Head of the Metropolis Met with Participants of the International Sports Games in Honor of Saint Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky

September 24, 2025. Almaty. In the building of the spiritual, cultural, and administrative center of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan met with participants of the International Sports Games in honor of Saint Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky and the International Forum “Faith and Sport.”

From September 9 to 15, with the blessing of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, a group of Sunday school students from the Metropolis took part in the sports events held in St. Petersburg.

The meeting was attended by: member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports Hegumen Philip (Moiseev); spiritual mentor of the team, cleric of the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty Archpriest Alexander Ievlev; head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin; assistant to the Metropolitan Deacon Daniil Pasyuk.

His Eminence addressed those present with words of greeting:

“Today each of you strives to achieve success in your chosen field of activity. And though not everyone is destined to shine as a bright star in professional sports, everyone has the opportunity to shape and temper their character for life. Sport is necessary for a young person for physical development and strengthening of bodily powers. I wish that your athletic achievements may be combined with the acquisition of firm spiritual and moral foundations. Nurture the best qualities of your soul, and God will help you along all the paths of your life,” Metropolitan Alexander noted in particular.

The Head of the Metropolis quoted the words of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’:

“Sports activities shape the human personality, they form the inner person. Without the proper inner state it is impossible to win any competition. Beyond technique, correct movements, and all that is needed in sports, beyond good muscles and a strong nervous system, what is needed is a very powerful inner volitional attitude, and this is directly connected with the state of the human spirit. Without willpower, without self-restraint, there can be no achievements in sport — just as in spiritual life there can be no success without self-restraint and ascetic effort. It is precisely here that we find the foundation for the profound interaction of the Church, the Christian worldview, with sport.”

The hierarch told the participants about his own interest in sports during his youth and about the annual “Golden Puck” hockey tournament for young players, organized for many years by the Synodal Youth Department of the Russian Orthodox Church.

As a memento of the meeting, the archpastor presented each young athlete with a copy of the book “Saint Alexander Nevsky” (author — A. Ananichev), an icon of the Blessed Prince, and a children’s prayer book.