Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in July 2012 undergraduate student Masha Goncharova interviewed Nikolas Cernocrack, the dean of St. Sergius Orthodox Seminary in Paris, France. In this interview Cernocrack discusses the institute's history and its transition to using French as the educational language, the financial challenges of operating the institute, and the role of religious education in maintaining Russian culture in the French context.
What are the demographics of your student body?
We work by the European acceptance system, so we have students from the French lycée, master's, and doctorate. We have students who learn and come for lectures daily (license, master's), and there are also atypical students who get a license only. In total, we have about 200. Of course there are many nationalities. French, and not only Orthodox French, but also Catholics and Protestants come to us, as well from Yugoslavia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Levant, Egypt, and Ethiopia.
What is the language of instruction?
We have had francophone courses and lectures since 1975, but 10 years ago we also opened education in Russian. There are 50 students like this, and these are all people who come from Russophone countries (Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia), and some come from Scandinavian countries. Last year we had 33 baccalaureates for Russian, and some plan to go on to master's [degrees].
What role does the institute play in Russian émigré life?
Our whole Russian émigré population in Western Europe came through this institute at one time or another. This institute formed priests, theologians, and church leaders. It would be hard to count all of the graduates of this institute. All the priests who were our bishops came through our institute. The current Patriarch Ignatius [IV of Antioch {Habib Hazim}] was our student. And now our institute takes an international Orthodox approach. We are open to all Orthodox churches and religions.
What is your personal history?
I was a student in Belgrade in the theological department, and in 1973 I came to France to study in Paris. I was a student in St. Sergius Seminary, and back then everything was taught in Russian. These were the last generations who taught and learned in Russian. I finished the institute and wrote a doctorate at the Sorbonne. Now I teach theology. I am also a professor of the new board, and four years ago I became the dean of the institute.
What is the emphasis today—culture or religion?
The first period of institute—from its beginnings to about 1925—it was the first Russian generation of professors and students. Our institute mirrored the Russian academia. But from the very beginning we had a very open outlook. St. Sergius never called itself a specifically Russian Orthodox theological institute; we had a more open mentality. For us, the value was the people who wrote, created, and worked through our institute in a creative consciousness.
Then after the war, there were many new immigrants applying to the institute. Our student body became more international. This period lasted until the 1970s, when the institute became francophone. It did this because we didn’t have that many students interested in Russia anymore, and they didn’t speak Russian either. We needed to open ourselves up to the French. The institute does remain truly in spirit what it was at the very start: the Orthodox experience of theology and religion, even though it functions through the French language.
How do your students accept Orthodoxy?
There remain always the authorities of our heritage: Nicolai Afanasii, Alexander Schmemann, [John] Meyendorff, all of these professors serve as our examples and remain very strong influences for our students and professors. The students read all of these authors, and we often organize international congresses about [Sergei] Bulgakov or Schmemann, etc. So the spirit of Russian theology that came through this institute still gets taught and lives on—in Russian or in French. Professor [Constantin] Andronikof, who translated Bulgakov, [Serge] Zenkovsky, and Machursky’s interviews into French and other European languages, has become internationally renowned from his work with us.
Do you provide fellowships?
We can help students attend this institute, but with difficulty. This is a very weak side of our affairs because the institute is not a very wealthy one. We survive with difficulty. Students need to pay, but sometimes we find sponsors who can help them. Other times different churches will help us, but the institute itself can also give fellowships. Sometimes they get paid internships so to cover their costs. There is of course a big financial crisis, so we don’t have all of the resources. We ask the students to find independent fellowships. The pattern nowadays is that more of those who come from Russia ask for money. This year, two students—one from Moscow, the other from Ukraine—are here on small fellowships. We have many candidates from Russia who apply, but it is always very hard to give them money to go. If there existed more funds or sponsors, then we would certainly have many more Russian students. To help one student we need about 6,000 euros, which for us is a lot.
What do students typically do after graduating from the institute?
Some become priests, monks, or professors. There are female students who go on to teach or find other cultural work to keep church culture alive. This institute is for everyone, and people graduate with many different religious career paths.
Do you have community service groups?
Some students teach the Law of God class in different churches to small children. Others meet with the sick in hospitals and read with them from the Bible, or just sit and speak to them. Of course they do not have much time because of the work and exams in the institute, but when it is needed they visit hospitals. Helping the poor is hard, because the institute itself is very poor! And people from all of Paris come to our institute for spiritual counsel. This actually occurs on a weekly basis. The public knows about us and comes to our students to learn and to speak about God.
What is the role of religious education in maintaining Russian culture?
I think the institute plays a very big role so that Russian Orthodoxy and the spiritual life would open itself through a theological education. Orthodoxy has become famous to the Western world through the books, research, conferences, and personal meetings written and published by our students. The institute is very tied to its roots and the history of Russian Orthodox theological thought. This institute does have, in this sense, a double role. The first is to save the ties with Orthodox Russia, and the second is to open and enter into dialogue with the Western world. That, I think, really is our mission today.