Synodal period

At this time, there was no uniform (officially or legally fixed) name of the Orthodox church organization on the territory of Russia, and in different sources there are such options as the Russian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church , the Orthodox Catholic Greek-Russian Church , the Russian Church , the Russian Church Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox catholic Church, Greek-Russian Church, the Orthodox Greek Church of Russia, the Russian East right Lavna Church, and in the XVIII century, and also the Russian Church Greek law ^[1] . In internal government documents, the totality of church governing bodies under the jurisdiction of the Russian Most Holy Governing Synod was called the Department of Orthodox Confession . ^[1] In the documents of the All-Russian Church Council (1917-1918), the church in Russia is usually referred to as the " Orthodox Russian Church ".

The nature of the governance and structure of the Russian Church in this period was laid down during the church reforms of Peter I and enshrined in the Spiritual Rules of 1721, which remained the main normative document of the Church in Russia of state origin.

In the 18th century, the following socio-economic processes were observed in the Russian Church: the sequential secularization (alienation) by the state of land and other property from monasteries (transfer of monasteries to “states” in 1764, that is, fixed maintenance from the state treasury depending on the “class” of this monastery); the separation of the clergy into a closed estate , the elimination of the practice of electing parish clergy and the widespread establishment of a hereditary practice of filling vacancies in parishes . During this period, there was an almost universal reduction in worship ^[2] .

In the 1860s, the government took some steps that somewhat destroyed the isolation of the clergy: in 1863, graduates of theological seminaries were allowed to enter universities (it was canceled in 1879); The charter of the gymnasium of 1864 allowed the sons of the clergy to enter the gymnasium ; in 1867, the practice of inheritance of spiritual posts was abolished; according to the opinion of the State Council of May 26, 1869, approved by Emperor Alexander II , and its supplement of March 15, 1871, all non-clergymen from both the clergy and clergy, together with their descendants, were excluded from the clergy; On March 21, 1871, persons of all classes were allowed to occupy church positions, the sons of priests could be assigned personal nobility, and the sons of clergymen personal honorary citizenship ^[3] .

Since 1868, the division of dioceses introduced in the 18th century was canceled: according to the states of 1754, dioceses were divided into first-class (metropolitan), second-class (archbishopric) and third-class (bishopric); according to this classification, the ruling bishops received the advantages of honor and title. According to the states of December 27, 1867, the division of the dioceses into classes was abolished, and all of them were considered equal, except for the three metropolises: St. Petersburg , Kiev and Moscow , as well as the Georgian exarchate ; the titles of bishops turned into their personal advantage ^[4] .

Throughout the period, there was a process of significant territorial expansion of the jurisdiction of the Russian Church, which went parallel (and in North America from the end of the 19th century - autonomously) to the geographical expansion of the Russian Empire: at the beginning of the 19th century, the previously autocephalous Georgian Church (both Catholicosates) was completely incorporated ); a number of new dioceses were created (or former ones were recreated) - St. Petersburg, dioceses in the North-Western Territory , Eastern Siberia , New Russia , Galicia , the Kingdom of Poland , Bessarabia , Turkestan , the Far East . Missionary activity was carried out in China (see. Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing ) and Japan .

Organized in 1839 by the Russian government, the church council in Polotsk and the conversion to Orthodoxy in 1875 of the Uniate Kholm diocese in Russia completely liquidated the Uniate church organization that arose as a result of the Brest Union in 1596 between the part of the Orthodox ( Metropolitanate of Kiev, Galicia and All Russia in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople ) the West Russian population of the Commonwealth and the papacy ; after that, only Roman Catholicism was allowed in the empire under the control of the Roman Catholic Theological College .

In the sphere of foreign relations, involvement of inter-church contacts in the mainstream of the government’s foreign policy was observed. In the middle of the 19th century, there was an increase in the collection of information and attempts to influence the eastern patriarchates in order to advance Russia's foreign policy goals, in particular, to resolve the Eastern question , as well as the Greek-Bulgarian strife . One of the consequences was the tension (sometimes conflict) in relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople , which had three main reasons: 1) the actual support by Russia of the Bulgarians - schismatics against the patriarchy (but without co-service with them) ^[5] ; 2) the increasing influence on the patriarchy of the government and public opinion of the Greek kingdom , where anti-Russian sentiments were strong after the Crimean War ^[6] due to the influence of England and the reaction to what was considered by the Greeks as Russian Pan-Slavism and Russification of Athos ; 3) the abnormality, according to the majority of Russian politicians and church leaders ^[7] , of the governance of the patriarchy according to the “General Statutes” of 1858-1860, which provided for a significant role of the laity in the central church government.

At the end of the 19th century, the eight-pointed cross came into use again, which for 200 years of the actual ban was a distinctive symbol of the Old Believers. Since 1896, by order of Emperor Nicholas II, priests who did not have award crosses donned a silver eight-pointed cross ^[8] .

Church Measures for the Preservation of Monuments of History and Culture

During the Synodal period, measures were taken to protect historical and cultural monuments administered by the Church. The synod issued decrees imposing restrictions on the use of ancient revered icons in worship. So, the decree of the Synod of August 10, 1742 allowed to “wear out” the miraculous Theodore Icon of the Mother of God from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin “except for the noble crossings three times a year” ^[9] .

In the XIX century, a number of measures were taken to protect the monuments of church architecture. The decree of the Synod of December 31, 1842 forbade restructuring and replacing the internal painting of ancient churches ^[10] .

Since 1859, a local (diocesan) periodical (time-based) press began to be created; the first such publication was “Kherson Eparchial Wisdom”, the idea of ​​which was earlier made by Kherson Archbishop Innocent (Borisov) († May 26, 1857). The creation of the central official body was constrained by a number of circumstances and considerations, among which were concerns about the possible involvement of such a publication in journalistic controversy, which became a characteristic feature of journalism during the “ glasnost ” period in the reign of Alexander II . Since 1859, “executive orders for the Department of Orthodox Confession” - documents on behalf of the Holy Synod - were published in the weekly journal Spiritual Conversation, which was published at St. Petersburg Seminary and in 1862 passed into private hands of Archpriest John Yakhontov.

On November 27, 1874, the Synod decided to print its materials in the official part of the magazine " Christian Reading " (published monthly by the St. Petersburg Academy since 1821); the publication received a separate status under the title "Church Newsletter, published at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy: The Official Body of the Holy All-Russian Synod and Consisting of Central Organizations" (weekly journal), the first issue of which was published in January 1875. The journal retained its official status until 1888 ^[11] ; since 1916 with the subtitle: "<...> published by the Missionersky Council at the Holy Synod."

From 1888 to 1918, the central official body was the weekly publication “Church Logs, Published by the Holy Government of the Synod” with additions.

Since January 1890, the Vestnik of the military clergy was published on the same basis as the diocesan Vedomosti; in 1911 it was renamed the Vestnik of the military and naval clergy and was published until June 1917.

Archpriest Alexander Shmeman wrote in the middle of the 20th century :

^[12]

Bishop Andrei (Prince Ukhtomsky) wrote, speaking about the general state of churchness in Russian society at the end of the synodal era: “We almost do not have a church society. In other words, there is no Church as a society, but there is only a crowd of Christians who are only considered Christians, and in fact they have no idea about the Church. <...> The most churchly prayer has now turned only into the service of prayers and memorial services, and the liturgical and public mood is nowhere to be seen anywhere. Such are the negative merits of Russian Caesaropapism in the history and life of the Russian Church. Caesaropapism generally fought with the public, therefore Caesar himself died in an unequal struggle and destroyed the church community and mutilated our entire social life. ” ^[13]

By 1882, there were 40,596 Orthodox churches in Russia, moreover, chapels and prayer houses 14,167. The total number of parish clergy in clergy was up to 45,000, including over 37,000 archpriests and priests and 7,000 deacons, in addition, the number of psalmists and accountants stretched to 40,000 ( Katkov, MN ) ^[14]

In 1914, according to official data of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, the total number of representatives of the white clergy and clergy (archpriests, priests, deacons and psalm-goers) amounted to 112 629 people ^[15] . 1,025 monasteries and communities also functioned in Russia: 550 male (with 11,845 monks and 9,485 novices) and 475 female (with 17,283 nuns and 56,016 novices) ^[15] . Church revenues were measured in tens of millions of rubles. For example, in 1913, the income of Orthodox monasteries and bishops' houses amounted to 89.5 million rubles, and expenses - 23 million rubles ^[16] .

World War I inflicted damage on property administered by the Church in a number of dioceses. The great retreat of 1915 led to the evacuation of a number of religious institutions. In addition, a number of church buildings were occupied by hospitals and hospitals (as well as other secular institutions), as a result of which the educational process was severely damaged in many spiritual educational institutions. It is worth noting that the Church helped the state in organizing the treatment of the wounded. The decree of the Synod of July 31, 1915 ordered not to impede the removal of monastery premises for infirmaries and for other purposes related to the war ^[17] . As a result, by the end of 1915, hospitals, hospitals and military institutions proper occupied 32 theological seminaries from 57, 66 theological schools from 185 and 24 women's diocesan schools from 73. And 15 theological educational institutions were evacuated ^[18] . In the years 1916-1917, according to the Synod, 40 out of 59 theological seminaries were occupied, 60 out of 185 theological schools, 25 out of 74 diocesan women's schools, 4 out of 11 spiritual schools. The evacuated educational institutions were not taken into account in the calculation ^[19] . 3 theological seminaries ( Lithuanian , Riga , Kholmskaya ), 8 theological schools (Warsaw, Vilnius, Zhirovitsk, Meletsk, Polotsk, Riga, Slutsk, Kholmsk), 5 diocesan women’s schools (Volynsk, Vitalievsk, Ilensk did not work due to evacuation) Mariinsky, Polotsk Spaso-Efrosinievsky) and 3 schools of the spiritual department (Parichsky, Polotsk and Vilensky) ^[20] .

In 1917, the number of persons of Orthodox faith in the Empire was about 117 million (more than two-thirds of the total population); there were 67 dioceses; there were about 80.800 churches and chapels, 1025 monasteries (with 94.629 monastics), 35.000 elementary church schools, 185 diocesan schools, 57 seminaries, 4 theological academies, 34.497 libraries; the number of clergy exceeded 66,000 people ^[21] . At the departments within the Empire there were 150 bishops (including 8 bishops of the Georgian exarchate ). Abroad (in the USA, Japan, China and Urmia) 7 bishops served and 20 remained at rest. Total, the total number of bishops was 177 people ^[22] .

• The Holy Governing Synod
• Chief Prosecutor
• Religion in the Russian Empire
• Priesthood and Kingdom (Russia, beginning of the 20th century - 1918). Research and materials
• Russian clergy and the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917 (collection of documents)

• Znamensky P.V. Period V. Synodal. // History of the Russian Church. - M .: Krutitsky patriarchal compound, 1996. - (Materials on the history of the church, book 10). - 474 p. (First edition: A Guide to Russian Church History. - Kazan, 1870.)
• Kartashev A.V. Synodal period // History of the Russian Church. - Paris, 1959. - T. II.
• Smolich I.K. History of the Russian Church. 1700-1917 . - (Geschichte der Russische Kirche). - Leiden , 1964. - In 8 books.
• Trubetskoy G.N. Russia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate after the Crimean War. 1856-1860 // Bulletin of Europe . - 1902. - No. 6.
• Fedorov V. A. Russian Orthodox Church and the State. The synodal period. 1700-1917. - M .: Russian panorama, 2003.
• Prot. Vladislav Tsypin. Office of the Orthodox Confession // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2004. - T. VII. - S. 369. - 752 p. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-010-2 .