Church of the Resurrection of Christ (Montevideo)

In 1922, Archpriest Konstantin Izraztsov arrived in Montevideo and became convinced that the Russian colony in Uruguay deserves attention, that people are very poor, that they need to help compatriots and urgently begin to build a house for the priest and the church building itself. With the means, he buys a piece of land on Guaviju street. There began the construction of a house for the priest. For worship, church utensils and a small, marching iconostasis with several icons were sent from Argentina. In the living room of an unfinished house, he performed the first Orthodox liturgy in Uruguay. The parishioners of the new Orthodox parish are not only Russians from Montevideo and the surrounding area, but also Greeks, Romanians, Bulgarians, Syrians and Serbs ^[2] .

As the number of parishioners increases over time, it is very difficult to worship in the small drawing room of Father Mitrofan. A long corridor-gallery is attached to the priest's house, where after that divine services are performed. But this room was not enough. A decision is made to build a “real” church with a dome, a bell tower and an adjacent parish house. Father Mitrofan offers his little garden for this. In the middle of September 1926, the corner stone of the foundation was laid, and this circumstance is considered the beginning or foundation of the Orthodox Community in Uruguay. The main funds for the construction of the Holy Resurrection Church came from Protopresbyter Konstantin Izraztsov ^[2] , who since July 23, 1926 was the manager of Russian parishes in South America ^[3] . In 1927, priest Mitrofan Vinogradov was sent here from Yugoslavia ^[4] .

In 1929, a small temple was built in the Cerro region, but it is too far for many residents of the city and not very functional. In the days of worship, which were usually Saturday or Sunday evening, only the locals gathered: Russians, Greeks, and Serbs. For Sunday liturgy, parishioners prefer to gather in the priest’s house in Colorado and Guaviju ^[2] .

On November 1, 1933, on the proposal of Protopresbyter Konstantin Izraztsov, Priest Mitrofan Vinogradov was registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay as “Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Uruguay”. In connection with the above appointment, the Uruguayan government agreed to adopt the charter of the Russian Orthodox Community in Uruguay and on February 6, 1934 grants this association the status of a Legal Entity ^[2] .

September 4, 1934 by the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR established the São Paulo Diocese , where Theodosius (Samoilovich) was appointed ruling bishop ^[5] . All parishes in South America, with the exception of the Argentines, which remained under the authority of Konstantin Izraztsov, were entrusted with the diocese. ^[3]

The economic crisis of the thirties sharply reduced regular membership fees and scanty donations to complete the temple. The construction froze, although the vaults and dome were not withdrawn, there was no belfry, sacristy, fence. The temple stood for many years unfinished ^[2] .

After the end of World War II, a new wave of immigrants arrives in South America, including Uruguay, and the number of parishioners increases significantly, which allowed the resumption of the construction of the temple. For more than five years, in addition to the belfry, bells, sacristy and small details, the construction was completed ^[2] .

In the fall of 1947, Protopresbyter Konstantin Izraztsov left the ROCA along with his subordinate parishes and property in Argentina, but the Voskresensky parish retained loyalty to the ROCA. In May 1948, Protopresbyter Alexander Shabashev left the subordination of Konstantin Izraztsov, repented to the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR and was transferred to Montevideo ^[3] .

In the 1950s and 1960s, after the death of the many-year-old rector Mitrofan Vinogradov, priests Alexander Shabashev (died on January 17, 1956 ^[6] ), Nikolai Kashnikov, Alexander Malinin, a short time Chaly, Agafangel Yablochkin served in the church. Debts for construction were gradually paid, a new iconostasis was erected, and the Sisterhood was organized. No money was already found on the bell tower, but they did not begin to get into new ones for a long time. There were six charitable organizations at the church ^[2] .

In 1972, Bishop Athanasius (Martos) appointed priest Vladimir Shlenev, rector of the church, who agrees to come once a month and perform the Divine Liturgy ^[2] .

In the 1980s and 1990s, many parishioners died who cared for the church without fail and on which the entire social structure of the parish was held. The new generation first had to restore the disintegrated choir ^[2] .

At the beginning of 2006, services in the church were performed once a month by Archpriest Vladimir Shlenev, who flew here by plane from Buenos Aires: “O. Vladimir serves the liturgy here on Saturday for the seven to eight Russian families who live here, and flies back to serve on Sunday in Buenos Aires in his parish ” ^[7] .

In May 2007, the rector of the church, Archpriest Vladimir Shlenev, irreconcilable towards the Moscow Patriarchate ^[8] , left the Russian Church Abroad to join Bishop Agafangel (Pashkovmky), the only bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad who did not recognize the Act of Canonical Communion. ^{[9] [10]}

On August 4, 2009, the parish was visited by Bishop Agafangel (Pashkovsky), who had split up, who met in the parish hall of the Holy Resurrection Church with the Metropolitan archpriest Vladimir Shlenev and the parishioners who nurtured the parish ^[11] .

In 2011, Bishop John (Berzin) said that: “When I was going on a pastoral trip to Uruguay, the abbot of the local schismatic community told his parishioners not to let me get closer than 100 meters to the temple. But, despite all these excesses, we should not treat people who have deviated into schism as enemies. It must be remembered that most of all they are afraid to remain completely without a priest, and they are not very well versed in canonical issues ” ^[12] .

• Church of the Resurrection