Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod

Provisional Synod under Patriarch Tikhon

According to the definition of the Local Council of December 7, 1917, “the Holy Synod consists of the Chairman-Patriarch and twelve members: the Kiev Metropolitan as a permanent member of the Synod, six hierarchs elected by the Local All-Russian Council for three years, and five hierarchs called in succession for one year ". Due to the outbreak of the Civil War and repression by the beginning of 1919, the number of members of the Synod in cash decreased by about half, and after it ended, of the six permanent members of the Synod elected by the Council, four were in emigration. By February 1921, there were three of the thirteen members left in the Synod, including the Chairman-Patriarch, who, due to his house arrest, did not have the opportunity to take part in synodal meetings ^[3] .

On June 1, 1921, the former composition of the Synod lost its powers due to the expiration of the 3-year inter-conciliation period ^[4] . A new composition was determined in the amount of five people at the election of the Patriarch ^[3] . At the same time, the powers of the members of this Synod did not come from the Local Council, but from Patriarch Tikhon personally ^[2] . Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) described the Synod as follows: “The deceased patriarch did not rule monarchically. He also had permanent advisers around himself, calling the totality their Synod, used to check his archpastoral conscience and the judgments of the hierarchs who had joined, but did not put anyone near him to shift responsibility from his head to others. During his time, all administrative decisions on the Church were and were perceived by Her as the sole orders of His Holiness the Patriarch ” ^[5] .

On May 5, 1922, the last meeting of the Synod took place before the arrest of the Patriarch, which, at the request of the authorities, adopted a resolution on the abolition of the Foreign Supreme Soviet ^[3] .

In the summer of 1923, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon was released, and the Synod resumed its work no later than August 11 ^[3] . The Synod includes the Archbishops of Tver Seraphim (Alexandrov) , Uralsky Tikhon (Obolensky) , Krutitsky Peter (Polyansky) and Bishop Hilarion of Verey (Troitsky) , arrested in late 1923. Occasionally, the names of some other bishops (for example, Archbishop Joseph (Petrovs) ) were added to their signatures under synodal orders, but they did not stay in the Synod for a long time ^[2] .

In the epistles and decrees of Patriarch Tikhon, this organ was called differently: the Small Council of Bishops, the Higher Church Administration, the Holy Synod ^[2] .

The Patriarchal Synod was not legalized by the government, which made it very vulnerable. On February 26, 1924, the Anti-Religious Commission (ARC) under the Central Committee of the RCP (B.) Decided: "The organization of the Synod of Tikhon should be allowed, provided it enters the Synod with a number of persons well-guided by the OGPU" ^[3] .

A letter by Alexander Samarin , dated May 1924, described the situation at that time: “Currently, up to 30 Orthodox bishops live in Moscow. The Patriarch does not have the opportunity to call them to his meeting, as the meeting without the permission of the GPU would inevitably lead to the arrest of the participants, and the request for permission is refused. The orders of the Synod can only be read with great difficulty, as they are hushed up in the Soviet press, and they are not allowed to have their own organ. We tried to print the definitions of the Synod in separate sheets for distribution to churches and the diocese. In spite of the fact that every time permission for censorship was requested and everything was printed in compliance with general laws, ready sheets were selected by agents of the GPU as soon as they were brought from the printing house to Donskoy Monastery. The activity of the Patriarchal Administration proceeds under the direct control of Tuchkov: at first he attended only the Patriarch, then he began to summon summons of members of the Synod for instructions, finally began to go to the meetings of the Synod and thus became a real procurator. Now not a single appointment, not a single decision passes without his permission. But he is not limited to the role of an observer and protests, but dictates his will to the Synod, it requires decisions that are very harmful for the Church ” ^[6] .

On March 1, 1924, Patriarch Tikhon “continued until special notice” ceased the work of the Provisional Synod due to the lack of civil registration ^[2] . However, this did not mean the dissolution of the Provisional Synod under Patriarch Tikhon. For example, on March 22, 1924, three members of the Synod - Archbishops Seraphim (Alexandrov) , Tikhon (Obolensky) and Peter (Polyansky) - were elevated to metropolitan dignity ^[3] .

In April-May 1924, Patriarch Tikhon attempted to re-establish the full presence of the Holy Synod with the inclusion of the most respected hierarchs (such as Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) ) and the Supreme Church Council . The government expressed its willingness to allow this, provided that the representatives of the Renovationist Living Church (by then separated from the Renovationist Synod) led by the “protopresbyter” Vladimir Krasnitsky were included in the VCS ^[2] .

In response to the patriarchal petition, and taking into account the “explanatory” report, on 10 June 1924, the Central Administrative Department of the NKVD issued to Krasnitsky a certificate of temporary registration of the VTsS without a Synod; a number of the Living Church, headed by Kratinitsky, were to join the VTSS. Patriarch Tikhon, supported by his entourage, did not want to go to such a “legalization” and soon ceased all negotiations with Krasnitsky ^[3] .

On February 28, 1925, Patriarch Tikhon appealed to the NKVD with a request to register the Holy Synod "as an executive body" of seven members: Patriarch Tikhon - Chairman, Metropolitan Sergiy of Nizhny Novgorod (Stragorodsky) , Metropolitan of Ural Tikhon (Obolensky), Metropolitan of Tver Seraphim (Alexandrov) , Metropolitan of Krutitsky Peter (Polyansky), Bishop of Kherson Procopius (Titov) , temporarily ruled Samara Diocese Bishop of Melitopol Sergius (Zverev) ^[2] .

Yevgeny Tuchkov , the head of the 6th ("church") branch of the Secret Department of the OGPU, demanded in response from the Patriarch to sign a pro-Soviet message ("Declaration") with a program of measures to combat the "church counterrevolution" at home and abroad. Patriarch Tikhon drafted such a message, but it did not suit Tuchkov, and the Synod’s legalization did not take place ^[7] .

Provisional Synod with Metropolitan Sergius

After the death of Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsky (Polyansky) entered the temporary administration of the Church, under which there was no Provisional Synod. The priest Michael Polsky wrote about the reasons for this: “The frequent arrests and long imprisonment of the bishops did not allow the composition of the Synod to be correct by law, but to compose it from individuals who were accidentally at large, and even worse, it was not by chance that it forced the [itropolitan] Peter deliberately avoid convening a synod. The single-person administration of the [itropolitan] Petra and the first time of the [itropolitan] Sergius, who consulted about current affairs with whom they wanted or had an opportunity without a special permanent institution, saved them from interference by the godless government in the affairs of the Church. He could guarantee himself from unexpected speeches of the First Hierarch, bind his will, restrict it and, most importantly, send it along the well-known mainstream of the GPU only through the Synod, whose composition itself made it necessary to have people from the GPU ” ^[8] .

On March 27, 1927, Metropolitan Sergius, after being released from prison, again joined the administration of the Patriarchal Church as Deputy Patriarchal locum tenens ^[9] .

On May 10, Metropolitan Sergius sent to the OGPU a draft regulation on the administration of the Church by the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod ^[10] .

May 18, 1927 Deputy Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius of Nizhny Novgorod (Stragorodsky) held a preliminary meeting with the bishops, he has chosen to assist in the implementation of the higher ecclesiastical administration: Metropolitan Tver Seraphim (Alexandrov), Archbishop of Kostroma Sevastianom (News) , Vologda Sylvester (Bratanovskim) , Zvenigorod Philip (Gumilevsky) , Khutynsky Alexy (Simansky) , Bishop Konstantin of Sumy (Diacovus) . Based on the precedent of the existence of the Synod under Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Sergius formed the Temporary Patriarchal Holy Synod from the participants of the meeting, whose powers, by analogy with the Temporary Synod formed by Patriarch Tikhon in 1923, stemmed from the powers of the founder ^[2] .

The Deputy Patriarchal Sacred Synod also included the Metropolitan of Novgorod Arseny (Stadnitsky) , who had been in exile in Turkestan for many years and deprived of the right to leave the Archbishops of Samara Anatoly (Grisyuk) and Pavel , who had been released at that time, also released Archbishop of Samara Anatoly (Grisyuk) and Pavel. ) ^[2] .

The act of Metropolitan Sergius about the opening of the Interim Patriarchal Holy Synod said: “The Synod that is being drafted with me is not in any way authorized to replace the sole head of the Russian Church, but it matters only a subsidiary body, personally with me, as the Deputy Bishop of our Church. The powers of the Synod flow from mine and fall with them ”(TS. 1927. No. 3. P. 3) ^[2] .

On May 20, 1927, the NKVD issued a certificate No. 22-4503-62, which provided "an opportunity for members of the Synod to proceed without difficulty" ^[11] .

The first meeting of the Synod was held on May 27. On the same day, a decree was sent out to the dioceses, ordering the diocesan bishops to submit applications to the local authorities requesting "registration of their bishops with the diocesan councils attached to them (which temporarily form by inviting the above bishops)." Work began on re-creating, according to the norms of civil laws, the church-administrative structure of the Moscow Patriarchate ^[12] .

The best-known and most discussed act of the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod was the publication of a message known as the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius , published on July 16 (29), 1927 .

The initial reaction to the Message among the Church (in the USSR) was not sharply critical: for example, the authors of the Message of Solovki bishops of September 14 (27) 1927 , not finding the opportunity to “accept and approve the messages as a whole,” essentially put forward the same principles of the relationship of the Church with the state ^[13] .

The protest of the clergy becomes sharper at the end of 1927, after the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod, under pressure from the authorities, began to dismiss the deported bishops, and rearrangements began in the departments. This caused a strong discontent among the clergy. Particular discontent among the clergy and laity was caused by the ban on commemoration in worship ( litany and other public prayers) exiled bishops and the requirement to commemorate the authorities ^[14] . It was these actions that pushed some representatives of the episcopate and clergy to break off communion with Metropolitan Sergius and the Synod headed by him, while retaining the commemoration of Metropolitan Peter. So the transfer by Metropolitan Sergius, at the request of the authorities, the Metropolitan of Leningrad Joseph (Petrovs) to Odessa was interpreted as his permission for the authorities to intervene in personnel policy, which caused a sharp aversion. In the late fall of 1927, Leningrad , headed by Metropolitan Joseph, who was then in Rostov, became the center of resistance to the course of Metropolitan Sergius. ( See the article by Josephites (XX century) .) By the end of 1930, there were up to 37 bishops of the Patriarchal Church, who had refused administrative subordination to Metropolitan Sergius ^[14] .

In 1931, the Metropolitan of Tashkent Nikandr (Phenomena) and Archbishop of Ivanovo-Voznesensky Pavel (Galkovsky) were included in the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod, in 1932 - Archbishop Dmitrovsky Pitirim (Krylov) , head of the Moscow Diocese ^[2] .

Initially, the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod was located in the House on Korolenko Street in Sokolniki , by 1931 moved to a small building in Baumansky Lane ^[15] .

In the early 1930s, in order to bring the status and composition of the Synod closer to the Statute on the Holy Synod worked out by the Local Council in 1917-1918, they began to be called as temporary members of the Synod for one semiannual session in order of priority by ordination 5 bishops. To this end, all the dioceses were divided into 5 groups according to geography, and 1 bishop was invited from each group. The rest of the bishops who were part of the Synod had the status of its permanent members ^[2] .

Irina Stratonov cited information concerning the composition of the Provisional Patriarchal Synod ^[16] :

Between the Synod of Metropolitan Sergius and the Synod that existed under Patriarch Tikhon in the last time of his life is a complete identity. Just as the Synod, when it was deceased, consisted of appointed members, the Synod under the Deputy was replenished with the order of Metr [opolit] Sergius, and initially consisted of nine permanent members. Soon, however, members appear in the Synod, summoned to be present in it for the duration of one session. In connection with this, the number of permanent members is reduced to seven, and then to six with four temporary, and then with five temporary ... On the basis of acquaintance with the composition of the Interim Patriarchal Synod, some observations can already be formulated, namely: 1) the tendency to reduce the number permanent members, 2) to an increase in the number of summoned ones, the number of which in the last session reached five, as stipulated by the definition of the Sobor of 1917-18; 3) when called to a certain extent, they adhere to the division of dioceses established by the same Council into groups, so that each group was represented in the Synod

- Stratonov I. The Origin of the Modern Device of the Russian Patriarchal Church. Paris, 1933. pp. 14-15.

On May 18, 1932 to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Temporary Patriarchal Holy Synod, the decree of Metropolitan Sergius 4 of the oldest permanent members of the Synod were elevated to the rank of metropolitan: Archbishop Alexy of Hutynsky (Simansky), who became Metropolitan of Starorussky, Archbishop of Odessa Anatoly (Grisyuk). (Borisovskiy) and the Archbishop of Kharkov Konstantin (Dyakov) ^[17] .

April 23, 1935 the definition of number 42 "Since the end of the winter session of the Holy Synod of the Patriarch, present at the Synod Archbishop: Kirov Cyprian, Arkhangelsk Nikon Kursk Onufry, Borovichi Nikita and Bishop Methodius Pyatigorsk dismissed from the presence of the Synod of the diocese entrusted to them." At the same time, there were no orders for summoning those present at the next session, since, obviously, it was already decided that there would be no next session ^[18] .

At the last meeting of the Synod on May 18, 1935, Metropolitan Sergius reported that “because of the impossibility of keeping the synodal bishops in the center without a break and, thus, tearing off the dioceses entrusted to them”, we must abandon the “continuity of synodal activities”. By the decree of Metropolitan Sergius of the same date, the Provisional Patriarchal Holy Synod was abolished; for church affairs that required conciliar consideration, it was prescribed to convene a Council of Bishops . At the same time, the Moscow Patriarchate, in the person of the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, retained the “legal” status obtained in the spring of 1927. Metropolitan Sergius began to publish his sole definitions, entitled “Definitions of the Moscow Patriarchate”. The administration of the Synod, which was headed by Archpriest Alexander Lebedev , was renamed the Administration of the Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate . The abolition of the Synod was forced and carried out at the direct request of the NKVD ^[19] . Two weeks earlier, the renovation Holy Synod "self-destructed".

Illegal Synod

The dissolution of the Synod did not mean the automatic termination of this body or, in any case, the collective discussion of general church issues ^[19] . In connection with this, the testimony of Bishop John of Volokolamsk (Shirokov) , Vicar of Metropolitan Sergius, given to them during the investigation on June 3, 1937, is of interest. He was asked about the "illegal center headed by Metropolitan Sergius". According to the protocol, the answer was:

This center includes: Leningrad Metropolitan Alexei (Simansky), Kiev Metropolitan Konstantin (Dyakov), Archbishop Pitirim (Krylov), Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov), Bishop Sergey (Resurrection) and I - Shirokov. Metropolitan Seraphim (Alexandrov) and Archbishop Sergey (Grishin), who are currently serving their sentences, also participated in the center. <...> The illegal center that I indicated was formed on the initiative of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) soon after the liquidation of the synod, and this liquidation, as Stragorodsky told me, was carried out at the direction of the NKVD. The task of the center included issues aimed at strengthening the Orthodox Church and rallying the faithful masses around it. The illegal center carried out its functions to a certain extent without prior arrangement, since a significant part of the [members] of the center lived outside of Moscow. Under various pretexts, members of the center came to Moscow one by one or several people and here expressed their opinions on certain issues ^[1] .

In addition to the illegal members of the “church center” mentioned in the testimony of Bishop John (Shirokov), Archpriest Alexander Lebedev, the head of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, also quite legally entered into it before his arrest in the spring of 1937.

On December 27, 1936, after receiving false news about the death of Metropolitan Peter, the Patriarchate passed a special “Act on the transfer of the rights and duties of the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of the Orthodox Russian Church to the Deputy Patriarchs Locum Tenens, the Most Blessed Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergiy (Stragorododskii)” ^[20] . Also, a decree of the Moscow Patriarchate was issued on the appropriate form of commemoration from January 1, 1937 at the service of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius ^[21] .

After the “ Great Terror ” of 1937–1938, in the summer of 1939, only 4 full-time (retained registration as a “clergyman”) bishop, including the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, were left from the episcopate of the Patriarchal Church: also Metropolitan of Leningrad Alexy (Simansky) , Archbishop of Petergof Nikolai ( Yarushevich) , Archbishop Sergius Dmitrovsky (Resurrection) ; The 10 remaining surviving hierarchs of the Patriarchate were at rest or worshiped as priors of churches.