Starting from the academic year 2015/2016 the Faculty of Theology of St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia has launched an MA program Church & Media. It has been structured in the best traditions of academic cooperation between the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication.

We talked with Prof. Alexander Omarchevsky, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, about the new MA program.

„The need to have such a program was made obvious at the very start of transition in 1989 when the church ceased to be repressed in its public presence and was set free to convey its messages to Bulgarians in the country and abroad. Back then it turned out that there were no journalists trained to comment on church matters in a professionally accurate way. Unfortunately, ethnographers took up this niche. Their commentaries however had only a limited, household scope and were void of the theological aspect of the topic. In this way Christianity suffered from oversimplification, and this is dangerous, especially with a nation whose faith has been undermined in the aftermath of 40 years of staunch atheism and anti-church repressions. We hope that with help from God the new MA program will be successful and will be staffed with bachelors of theology trained to become journalists. In this way the two professions - of a theologian and journalist - will mingle to produce a competent professional well versed in ecclesiastical matters and able to provide accurate interpretation of church affairs”.

Prof. Alexander Omarchevsky believes that the church should publish its own media outlets so as to make its voice heard in the pluralistic and secular society today. In case the church has no media of its own, faithful citizens will not enjoy equality in public dialogue about the problems of this world. This is especially relevant today when the challenges of terrorism suggest that religion can be misused. The young Bulgarians and the generation who are in their 40s, are not familiar with Orthodox Christianity, they are foreign to their spiritual roots and this is worrisome, the theologian argues. We asked Prof. Omarchevsky what he teaches his students.  

„Apart from theory, I also tell students that when they leave the faculty they should have become better persons. Man should first look for the good in himself; should be cold-blooded and objective and not come under influence of suggestions or emotions. One has to side with the truth: an ecclesiastical journalist should very carefully access facts before popularizing them. In the current media environment we cannot come across a sober analysis of church affairs. And we cannot come across evangelical ethics and morality either. These are mandatory values for an ecclesiastical journalist”.

The Faculty of Theology has a few MA programs aimed to help theologians looking for jobs and careers. Their prime career option is the Church - its parishes and eparchies. But not all who gradate in Theology join the clergy. Some become teachers, social workers, pilgrimage guides etc. Very soon though there will be qualified ecclesiastical journalists.

Finally, Prof. Alexander Omarchevsky's Christmas wishes:

„The Nativity of Christ is the great hope for the salvation of mankind. I wish readers and listeners to keep this hope and faith in the power of God's salvation; to love each other, support, understand and safeguard love and joy between them as God's most precious gift on earth. And given that Christmas is also a big family occasion let me say that the family is the tiniest church on Earth. When the family is safe and sound then the whole society will be safe and sound”.

English version Daniela Konstantinova