|
Dvorkin returned to Russia on 31 December 1991.<ref name=patriarchia.ru/> In March 1992 he started working in the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.<ref name=patriarchia.ru/> At this work Dvorkin encountered some new religious movements, primarily the "Mother of God center", a homegrown Russian sect. During a 1993 Dvorkin coined the term "totalitarian sect," which would become the catch-all label for [[new religious movements]]. The term "totalitarian" played on fears of return to Soviet-era repressions. Dvorkin called [[Hitler]] along with [[Lenin]] "founders of the most evil totalitarian sects".<ref name="Baran2006">{{cite journal |last1=Baran |first1=Emily B. |title=Negotiating the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Post-Soviet Russia: The Anticult Movement in the Russian Orthodox Church, 1990-2004 |journal=The Russian Review |date=2006 |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=637-656 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877259 ||url-access=subscription |accessdate=8 November 2019 }}</ref>
In 1993 he founded the first Russian [[anti-cult]] organisation: ''Saint Irenaeus of Lyons Information and Advisory Center (Информационно-консультационный центр св. Иринея Лионского)'' with the blessing of the [[Patriarch of Moscow]], [[Alexy II of Moscow|Patriarch Alexy II]],<ref name=patriarchia.ru/><ref name="FECase" /><ref name=iriney.ru>{{cite|url=https://iriney.ru/main/o-czentre/ |title=О центре |trans-title=About the center| work = Центр религиоведческих исследований во имя священномученика Иринея Лионского (Saint Irenaeus of Lyons Center for Religious Studies) website iriney.ru|access-date=5 November 2019}}</ref> and became its head.<ref name=patriarchia.ru/> TheThrough centerthis saysCenter, thatDvorkin itadapted disseminatesthe reliableWestern information[[anticult movement]] aboutto the activitiesRussian andsituation, teachingsmaking his target small organizations, few of destructivewhom cultshad any serious presence in Soviet times, and totalitarianwhich were easy to sectsmarginalize. TheMany center’sof employeesthese publishorganizations theirhave researchalready onbecome cults,targets givefor lectures,Western andanti-cultists. adviseUntil the Russian governmentOrthodox agenciesChurch and(ROC) droped into the Russianopposition media.<refwith name=Information_and_Advisory_Center>{{citethe |url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/381845.htmlmore |title=Информационно-консультационныйmainstream центрChristian свdenominations, the Center tried to cooperate with them. ИринеяDespite Лионскогоthe |trans-title=Saintfact Irenaeusthat the Center was created under the umbrella of Lyonsthe InformationROC, andit Advisoryportrayed Centersuperficial |work=[[:ru:Патриархияsecularism, which allowed it to influence both the Orthodox and secular audiences.ru| The officialCenter organized conferences, published brochures, and maintained a website. ofDvorkin thehimself Russiangave Orthodoxlectures Church]]|accessand numerous interviews to various media. His role was so great that the anti-date=5cult Novembermovement 2019}}in Russia had been largely defined by him, he was called "the enemy number one of religious extremists".</ref> name="Baran2006"/> In 2003 the center was renamed the ''[[Saint Irenaeus of Lyons]] Center for Religious Studies (Центр религиоведческих исследований во имя священномученика Иринея Лионского)'' and Dvorkin is its president,<ref name=patriarchia.ru/><ref>{{cite book |title=Religion, Morality, and Community in Post-Soviet Societies |authorlink=Mark D. Steinberg |last=Steinberg |first=Mark D. |last2=Wanner |first2=Catherine |page=300 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-22038-7 }}</ref> The center works with Christian anti-cult organisations in Russia and abroad, being the head center of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects.<ref name=Information_and_Advisory_Center/><ref name="FECase" /> Since 2009 Dvorkin has been Vice-President of the [[European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism]] (FECRIS), an umbrella organization for anti-cult groups in Europe.<ref name="FECase">[[Régis Dericquebourg]], [http://www.hrwf.net/images/reports/2012/2012fecrisbook.pdf "FECRIS: European Federation of Research and Information Centers on Sectarianism"], in ''Freedom of Religion or Belief — Anti-Sect Movements and State Neutrality — A Case Study: FECRIS'', special issue of ''Religion – Staat – Gesellschaft: Zeitschrift für Glaubensformen und Weltanschauungen'' (''Journal for the Study of Beliefs and Worldviews'', {{ISSN|1438-955X}}), 2012/2, p.188–189, {{ISBN|978-3-643-99864-4}}</ref> Dvorkin is on the board of FECRIS. Dvorkin has been extremely active in opposing cults and new religious movements through his publications.<ref name="FECase" />
Between 1999 and 2012 he was professor and head of the department of the study of new religious movements (also known as cults) [сектоведения] at [[Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University]], Moscow, Russia.<ref name=patriarchia.ru/> He is currently a professor in the department of missiology [миссиологии] at the same university.<ref name=patriarchia.ru/>
|
