International Conference “Religion in Russia in the 21st Century”
During the 3rd through 5th of August, 2009, Saint Petersburg Christian University hosted an international conference called "Russia in the 21st Century: freedom of consciousness, religion and the Church".
It was organized with the help of the association "Znanie" ("Knowledge") Russia, a board of religious studies (association "Znanie" of St. Petersburg and Leningradskaya region), St. Petersburg Christian University, and Union of Researchers of Religion.
The conference was full of discussion of topical problems in the lives of religious organization in modern Russia, perspective development of religious confessions in the 21st century and the stimulation of a more active interaction with religious organizations, the society and the s
tate.
In the course of the conference there were three sessions and several open-discussions.
The opening of the conference was held by one of its initiators, Doctor of History, Professor Mikhail Ivanovich Odintsov. He is also the director of the defense of freedom of consciousness for Human Rights in Russia.
The first session was titled "Freedom of Consciousness and Religion in Russia: Legislative support, condition, and problems". The session was opened by professor of the faculty of State-Confessional relations at the Russian Academy of the State Office of the President of the Russian Federation Remir Aleksandrovich Lopatkin. His lecture "General assessment of the Religious Condition in Russia" was saturated with sociological information about the religious situation in Russia for the past ten years: percentage of believers, the number of registered religious associations and their growth.
Further, Andrey Evgeniyivich Sebentsov, the secretary of the Commission of the State of Interaction with Religious organizations, spoke. He spoke on the theme of the "Condition and prospective improvement of Russian legislature on freedom of consciousness" where he touched the important question of the existence of the Russian "tradition" of absence of respect of the law. The theme of legal nihilism of the red line was heard throughout the plenary session.
The session was continued by Elena Mikhailova Miroshnikova, a representative of the scientific and religious community and professor of the department of applied ethics, religious studies and theology of the L.N Tolstoy State Pedagogical Univerity in Tula. Following her was Yuriy Kirillovich Sipko, the chair of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist and the vise-president of the Worldwide Baptist Alliance.
The second half was comprised of an open-discussion on the theme of "Religious organizations in St. Petersburg: Ministry, Dialogue, Partnership, and Mutual Respect" opened by Nikolay Seminovich Gordienko, professor of the A.I Gertzen Russian State Pedagogical University. The doctor of philosophical studies highlighted that a certain "religious pluralism" exists in Russia, and the vital thing at this point is, in his opinion, "the implementation and maintenance of the law". Afterwards, various representatives of religious organizations in St. Petersburg spoke of the vitality of the activities of these organizations. For example, representatives from the 7th Day Adventist church, the Latter-Day Saints church, the Scientology church, the Jehovah's Witness church, and the Evangelical churches spoke at the open-discussion.
The activities of all these organizations are also bound to the decision of various social issues and help to the destitute. 
Konstantin Borisovich Erofeev, a lawyer of the Advocatory house of St. Petersburg, closed the discussion by highlighting the importance of reaching interconfessional dialogue in St. Petersburg.
The topic of the second session was "International Legislation on Freedom of Consciousness: Content, Topical Problems, and Execution". The topic was expanded by guests from different countries.
Present representatives from the international community of the academic associations, state and international social organizations outlined the maintenance of freedom of consciousness in the West. The speakers were: professor of comparative constitutional rights of the Central European University in Hungary, Renata Witts, professor of rights of the University of Barcelona, Francesca Perez, director of the Center of Studies of Rights and Religion (USA), professor Cole Durem, and director of the institute of Church-State relationships, Micheala Moravchikova.
The program of the second day included two sessions. One part of it was devoted to the experience of maintanence of freedom of consciousness in our neighboring countries of Ukraine and Belorussia. The second part was more practical with speakers who were specialists in the jurisprudence community. Doctor of legal sciences, Alexandra Alekseevna Dorskaya, also the head of the law department at the A.I Gertsen St. Petersburg Pedagogical University, spoke with a lecture titled "International Rights Standards on the Implementation of freedom of consciousness in Educational Foundations". Yuriy Alekseevich Snisarenko, pastor of protestant church and practicing lawyer, spoke of "The Problems of Legal Regulations of State's Assessment of Religious Studies". The main editor of the Orthodox Economic Journal "Parish" and candidate of technical studies, Elena Anatolievna Sobolevskaya, spoke on the "Topical Problems of Application of Russian Law, which regulates Ownership and Economical Executions of Religious Associations".
The third session which started the last day of the conference was devoted to the topic of "Modern Challenges to Religious Freedom in Russia".
The realities of the life of modern Russian religious organizations from a legal point of view was presented by the co-chairman of the Slavic Legal Center, a lawyer, main editor of the journal "Religion and the Law", and candidate of Legal Studies, Professor Pchelincev. Anatoliy Vasiliyevich presented a report on "Physical Faces as the Subjects of Legal Foundation of Religious Organizations" in which he highlighted that religious organizations do not have restrictions for registration as social organizations. However, in practice, they meet various difficulties which are tied to some inaccuracies in the law.
From the experience of a practicing lawyer, issues on the interaction of religious organizations were presented by a lawyer of the advocatory house of St. Petersburg, Konstantin Borisovich Erofeev.
The third session dedicated to the question of the interaction between the media and religious organizations. Inna Vladimirovna Zagrevina, employee of the Institute of Religion and the Law, spoke on "The Problems of Religious Intolerance and Forgery of Religious Life in the Russian Media". She highlighted that sometimes the stubbornness and ignorance of the media impede the illumination of the comprehensive view on religious life not only from the point of view of the religious organizations, but also from the academic circles and specialists in the area of religious studies.
During the free time outside of sessions, members of the conferences were able to visit cultural sites and embracethe beauty of St. Petersburg. Also, they visited congregations of various confessions to see the diversity of Religion in St. Petersburg.
The fundamental conclusion of the members and organizers of the conference was that the representatives of religious organizations and social and state organizations needs to find a meeting point in the discourse of such topics. This event was able to feel the hot spots in the investigation of this area, define the opponent, and, in the end, find the truth.
In the closing of the conference, the president of St. Petersburg Christian University, Alexander Ivanovich Negrov, spoke for the members and the organizers with thanks for the conference by saying, "We are all in search for the truth, but none of us are able to privatize it."