Petrograd Theological Institute

Based on the instructions of the People’s Commissariat of August 24, 1918 to implement the decree on separation of the Church from the state and the school from the Church, all theological educational institutions were forced to cease to exist, and the Petrograd Theological Academy was closed.

The State Education Commission, having made a decision to close theological educational institutions, at the same time recognized the possibility for the church authorities to arrange special theological courses for the training of clergy, stipulating this by removing general subjects from the curriculum of these courses and preventing them from being under the age of 18.

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Tikhon (Bellavin) and the Holy Synod, Decrees of September 19, 1918 No. 23 and October 25, 1918 No. 29 invited the diocesan bishops to open pastoral schools in their dioceses that could temporarily solve the problem of training personnel and preserving traditions Russian theology. One of the first such schools was opened on October 1, 1918 in Petrograd, on the basis of an incomplete secondary school. It was placed in the northwestern tower of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra .

For more than a year, preparations continued for the revival of a higher theological school. On April 9, 1919, the former teacher of the Petrograd Theological Seminary, Ivan Shcherbov, presented to Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazan) a memorandum on the need to open a Theological Institute. It stipulated that the institute “should have free access to all who wish to serve the Church - not only young men, but also adults, not only men but also women”, and “the educational matter should be flexible, / ... / go in full compliance with the spiritual demands of life, not lagging behind, but foreseeing them, and in students to develop a spirit of initiative ... ” ^[1] . With the blessing of the Metropolitan, I.P.Shcherbov developed the Regulation on the Theological Institute, as well as on theological courses and circles, as the lowest level of theological education. The "Regulation" on the institute was approved by Patriarch Tikhon on December 17, 1919.

The institute's corporation included both representatives of former theological academies ( Fedor Andreev , Alexander Brilliantov , Nikolai Glubokovsky , Ivan Karabinov , etc.), and the University of Petrograd ( Nikolai Lossky , Boris Turaev , Dmitry Abramovich , Lev Karsavin , Sofya Melikova-Tolstaya , etc. ) Archpriest Nikolai Chukov became the rector.

April 16, 1920 was the celebration of the opening of the Theological Institute. Its audience and library were located in the building of the Petrograd Metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (Fontanka, 44).

Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov) , who taught there as a layman, recalled:

The Petrograd Theological Institute was not a simple reproduction of the old Theological Academy. The Theological Institute had the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon . He enjoyed the paternal care of the ever-memorable Holy Martyr of Petrograd, Metropolitan Benjamin . But its construction began from below. It came out of the bowels of parish organizations. Among the listeners there were many women who stood out for their particular zeal and success. Most of the professors belonged to professors of the Academy, but many were new. Among the professors were prominent representatives of the parish priesthood. There were university workers ^[2] .

The institute was supported by the means of parishes, and Metropolitan Benjamin repeatedly helped him financially. On this occasion, there were many approvals from the parish councils of the Petrograd churches. During the existence of the institute, about 300 applications for admission were filed; in reality, several dozen people attended each course.

In order to unite the believing intelligentsia around the Church, the Petrograd Theological Institute conducted extensive educational work: public theological lectures, religious meetings, teachers and students were given lectures in temples, studied with children, etc.

In 1922, the theological institute suffered significant losses: some teachers (Archpriest Nikolai Chukov, Vladimir Shklovsky ) were arrested, others (Lev Karsavin, Nikolai Lossky, Sergey Bezobrazov ) were expelled and went abroad, others (Archpriest Alexander Boyarsky , Sergey Zarin ) left in renovationism .

After the arrest of Archpriest Nikolai Chukov, the acting rector was Lev Karsavin for some time, and after the emigration of the latter, Ivan Shcherbov became the rector.

The authorities, seeking to close the institute, imposed an unbearable burden of financial burdens on it. According to Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov), the inevitability of its closure became clear by the end of the summer of 1922 ^[2] .

Nevertheless, in the spring of 1923 the institute managed to make a single graduation (26 people, among them V.K. Lozina-Lozinsky , Varlaam (Satserdotsky) , future doctor of medicine A.M. Skorodumov ), after which in May, under pressure from the authorities , ceased operations.

On the basis of the theological courses of the simplified type that existed in Petrograd, in September 1925 Higher theological courses were opened, led by Archpriest Nikolai Chukov. But soon they were closed ^[3] .

• A.A. Bovkalo . The last year of the Petrograd Theological Institute // Past. - SPb. , 1998. - Vol. 24 . - S. 547 .
• Petrograd Theological Institute // Humanitarian Dictionary. - 2002
• Petrograd Theological Institute // Sorokin V. , prof. Confessor. Church-educational activity of Metropolitan Gregory (Chukov). St. Petersburg, 2005.S. 205—289.

• Petrograd Theological Institute // "Tree"