scholarly journals Church and State in Central Russia during the Era of Collectivism

Author(s):  
С.Н. Джейранов

Статья освещает взаимоотношения Советского государства и Русской право-славной церкви в конце 1920-х — начале 1930-х годов в период коллективизации деревни, которая сопровождалась разрушением традиционного мира, драматической ломкой привычного уклада жизни. В центре внимания — политика наступления на православную идеологию и духовенство, выражавшаяся в закрытии храмов и монастырей, воинствующем атеизме, мерах репрессивного воздействия по отношению к священникам. Территориальные рамки исследования охватывают Центрально-Промышленную (переименованную через несколько месяцев в Московскую) область — мегарегион в 1929–1937 годах, включавший в тот период несколько бывших губерний Центральной России. На материалах Рязанского, Тверского и Тульского округов анализируются протестное движение крестьян против антирелигиозной политики власти, активные и пассивные формы сопротивления. Активные формы крестьянского сопротивления были направлены на защиту храмов от разрушения, духовенства от арестов, а также против запретов на богослужебную деятельность. Кроме того, верующие оказывали сопротивление антипасхальным вечерам и иным провокационным пропагандистским акциям, организуемым Союзом воинствующих безбожников. Основной действующей силой данного протеста были женщины, что предопределило название акций как «бабьи бунты». Пассивные формы протеста выражались в распространении информации о чудесах и знамениях, апокалиптических слухов о скорой войне, гибели советской власти в военном конфликте, грядущем конце света в наказание за вступление в «безбожный» колхоз. Сопротивление дало возможность сохранить храмы как очаги религиозности, сберечь и передать поколениям веру и традиции православной жизни. The article treats the relationship between the Soviet State and the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1920s — early 1930s, during the era of collectivism, which brought about the destruction of the traditional world and dramatically changed the traditional lifestyle. The article focusesaggressive on the policy of oppressing the Orthodox ideology and the clergy, which manifested itself though atheism, the dissolution of churches and monasteries, religious persecution. The research focuses on the situation in the Moscow region (the then Central Industrial region), which encompassed several former provinces in 1929-1937. The author analyzes the materials relating to the Ryazan District, the Tula District and the Tver District and investigates the data about peasants’ passive and active resistance to the antireligious governmental policies. The active forms of peasants’ resistance were aimed at the protection of churches and cathedrals against destruction, at helping priests avoid arrests, at protesting against bans on religious services. Moreover, believers protested against anti-Easter campaigns and other propaganda campaigns organized by the Union of Aggressive Atheists. Women were the driving force of the protests. As a passive form of protesting against religious oppression believers spread information about miracles and portents, apocalyptic predictions of ongoing wars and the destruction of the Soviet government n a military conflict, apocalyptic prediction of punishment for joining the impious kolkhozes. Due to believers’ resistance to anti-religious campaigns it was possible to protect churches and cathedrals as the hearth of religious belief and to pass the traditions of Orthodox Christianity to other generations.

Author(s):  
A. A. Gorina

This paper as illustrated by Nizhny Novgorod province in the first half of the twenties of the XX century presents one of the most tragic pages of the relationship between church and state. The purpose of the Soviet government, which declared the creation of the first-ever atheistic state, was a complete elimination of church and religion as cultural, social and world outlook phenomenon. Hunger in 1921-1922 was an initial stage and constituted a ground for all further hardline policy of the Soviet state in its stance toward a church. In consequence of which a huge number of different objects of our Motherland’s historical and cultural heritage were done away with, also during repressions, a large number of believers and priests died. Many years in the Soviet historiography, there was a dominant statement that the Russian Orthodox Church opposed transferring the church values, which was intended for the relief aid. All actions of the church and appeals of the Patriarch Tikhon were subjected to obfuscation. A wide variety of sources, which earlier were strictly confidential, and nowadays they become available for researchers, allow objectively analyzing the charity of Russian Orthodox Church for the relief aid in 1921-1922. On the basis of regional archive documents, which contain statistical data, clergies and lay members records of meetings. The article provides more insight on through the campaign for a seizure of churches’ values in the Nizhny Novgorod province, also outlines the quantity of the seizure values: how many from them went for the relief aid. The clergies and lay members’ records of meetings of the Nizhny Novgorod province make it clear that their desire for relief aid was the optional choice. Printed copies have allowed to establish specific aspects of the campaign for a seizure of a church property, to fully consider the process of transition from the donation of values for the relief aid before the forced seizure of churches’ values in the region, and also to determine a problem of the collaboration of the government and the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.


2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ershov Bogdan Anatolievich ◽  
Volkova Ekaterina Alexandrovna

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
Evguenia Alexandrovna Belyaeva ◽  
Elena Aleksandrovna Venidiktova ◽  
Dilbar Valievna Shamsutdinova

Purpose: the aim of the undertaken study is to consider the dynamics of the church-state relationship in the context of Russian new cultural tendencies at the turn of the century. Methodology: Thus, The methodological basis of the research was formed by philosophical analysis of the church-state relationship, historicism and comparison principles. The following tasks were being solved: defining the interaction ways between the religious organizations and the state on the modern stage of the Russian society development; pointing out the prospects of consolidation of both the сhurch and the state around the democratic civil society fostering program in XXI century; revealing the need to promote respectful attitude towards human values as an integral part of spiritual culture. Result: The authors achieved the following results within the study: A wider notions of church and state were introduced demonstrating the similarity of some of their functions: offering moral guidance for social well-being; historic doctrinal models “caesaropapism”, “papocaesarism” and “symphony(concordance) of powers” were identified and characterized alongside with their secular counterparts - separation and cooperation models of church-state relationship. In conclusion of the article the urgent need for the transition of church-state relationship from political to social and cultural spheres was justified. Applications: This research can be used for the universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of Socio-Cultural Interaction Forms of Church and State on the Example of the Russian Orthodox Church is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Christine Jutras

The Soviet government utilized a variety of tactics while attempting to secularize the U.S.S.R. Oppression of the Russian Orthodox Church demonstrates how interconnected faith and the former tsarist regime were. It is ironic that while trying to wipe out religion, the Bolsheviks replacement methods carried religious-type qualities as well.


1955 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. S. Timasheff

During the years 1939–45, a spectacular change occurred in the anti-religious policy of the Soviet government. The pattern of direct persecution was discarded and replaced by a more subtle pattern of ostentatious compromise in combination with indirect pressure. The compromise was publicly demonstrated at the meeting of the National Council of the Russian Orthodox Church (January-February 1945) convoked, by permission of the Soviet government, to elect a new Patriarch in place of the deceased Sergius. The Council was attended by a number of high dignitaries of the non-Russian Orthodox Churches; many of them were flown to the Council in Soviet bombers. At the end of the Council, a gala reception was organized for its members by G. Karpov, the chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Orthodox Church; during that reception two choirs could be heard, the Patriarch's choir and the Moscow Philharmonic choir sponsored by the Soviet government. The enthroning of the new Patriarch Alexei was filmed and the film displayed in all the movie theaters of the Union.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 62-171
Author(s):  
Drobotushenko Evgeny V. ◽  

The article analyzes a selection of materials of the foreign press, made by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) in 1943 on the reaction to the change in the attitude of the Soviet government to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is presented in one of the files of the state archive of the Russian Federation (SARF). In the collection mentioned, there are notes and articles of various editions of the countries of Europe, and also the States of North and South America, Africa, Australia. The claimed problems have not been seriously analyzed from the scientific point of view so far. The author notes that the negative and positive assessments of the transformation of the religious policy of the USSR were clearly divided into the two camps: the countries that supported the USSR in 1943 and the countries that had opposite views. The rhetoric of the press in the United States, Canada and England differed significantly from that one in Europe as a whole, and even more in Nazi Germany, Italy and Romania. The press of countries that were far away from the events, for example, the States of South America or Australia, reflected a neutral attitude to what was happening. Against this background, all actions of the Soviet authorities were assessed as superficial, temporary, and “fake”. According to the critics, they were forced. In reality, there was no question of freedom of religion in the USSR. In turn, the press of the allied countries relatively highly appreciated the changes in the policy of the Soviet state. It is obvious that the problems stated in the title of the article require further serious scientific analysis, which implies a large volume of work with foreign media of the time under consideration and with archival sources. Keywords: religion, Orthodoxy, freedom of religion, Patriarch, Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, mass media


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 643-666
Author(s):  
A. V. Antoshchenko ◽  

The author carries out a discourse analysis of journalistic articles by well-known Russian emigrant historian, theologian, and public figure Anton Kartashev in order to understand his attitude to the schisms of the Russian Orthodox Church caused by the Russian Revolution, and to clarify his methods for shaping his readers’ perceptions of these events. This analysis reveals a complex correlation of political, religious, and historical argumentation. From the very beginning, political arguments were pushed into the background by a statement of apolitism, which initially extended to Russian emigrants. Subsequently, he abandoned apolitism as a principle of activity in exile in order to consistently pursue a policy of intransigence with the Bolsheviks. Political argumentation remained in the background compared to historical and religious facets, since the church should not interfere in politics. He consistently historicized contemporary experiences, based on a historical perspective, to give an assessment of the political orientation and concrete actions of the hierarchs. This created an illusory opportunity to maintain the legal subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate, which increasingly depended on the Bolshevik regime. He saw the post-revolutionary history of the Russian Orthodox Church as a series of schisms that weakened it. This gradually brought a precise religious argument to the forefront in substantiating specific measures to preserve the canonical structure of Western European parishes headed by the Metropolitan Eulogius, at the break with the Synod of Bishops in Sremski Karlovtsi and with the Moscow Patriarchate.


2021 ◽  
pp. 243-255
Author(s):  
Валентин Викторович Серпенинов

Предметом данного исследования является история последних лет существования Почаевского Свято-Духова скита в советский период, обстоятельства его закрытия и непосредственная деятельность архиепископа Палладия (Каминского), выступившего бесстрашным защитником этой обители. На примере Почаевского скита можно проследить некоторые особенности религиозной политики коммунистической партии в УССР, где советская власть установилась лишь в 1939 г., что не могло особым образом отразиться на церковно-государственных отношениях. Источниковую базу составляют квартальные и годичные отчёты уполномоченных Совета по делам Русской Православной Церкви в Тернопольской области, которые мы находим в Государственном архиве Российской Федерации и Государственном архиве Тернопольской области. Благодаря анализу архивных материалов мы приходим к выводу о деструктивной политике советской власти, направленной на борьбу с Русской Церковью на территории Тернопольской области. Главным объектом вышеуказанной политики являлась Почаевская лавра и её Духовской скит. Полной ликвидации православных монастырей в Тернопольской епархии советская власть добиться не смогла благодаря дипломатическому таланту архиепископа Палладия, который поплатился за это очередным переводом на другую кафедру Русской Православной Церкви. The subject of this study is the history of the last years of the existence of the Pochaev Holy Spirit Skete in the Soviet period, the circumstances of its closure and the direct activities of Archbishop Palladiy (Kaminsky), who acted as a fearless defender of this monastery. On the example of the Pochaev skete, one can trace some features of the religious policy of the Communist Party in the Ukrainian SSR, where Soviet power was established only in 1939, which could not have a special effect on church-state relations. The source base consists of quarterly and annual reports of the commissioners of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Ternopil region, which we find in the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the State Archive of the Ternopil region. Thanks to the analysis of archival materials, we come to the conclusion about the destructive policy of the Soviet government aimed at combating the Russian Church in the territory of the Ternopil region. The main object of the above-mentioned policy was the Pochaev Lavra and its Dukhovskoy skete. The Soviet authorities were unable to achieve the complete liquidation of Orthodox monasteries in the Ternopil diocese thanks to the diplomatic talent of Archbishop Palladiy, who paid for it with another transfer to another department of the Russian Orthodox Church.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
E. Shvetsova-Shilovskaya ◽  
Svetlana Il'vickaya

The growing interest in Orthodox Christianity and the transfer of many monasteries that were previously closed to the Russian Orthodox Church have led to an increase in the number of pilgrims and tourists willing to visit the Orthodox monasteries. This resulted in some problems relating to the need for the development of the necessary infrastructure and the necessity to provide the best possible conditions for both the visitors and monastery inhabitants. These problems are particularly acute in the monasteries of the Russian North. Many of which were previously destroyed and abandoned. The Spaso-Kamenny monastery of the Vologda Diocese located on a small island of the Kubensky lake is one of such monasteries. In this work, recommendations on the development of this monastery in the current conditions were proposed. These recommendations are based on the previously formulated four main principles of reconstruction and development of Orthodox monastery complexes in the Russian North. Authors show that for the further development of the Spaso-Kamenny monastery, it is reasonable to create a functional zone for pilgrims and tourists on the shore of the Kubensky lake. The building complex was designed, where the necessary and important one element for this zone the monastery museum was proposed. In this work, specific recommendations for an arrangement of this museum were given. It was shown that the main principles for reconstruction and development of Orthodox monastery complexes are also applicable for the monasteries, restoration of which has not been completed yet.


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