The story
The organization was founded by A. L. Dvorkin in 1993 with the blessing of Holy Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II in 1993 as the Information and Consulting Center named after the Holy Martyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon for the purpose of collecting, processing and disseminating generalized reliable information about the teachings and activities of new religious movements Totalitarian and destructive oriented.
Since 2003, the Center has had its current name.
In 2006, the Center became the umbrella organization of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects..
The Center is also a member of European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism.
On October 9, 2009, the Center celebrated its 15th anniversary during the Second St. Irenei Readings, receiving congratulations from hierarchs and figures of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On October 28, 2011, the Center received a state grant of 2.5 million rubles to help people affected by totalitarian sects.
From Wikipedia’s article on Center for Religious Studies in the name of Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3