system. Moreover, the Russian Orthodox Church sees this as one of its own important tasks.

The key areas of the Russian Orthodox Church’s work with prisoners should be highlighted:

— spiritual and educational activities in places of deprivation of liberty;

— spiritual and pastoral care not only of the prisoners themselves, but also of the employees of various institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service who profess Orthodoxy.

In the context under consideration, the Russian Orthodox Church counts on close and productive contact with the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, since the prison clergy seeks to firmly occupy its niche. The Church considered the long period of the penitentiary system as something secondary, not having significant significance in achieving the goals of re-educating prisoners and raising the level of their spiritual enlightenment. The Russian Orthodox Church has a more global mission: to form and strengthen in modern Russian practice an independent, separate institution of prison clergy who will perform a unique function and serve exclusively in places of deprivation (restriction) of liberty [3].

The role of clergy in this area is complex from a methodological point of view. Not all prisoners have a positive attitude towards the Church, they have a hard time understanding its essence and tasks, although many, for formal reasons, still consider themselves to be Orthodox. According to statistics from the Russian Orthodox Church itself, about 80% of prisoners, to one degree or another, still consider themselves close to the Church, although most have never been to church. And this is a serious problem for a clergyman: on the one hand, he needs to literally form an understanding of the Church, its properties and unique characteristics in a prisoner from scratch, sometimes encountering denial or agnosticism. On the other hand, it is necessary to maintain a balance, because not all prisoners profess Orthodoxy, there are also Muslims who profess Buddhism, as well as a number of other religious movements. Of course, the Russian Orthodox Church is “responsible” only for Orthodoxy, but this does not mean that it should become something exclusive, sole, prevailing over other movements and religions in places of deprivation (restriction) of freedom. Interaction with released prisoners remains difficult for the prison ministry, as they also need the support of the Church. The Russian Orthodox Church notes that such persons should be covered by a system of rehabilitation measures, among which the most important The place is allocated, among other things, to the Church. Currently, such functionality is implemented by various human rights organizations, as well as some clergymen on a case-by-case basis, but unfortunately, there is no talk yet of a fully implemented system [3; 5].

The main problem in the context under consideration is the need to attract significant amounts of material resources to create such rehabilitation centers, so the only possible means for rehabilitation work for now, the Russian Orthodox Church sees as a remote format of interaction. In addition, as noted in the Russian Orthodox Church, similar activities are currently being actively implemented by representatives of other faiths. The key task in such work is the need to find out what will happen to the prisoner after his release, to make sure that he has truly realized his guilt, and wants to atone for it with his own repentance. One of the options for continuing such rehabilitation activities may be obedience to the Church, but first it is necessary to understand to what extent the released prisoner is ready for such a feat [2].

In his interview, Deacon, Krasnogorsk Irinarkh Pyotr Pakhomov gives the following example. In the Perm diocese, one of the former prisoners expressed a desire to become a clergyman, although he had a criminal record at a young age, and it was difficult for the Church to understand the spiritual and moral aspects. According to P. Pakhomov, the former prisoner had a serious grudge against both law enforcement officials and life in general, and this feeling never left him. It is assumed that a person with such strong feelings cannot become a clergyman, and he was asked to wait for some time, understand himself and his motivation. A year later, it turned out that the former prisoner rethought his life, his place and purpose in it, and as a result decided to abandon this decision. In conclusion, P. Pakhomov notes: given the height and importance of pastoral ministry, such caution is necessary, because it is extremely important to build distance learning for prisoners so that it does not become a pretext for using a person’s religiosity for criminal interests [1]. Another important area for the development of prison ministry is the training of qualified specialists in this field. It is obvious that the traditional set of competencies inherent to any clergyman is not enough when serving in a penitentiary institution, and there are several key reasons for this:

– organizational, managerial, legal features of the organization and functioning of the penitentiary system itself;

– complex psycho-emotional characteristics of prisoners, especially when it comes to the most difficult categories: minors, life-sentenced prisoners, convicted of committing violent crimes (serial killers, maniacs, etc.);

– the need for effective and painless integration of the institution of prison ministry into the penitentiary system itself;

– others.

It is obvious that a clergyman performing his functions specifically in the penitentiary system must have special personal and professional characteristics. This concern, for example, stress resistance, communication skills, the ability to resolve conflicts, etc. In addition, such a clergyman must be an authority for the prisoner, since these are often individuals with a high degree of egocentrism, not ready to perceive anyone but themselves, especially within the walls of a penitentiary institution [5]. And a clergyman, with a competent and thoughtful approach, can become the very preacher who will show the prisoner the other side of his life. Ultimately, determining the significance of the prison ministry of Orthodox clergymen in the domestic penitentiary system, we will outline the following conclusion. Such significance seems obvious, and, as can be seen from this analysis, the work of the Russian Orthodox Church with the prisoner is extremely necessary even after his release from places of deprivation (restriction) of freedom. Therefore, firstly, we should talk about a certain systematicity and complexity of such activities, which ultimately covers everything that is somehow connected with the Orthodox faith. Secondly, the specifics of prison ministry impose unique demands on the qualities of the clergyman himself, since ministry in the penitentiary system is a rather stressful situation, complex from the point of view of psychology, conflictology and other sciences, and will not be accessible to every specialist. This actualizes the issue of training qualified clergymen specifically for this area of ​​professional activity in general.

However, it is absolutely obvious that prison ministry should in no way be excluded from the penitentiary system, and a prisoner should not be denied the opportunity to join the Church and religion, especially if he has such a need.

Thus, below we will briefly outline the main results of the presented study.

The Russian Orthodox Church considers a prisoner as an ordinary person who, like anyone else, has the opportunity to join religion and God. His presence within the walls of a penitentiary institution, according to the rightful assertion of the Russian Orthodox Church, should not and cannot become an obstacle to achieving this goal.

Therefore, prison ministry is an important area of ​​​​the ROC’s activity and is expressed in practice in a combination of various areas:

— spiritual and educational activities in places of deprivation (restriction) of liberty;

— spiritual and pastoral care not only of the prisoners themselves, but also of employees of various FSIN institutions who profess Orthodoxy [2].

The ROC itself also draws attention to the need to carry out rehabilitation activities with prisoners released from places of deprivation (restriction) of liberty. At present, this work of the ROC is also carried out, but mainly independently, without the support of the FSIN of Russia as an authorized body, and also remotely, since it involves serious material costs.

As for the prison ministry itself, the role of the clergyman himself is an important aspect here. It is assumed that with a standard set of competencies it will be difficult for such a specialist to contact prisoners; he definitely needs a more advanced set of personal and professional characteristics. Ultimately, all this testifies to the need to create in Russia an independent and separate institute of prison ministers who implement their functions exclusively in the system of penitentiary institutions [1; 3].

Thus, the importance of prison ministry seems obvious, and, as can be seen from this analysis, the work of the Russian Orthodox Church with prisoners is extremely necessary even after their release from places of deprivation (restriction) of freedom. This will achieve the main goal of any religion — to preserve the human in a person and introduce him to God.