Church–state conflict in Moldova: the Bessarabian Metropolitanate

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucian Turcescu ◽  
Lavinia Stan

The article’s main focus is the relationship between the re-established Bessarabian Orthodox Metropolitanate and the government of the post-Soviet Republic of Moldova. The article demonstrates that the Moldovan government refused recognition to the nascent church until 2002 primarily for two reasons: first and foremost, the Moscow Patriarchate opposed the idea of another Orthodox Christian church in Moldova outside of its jurisdiction; second, the government feared that the newly independent Republic of Moldova would fall under the influence of neighboring Romania, whose Orthodox Church offered patronage to the Bessarabian Metropolitanate. After a historical overview of the Orthodox Church in the Republic of Moldova, the article first presents and analyzes the history of the conflict between the Bessarabian Metropolitanate and the post-Soviet Moldovan government, and second, the European Court of Human Rights verdict ordering the government to recognize the Metropolitanate, before verdict’s implementation, and reactions to it. All these are done with an eye on intra-national relations among Moldova, Romania, and Russia, as well as those between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church in connection with this conflict.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1–2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia V. Mitrofanova

This article examines how the key Orthodox actors in Moldova have reacted to challenging equal opportunities legislation. The author suggests, on the basis of an economic approach to religion, that under the conditions of a deregulated religious market they use various strategies to promote their agendas. The Moldovan Orthodox Church (the Metropolitanate of Moldova), autonomous within the Russian Orthodox Church, previously relied on making private bargains with the government; but this policy ended with the adoption of the 2013 Law on Ensuring Equality in the Republic of Moldova. Now the Metropolitanate tries to assimilate the strategies of direct action, but without success. The so-called ‘non-mentioning’ radicals, technically being part of the Metropolitanate of Moldova, but not praying for its bishop, are involved in direct political activism – from setting up protest camps to street fighting – to confront de-stigmatization of homosexuality. The Bessarabian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Orthodox Church utilizes the strategies of European ‘public’ churches and gains influence through performing some useful social functions. This article concludes that all actors have their own advantages and weaknesses; nevertheless, so far the Metropolitanate of Moldova remains the strongest; while the other competitors are serving specific religious niches, it is this body which still possesses the potential to influence society more broadly.


Rusin ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 190-204
Author(s):  
V.A. Sodol ◽  

The article presents the facts of material damage caused by the German-Romanian invaders to the institutions of the Orthodox Church of Moldova. The analysis of the archives of the Republic of Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and the works of researchers revealed three stages of damage inflicted by the invaders on religious organizations. The total amount of damage amounted to 91.5 million rubles, including church buildings – 22,580,000 rubles (including the churches of Pridnestrovie – 4,192,423 rubles). The invaders destroyed the buildings of 44 churches and 2 chapels, partially damaged 22 churches. Dozens of valuable religious shrines were removed from Moldovan churches and monasteries. The most valuable loss is a copy of the Gerbovetsky Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God (worth 120 mln rubles). The invaders also stole church utensils and priestly vestments. The motive for these actions was the alleged desire to “save” the shrines from destruction by the Bolsheviks. The leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly raised the question of returning the valuables taken by the occupiers to the Romanian side. However, the problem has not been solved, though a small part of the property stolen by the invaders returned to the Moldovan churches.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-201
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Viktorovich Stepkin ◽  
Aleksey Aleksandrovich Gunko

The paper examines creation and application history of cave space in catacomb movement of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of the Don and the Volga Region in 1920-1940s. Development of cave digging on these territories was promoted by the fact of their frontier position, allowing searching for a hiding place for the ideas, differing from the mainstream society. The caves use as shelters and places of worship in the Don Region is exemplified by the territory of Voronezh Region, where in the revolution period caves were dug in the chalk mass near the village of Karayashnik, and traditionally honored by the people loci of sacred space were used like caves in Divnogorye and on Shatrishche Mount. Caves near the village of Karayashnik were used as a place of worship by a conservative part of peasants being supporters of both the Patriarchal Church and the Fedorovtsy sect. Caves in Divnogorye were used by Joanites sect, caves on Shatrishche Mount were used by so-called True Orthodox Church. In addition to the chalk caves in the Don Region people used underground of houses as secret places of worship. Examples of such undergrounds are hidden caves in the villages of Troitskoe and Novopokrovka, equipped by one of communities of so-called True Orthodox Christians. The paper considers caves use in the Volga Region through the example of the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan, where communities of the True Orthodox Church acted, creating cult undergrounds under houses in the town of Bugulma and villages of Akkireevo, Zabugorovka, Crym-Saray Naumovka and Novoe Ilmovo. Together with territories of personal farmsteads, caves were created outside villages, usually in a forest zone. For example, near the village of Novosheshminsk there was an underground monastery, near villages of Volchya Sloboda and Elantovo there were underground temples. Activities of the underground religious communities referred to in the paper were ceased due to state punitive measures.


Author(s):  
I. I. Yurganova

The paper addresses the Kamchatka period of the history of Orthodoxy in Yakutia (1856 – 1869) as one of the stages of activity of the Russian Orthodox Church on the edge of the Empire’s borders in the context of the state policy which included the tool for integration of the ethnic group of the region in the all-Russian social and economic structure in the course of intercivilization interaction. The civilization method of research was used.The role and importance of the activities of Archbishop Innokenty (Veniaminov) in changing the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church in Yakutia are defined, which contributed to the emergence of the Church’s administrative autonomy, with the establishment of the Vicariate and the reform of the Spiritual Board, and also the clergy of Yakutia with the opportunities for a number of benefits associated with specific features of living in the Far North: the payment of travel, the increased size of the salary, pension content outer payment etc. It was discovered that during the studied period the Kamchatka Bishop was granted the right to admit representatives of the local population in the clergy, which allowed to further solve the problem of staff shortages, which is topical for the Republic of Yakutia. It is revealed that being a part of the Kamchatka Diocese created the preconditions for the establishment of an independent Yakutsk and Vilyuysk Diocese.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
Donald Ostrowski

The early modern Russian government and Russian Orthodox Church identified as one of their main duties the ransoming of Russian Christians from Muslim Tatar captors. The process of ransoming could be an involved one with negotiations being carried on by different agents and by the potential ransomees themselves. Different amounts of ransom were paid on a sliding scale depending upon the ransomee’s social status, gender, and age. One of our main sources for the justification of this practice was the Stoglav (100 Chapters) Church Council in 1551, which discussed the issue of ransom in some detail. The Law Code (Ulozhenie) of 1649 specifies the conditions and amounts to be paid to redeem captives. Church writers justified the ransoming of Christian captives of the Muslim Tatars by citing Scripture, and they also specified that the government should pay the ransom out of its own treasury.


2020 ◽  
pp. 160-198
Author(s):  
Макарий Веретенников

Статья посвящена содержанию, общим принципам построения и характерным особенностям календаря, или месяцеслова, Русской Православной Церкви. Автор использует методы анализа и синтеза. В итоге делаются нижеследующие обобщения. Месяцеслов был принесён на Русь из Византии в достаточно завершённом виде, однако в процессе исторического развития он дополнился особенными русскими праздниками. Календарь-месяцеслов - это грандиозный собор святых, подвизавшихся в разных местах на протяжении веков, единение Церкви Небесной и земной, история святости и история нашей Церкви. Месяцесловным памятям посвящены составленные гимнографами богослужебные тексты, которые поются и читаются в храмах. Традиционно почитается день кончины угодников Божиих, память открытия мощей святых, перенесения их святых мощей или же день канонизации угодников Божиих, реже - день их рождения. Фенологические наблюдения русского народа связаны с повседневной деятельностью и увязаны с месяцесловом, что свидетельствует о его проникновении в повседневную жизнь русского человека. The article is devoted to the content, General principles of construction and characteristic features of the calendar, or mesyatseslov, of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author uses methods of analysis and synthesis. As a result, the following generalizations are made. The mesyatseslov was brought to Russia from Byzantium in a fairly complete form, but in the course of historical development it was supplemented with special Russian holidays. The calendar-mesyatseslov is a grandiose council of saints who have labored in different places over the centuries, the unity of the Church of Heaven and earth, the history of holiness and the history of our Church. Liturgical texts composed by hymnographers, which are sung and read in churches, are dedicated to the mesyatseslovs memory. Traditionally, the day of the death of saints, the memory of the discovery of the relics of saints, the transfer of their Holy relics, or the day of the canonization of saints, less often - the day of their birth are honored. Russian people’s phenological observations are related to their daily activities and are linked to mesyatseslov, which indicates its penetration into the daily life of the Russian people.


2020 ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Сергей Забелич

В статье рассказывается об истории создания Синодальной Богослужебной комиссии, основных направлениях ее деятельности, задачах. На заседаниях обсуждаются вопросы и принимаются предварительные решения по сложным календарным вопросам, а также введение новых текстов в богослужебную практику Русской Православной Церкви на основе церковного Устава (Типикона) и литургической традиции Русской Церкви. The article is devoted to the history of establishing the Synodal Liturgical Commission, the main fields of its work and the essential tasks. The Commission raises a number of important liturgical questions, takes preliminary decisions on the complicated calendar issues and introduces the new texts of divine services into the worship practice of the Russian Orthodox Church following the Church statutes (Typikon) and the liturgical tradition of the Russian Church.


Author(s):  
Светлана Измайловна Баранова

Статья посвящена истории созданного в 1874 г. в Воскресенском Ново-Иерусалимском монастыре музея Святейшего патриарха Никона, а также истории возрождения музея в новом качестве, ставшего частью программы современного восстановления Ново-Иерусалимского монастыря. Рассмотрена роль устроителя музея архимандрита Леонида (Кавелина) (1822-1891) - настоятеля обители в 1869-1877 гг., выдающегося русского историка, историографа Воскресенского монастыря, собирателя его древностей и исследователя его архивов. Также представлен опыт построения экспозиции нового Музея патриарха Никона, использующий объединение историко-хронологического принципа с художественно-образным, коллекционного - с мемориальным, тематическим и ансамблевым. Восстановление в монастыре музея в новом качестве должно подчеркнуть мемориальную сущность обители как явления русской церковной археологии XIX в. Экспозиция, размещенная в залах музея, должна создать богатый информационновизуальный базис, оставить в памяти посетителя глубокий эмоциональный след, дать пищу для духовного развития и материал для общих размышлений о судьбах Святых Мест христианства, параллелях в жизни России и Святой Земли, колоссальном вкладе патриарха Никона в строительство величественного здания Русской Православной Церкви и зарождавшейся Российской империи. The article is dedicated to the history of the Museum of His Holiness Patriarch Nikon, founded in 1874 in the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery as well as the history of the revival of the museum in a new quality, which became part of the restoration program of the New Jerusalem Monastery. The role of the organizer of the museum, archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) (1822-1891), the abbot of the monastery in 1869-1877, an outstanding Russian historian, the Resurrection Monastery historiographer, a collector of its antiquities and a researcher of its archives, is considered. Also, it is said about the experience of forming a collection of the new Patriarch Nikon’s Museum implementing historical-chronological, artistic-figurative, memorial, thematic and ensemble principles of the collection. Anew quality restoration done in the monastery museum should emphasize the memorial importance of the monastery as a phenomenon of Russian church archeology of the XIX century. The exposition located in the museum halls should create a rich informational and visual basis, have a deep emotional impact in the visitor’s memory, provide food for spiritual development and material for general reflection on the fate of the Holy Chrisitan Places, establish parallels in the life of Russia and the Holy Land, mark an enormous contribution of Patriarch Nikon in the construction of a magnificent building of the Russian Orthodox Church and the nascent Russian Empire.


2020 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Алексей Черный

The article attempts to reconstruct various pastoral models that appeared in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church over several centuries. The author identifies several "images" of confession, which are very different, among them: the realization of "despotical" power in a "confessional" family of the sixteenth century, the fulfillment of conscription, deeply personal interaction based on mutual trust and the value of a hierarchical aspect, counseling under the guidance of a "parish elder". The state, depending on the circumstances, either embeds the pastor in itself as a necessary part of its own mechanism, or considers the priesthood as a foreign element, or completely distances itself from religious affairs. The author suggests that the “types” of confession presented in the article can be compared with the forms of pastoral self-consciousness to be found in the modern life of the church. This in turn suggests that in the Russian Church today is characterized by the search for pastoral identity, in which the priesthood plays a key role.


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