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92-574: At the turn of the 20th century the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy was one of four religious academies (with those of Moscow, Kiev and Kazan) of the Russian Orthodox Church . The class of 1898 had a total of 235 students regularly attending classes. On July 11, 1721, Archbishop Theodosius (Yanovsky) of Novgorod, in pursuance of imperial decrees, ordered to "establish for the common benefit at

184-418: A contested issue. Following the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, Peter I of Russia ( r.  1682–1725 ) decided against an election of a new patriarch, and drawing on the clergy that came from Ukraine, he appointed Stefan Yavorsky as locum tenens . Peter believed that Russia's resources, including the church, could be used to establish a modern European state and he sought to strengthen

276-711: A critic of the Moscow Patriarchate who was one of those who briefly gained access to the KGB 's archives in the early 1990s, argued that the Moscow Patriarchate was "practically a subsidiary, a sister company of the KGB". Critics charge that the archives showed the extent of active participation of the top ROC hierarchs in the KGB efforts overseas. George Trofimoff , the highest-ranking US military officer ever indicted for, and convicted of, espionage by

368-591: A delegation to the king of Poland warning him not to accept Gregory; Jonah also attempted to persuade feudal princes and nobles who resided in Lithuania to continue to side with Orthodoxy, but this attempt failed. The fall of Constantinople and the beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church contributed to political consolidation in Russia and the development of a new identity based on awareness that Moscow

460-404: A higher theological school and an educational center, but also an administrative center for an entire educational district. Her tasks included spiritual education and preparation for higher ecclesiastical positions, dissemination of knowledge among the clergy, management of Theological seminaries and schools of the district, the caesura of spiritual writings. The Academy was under the jurisdiction of

552-588: A move that caused division among clergy and faithful that persisted until 1946. Between 1917 and 1935, 130,000 Eastern Orthodox priests were arrested. Of these, 95,000 were put to death. Many thousands of victims of persecution became recognized in a special canon of saints known as the " new martyrs and confessors of Russia". When Patriarch Tikhon died in 1925, the Soviet authorities forbade patriarchal election. Patriarchal locum tenens (acting Patriarch) Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky, 1887–1944), going against

644-708: A multi-candidate election, the Church again attempted to run its own religious candidates in the 1937 elections . However the support of multicandidate elections was retracted several months before the elections were held and in neither 1929 nor 1937 were any candidates of the Orthodox Church elected. After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, Joseph Stalin revived the Russian Orthodox Church to intensify patriotic support for

736-483: A outline for the establishment of Theological schools in 1805. It formed the basis for the reform of the entire system of spiritual education in Russia. Theological academies became not only higher theological educational institutions, but also church-scientific centers, which were also entrusted with the tasks of educational and publishing activities. The mentors of the academy, in addition to their teaching activities, often carried out various kinds of special assignments of

828-721: A series of reforms led to a schism in the Russian Church , as the Old Believers opposed the changes. The ROC currently claims exclusive jurisdiction over the Eastern Orthodox Christians, irrespective of their ethnic background, who reside in the former member republics of the Soviet Union , excluding Georgia . The ROC also created the autonomous Church of Japan and Chinese Orthodox Church . The ROC eparchies in Belarus and Latvia , since

920-776: A single candidate for the office of bishop or any other high-ranking office, much less a member of the Holy Synod, went through without confirmation by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the KGB ". Professor Nathaniel Davis points out: "If the bishops wished to defend their people and survive in office, they had to collaborate to some degree with the KGB, with the commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs, and with other party and governmental authorities". Patriarch Alexy II, acknowledged that compromises were made with

1012-698: A total of 95,259 monks and nuns in Russia. The year 1917 was a major turning point in Russian history, and also the Russian Orthodox Church. In early March 1917 (O.S.), the Tsar was forced to abdicate , the Russian empire began to implode, and the government's direct control of the Church was all but over by August 1917. On 15 August (O.S.), in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin,

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1104-538: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Russian Orthodox Church Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The Russian Orthodox Church ( ROC ; Russian : Русская православная церковь , romanized :  Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov' , abbreviated as РПЦ), alternatively legally known as

1196-644: Is disputed which church has been the legitimate successor to the Russian Orthodox Church that had existed before 1925. In 1927, Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgiyevsky) of Paris broke with the ROCOR (along with Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York, leader of the Russian Metropolia in America). In 1930, after taking part in a prayer service in London in supplication for Christians suffering under

1288-538: Is little information about Christianity in sources in the period between 969 and 988. Ten years after seizing power, Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in 988 and began Christianizing his people upon his return. That year was decreed by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 as the date of the Christianization of the country. According to the Chronicle , Vladimir had previously sent envoys to investigate

1380-523: The 1945 Local Council from the representatives of the clergy and the laity. NKVD demanded "to outline persons who have religious authority among the clergy and believers, and at the same time checked for civic or patriotic work". In the letter sent in September 1944, it was emphasized: "It is important to ensure that the number of nominated candidates is dominated by the agents of the NKBD, capable of holding

1472-675: The Apostle Andrew visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea before making his way to Chersonesus in Crimea . According to the legend, Andrew reached the future location of Kiev and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city with many churches. Then, "he came to the [land of the] Slovenians where Novgorod now [stands]" and observed the locals, before eventually arriving in Rome . Despite

1564-691: The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe . Moreover, in the 1929 elections , the Orthodox Church attempted to formulate itself as a full-scale opposition group to the Communist Party, and attempted to run candidates of its own against the Communist candidates. Article 124 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution officially allowed for freedom of religion within the Soviet Union, and along with initial statements of it being

1656-602: The Council of Florence , the only Russian prelate present at the council signed the union, which, according to his companion, was only under duress. Metropolitan Isidore left Florence on 6 September 1439 and returned to Moscow on 19 March 1441. The chronicles say that three days after arriving in Moscow, Grand Prince Vasily II arrested Isidore and placed him under supervision in the Chudov Monastery . According to

1748-709: The Local ( Pomestniy ) Council of the ROC, the first such convention since the late 17th century, opened. The council continued its sessions until September 1918 and adopted a number of important reforms, including the restoration of Patriarchate , a decision taken 3 days after the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government in Petrograd on 25 October (O.S.). On 5 November, Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow

1840-492: The Mongol invasions , Metropolitan Maximus moved his seat to Vladimir in 1299, "being unable to tolerate Tatar violence", according to a later chronicle. His successor, Peter , found himself caught in the conflict between the principalities of Tver and Moscow for supremacy in northwest Russia . Peter moved his residence to Moscow in 1325 and became a strong ally of the prince of Moscow. During Peter's tenure in Moscow,

1932-464: The Moscow Patriarchate ( Russian : Московский патриархат , romanized :  Moskovskiy patriarkhat ), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The primate of the ROC is the patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' . The Christianization of Kievan Rus' commenced in 988 with the baptism of Vladimir the Great and his subjects by the clergy of

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2024-462: The Russian SFSR , between 40% and 50% of newborn babies (depending on the region) were baptized. Over 60% of all deceased received Christian funeral services. Beginning in the late 1980s, under Mikhail Gorbachev, the new political and social freedoms resulted in the return of many church buildings to the church, so they could be restored by local parishioners. A pivotal point in the history of

2116-435: The Soviet Union , which had refused to recognise the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate that was de facto headed by Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky . The two churches reconciled on 17 May 2007 ; the ROCOR is now a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the foundational narratives associated with the history of Orthodoxy in Russia is found in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle , which says that

2208-716: The United States and sentenced to life imprisonment on 27 September 2001, had been "recruited into the service of the KGB" by Igor Susemihl (a.k.a. Zuzemihl), a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church (subsequently, a high-ranking hierarch—the ROC Metropolitan Iriney of Vienna , who died in July 1999). Konstanin Kharchev, former chairman of the Soviet Council on Religious Affairs, explained: "Not

2300-415: The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople , which traditionally marks the beginning of the history of Russian Christianity. Starting in the 14th century, Moscow served as the primary residence of the metropolitan , and in 1448, the ROC declared autocephaly . Later, in 1589, the metropolitan of Moscow was elevated to the position of patriarch with the consent of Constantinople. In the mid-17th century,

2392-514: The non-possessors , who opposed monastic landholding except for the purposes of charity in addition to strong involvement of the church in the affairs of the state, while Joseph of Volotsk (1439–1515) led a movement that supported strong church involvement in the state's affairs. By 1551, the Stoglav Synod addressed the lack of uniformity in existing ecclesial practices. Metropolitan Macarius also collected "all holy books... available in

2484-670: The Alexander Nevsky Academy was divided into three completely independent stages: the St. Petersburg Theological Academy - the first in Russia, organized according to the new charter (the highest stage), the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary (the middle stage) and the Alexander Nevsky Theological College (the lowest stage). The New Academy became a complex institution in structure, it was not only

2576-710: The Alexander Nevsky Monastery, for the teaching of young children reading and writing, a Slavonic school". In the autumn of the same year, classes began. Initially, the school studied the alphabet , writing , arithmetic , grammar , listened to the interpretation of the Decalogue , the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes . In 1726, under Empress Catherine I , the Slavonic School was renamed

2668-627: The Alexander Nevsky Slavic-Greek-Latin Seminary. Having received replenishment from the former school of Archbishop Theophan, the number of students of the Alexander Nevsky Seminary in 1740 reached 85. In addition to the establishment of secondary theological schools in St. Petersburg, it was supposed to open a proper theological academy named "Petergarten". It was planned to invite the most famous professors from Western universities to

2760-547: The Bolsheviks trying to take control of the monastery's premises and the believers, Patriarch Tikhon issued a proclamation that anathematised the perpetrators of such acts. The church was caught in the crossfire of the Russian Civil War that began later in 1918, and church leadership, despite their attempts to be politically neutral (from the autumn of 1918), as well as the clergy generally were perceived by

2852-586: The Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated materialism and atheism in schools. Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed. Orthodox clergy and active believers were treated by the Soviet law-enforcement apparatus as anti-revolutionary elements and were habitually subjected to formal prosecutions on political charges, arrests, exiles, imprisonment in camps , and later could also be incarcerated in mental hospitals . However,

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2944-459: The Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church stopped any attempts to increase the number of students in seminaries and academies and expand their premises. On July 17, 1959, it was decided to gradually close the only correspondence sector of Leningrad theological Schools in the country, although its actual functioning in an abbreviated form continued until 1967. In 1961, at the height of

3036-653: The DECR, Metropolitan Nikodim began to energetically include the Academy in international activities: foreign delegations began to come here, and academy professors began to go to various international conferences. At the initiative of Metropolitan Nikodim, 7 Africans from Uganda and Kenya were invited to study as part of the Christian exchange. In 1965, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the Faculty of African Christian Youth

3128-481: The Great. In their first set, it was supposed to gather 30 students from the pupils of the Moscow Theological Academy , Alexander Nevsky and Novgorod seminaries. In 1761, the Holy Synod gave permission to seminary graduates to study abroad with the payment of double salaries. They went to Universities of Cambridge and Oxford (England), Göttingen (Germany). In 1786, an education reform

3220-582: The Holy Synod and the diocesan bishop. After the development and adoption of the Charter, the grand opening of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy took place on February 17, 1809. It was still located in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra . In 1841, the seminary was also transferred beyond the walls of the Lavra to a specially constructed building. In 1821, the academic journal " Christian Reading "

3312-632: The Khrushchev anti-religious campaign, the question of closing Leningrad theological schools arose. Due to the opposition of the Soviet authorities, only 8 people were able to enter the seminary in 1961, although 33 applications for admission were submitted. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) , appointed to the Leningrad Department in October 1963, took active measures to prevent the closure of the theological schools of Leningrad. As chairman of

3404-532: The Novgorod Seminary was transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and attached to the Main Seminary. The number of students in the Main Seminary has reached 200. After graduating from the Main Seminary, graduates were sent as teachers to their diocesan seminaries. New disciplines appeared: church history , mechanics , natural history , and a class of mathematics and experimental physics

3496-697: The October Revolution – in the autumn of 1918 – the former theological schools of the Northern capital were closed. In November 1945, Theological and pastoral courses were opened in Leningrad, in part of the building of the theological seminary. The Leningrad Theological Academy was established on September 1, 1946 by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Russia, and the Leningrad Theological Seminary

3588-489: The Russian Church. Jonah's policy as metropolitan was to recover the areas lost to the Uniate church. He was able to include Lithuania and Kiev to his title, but not Galicia . Lithuania was separated from his jurisdiction in 1458, and the influence of Catholicism increased in those regions. As soon as Vasily II heard about the ordination of Gregory as metropolitan of the newly established metropolis of Kiev , he sent

3680-566: The Russian Orthodox Church came in 1988, the millennial anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus' . Throughout the summer of that year, major government-supported celebrations took place in Moscow and other cities; many older churches and some monasteries were reopened. An implicit ban on religious propaganda on state TV was finally lifted. For the first time in the history of the Soviet Union , people could watch live transmissions of church services on television. Gleb Yakunin ,

3772-468: The Russian land" and completed the Grand Menaion , which was influential in shaping the narrative tradition of Russian Orthodoxy. In 1589, during the reign of Feodor I and under the direction of Boris Godunov , the metropolitan of Moscow, Job , was consecrated as the first Russian patriarch with the blessing of Jeremias II of Constantinople . In the decree establishing the patriarchate ,

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3864-685: The Slavic-Greek-Latin Seminary. If the Slavic school provided only elementary literacy, then the seminary aimed to give future ministers of the Church both general and theological education. Its rector was Archimandrite Peter (Smelich) , adviser to the Holy Synod, a Serb by birth, a former archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery in Moscow . Thanks to the efforts of teachers Grigory Kremenetsky and Andrey Zertis-Kamensky ,

3956-533: The Soviet authorities as a "counter-revolutionary" force and thus subject to suppression and eventual liquidation. In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed. The Soviet Union, formally created in December 1922, was the first state to have elimination of religion as an ideological objective espoused by the country's ruling political party. Toward that end,

4048-410: The Soviet government by bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate, himself included, and he publicly repented for these compromises. Church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of

4140-433: The Soviet policy vis-a-vis organised religion vacillated over time between, on the one hand, a utopian determination to substitute secular rationalism for what they considered to be an outmoded "superstitious" worldview and, on the other, pragmatic acceptance of the tenaciousness of religious faith and institutions. In any case, religious beliefs and practices did persist, not only in the domestic and private spheres but also in

4232-411: The Soviets, Evlogy was removed from office by Sergius and replaced. Most of Evlogy's parishes in Western Europe remained loyal to him; Evlogy then petitioned Ecumenical Patriarch Photius II to be received under his canonical care and was received in 1931, making a number of parishes of Russian Orthodox Christians outside Russia, especially in Western Europe an Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as

4324-406: The St. Petersburg seminary was competently organized. Those who completed the seminary course were entitled to the best places in the dioceses. According to the program of the Spiritual Regulations , in 1721, in St. Petersburg, in addition to the Alexander Nevsky Slavic School, Archbishop Theophan (Prokopovich) of Pskov, opened a second school, which immediately received the name of the seminary. It

4416-406: The Synod, reviewing books, compiling written refutations of sectarian and non-Orthodox teachings. Graduates of the Theological Academy were assigned as mentors to Theological seminaries and colleges, to parish ministry, priests at Russian missions abroad and embassies. On June 26, 1808, Emperor Alexander I approved the draft reform of theological schools, and at the beginning of the following year,

4508-403: The XXXIV Apostolic canon , which led to a split with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia abroad and the Russian True Orthodox Church (Russian Catacomb Church) within the Soviet Union, as they allegedly remained faithful to the Canons of the Apostles, declaring the part of the church led by Metropolitan Sergius schism , sometimes coined Sergianism . Due to this canonical disagreement it

4600-467: The absence of clergy, and defining their own sacred places and forms of piety. Also apparent was the proliferation of what the Orthodox establishment branded as "sectarianism", including both non-Eastern Orthodox Christian denominations, notably Baptists , and various forms of popular Orthodoxy and mysticism. In 1914, there were 55,173 Russian Orthodox churches and 29,593 chapels , 112,629 priests and deacons , 550 monasteries and 475 convents with

4692-482: The authority of the monarch. He was also inspired by church–state relations in the West and therefore brought the institutional structure of the church in line with other ministries. Theophan Prokopovich wrote Peter's Spiritual Regulation , which no longer legally recognized the separation of the church and the state. Peter replaced the patriarch with a council known as the Most Holy Synod in 1721, which consisted of appointed bishops, monks, and priests. The church

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4784-422: The beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Church. Although not all Russian clergy supported Jonah, the move was subsequently justified in the Russian point of view following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which was interpreted as divine punishment. While it is possible that the failure to obtain the blessing from Constantinople was not intentional, nevertheless, this marked the beginning of independence of

4876-509: The beginning of 1918, the premises of the Alexander Nevsky Antoniev Theological College, the hospital and the southern part of the Theological Academy building and the 4th floor of the Seminary building were occupied by the Red Cross infirmary No. 279 for 150 wounded and sick soldiers, but educational institutions continued their work. In June 1918, members of the corporation and students of the Academy solemnly welcomed Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Russia, who came to Petrograd. Shortly after

4968-401: The case dragged on until the death of Peter the Great , and under his successors it was completely discontinued. By order of the authorities or at their own request, many graduates of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Seminary could enroll in other higher and secondary educational institutions, in particular, in the gymnasium and university at the Academy of Sciences established in 1724 by decree of Peter

5060-400: The chroniclers of the grand prince, "the princes, the boyars and many others — and especially the Russian bishops — remained silent, slumbered and fell asleep" until "the divinely wise, Christ-loving sovereign, Grand Prince Vasily Vasilyevich shamed Isidor and called him not his pastor and teacher, but a wicked and baneful wolf". Despite the chronicles calling him a heretical apostate , Isidore

5152-466: The different faiths. After receiving glowing reports about Constantinople, he captured Chersonesus in Crimea and demanded that the sister of Basil II be sent there. The marriage took place on the condition that Vladimir would be also baptized there. Vladimir had lent considerable military support to the Byzantine emperor and may have besieged the city due to it having sided with the rebellious Bardas Phokas . After Kiev lost its significance following

5244-460: The dissident movement intending to better fulfil his calling as a priest, there was a spiritual link between Men and many of the dissidents. For some of them he was a friend; for others, a godfather; for many (including Yakunin ), a spiritual father. According to Metropolitan Vladimir , by 1988 the number of functioning churches in the Soviet Union had fallen to 6,893 and the number of functioning convents and monasteries to just 21. In 1987 in

5336-406: The fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, enjoy various degrees of self-government, albeit short of the status of formal ecclesiastical autonomy. The ROC should also not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (or ROCOR, also known as the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad), headquartered in the United States . The ROCOR was instituted in the 1920s by Russian communities outside

5428-416: The foundation for the Dormition Cathedral was laid and Peter was buried there. By choosing to reside and be buried in Moscow, Peter had designated Moscow as the future center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Peter was succeeded by Theognostus , who, like his predecessor, pursued policies that supported the rise of the Moscow principality. During the first four years of his tenure, the Dormition Cathedral

5520-469: The general population, large numbers remained religious. Some Orthodox believers and even priests took part in the dissident movement and became prisoners of conscience . The Orthodox priests Gleb Yakunin , Sergiy Zheludkov and others spent years in Soviet prisons and exile for their efforts in defending freedom of worship. Among the prominent figures of that time were Dmitri Dudko and Aleksandr Men . Although he tried to keep away from practical work of

5612-403: The history of civilized people ever since our Master's coming". A. M. Renwick , however, defines it as an account of the Church's success and failure in carrying out Christ's Great Commission . Renwick suggests a fourfold division of church history into missionary activity , church organization , doctrine and "the effect on human life". Church history is often, but not always, studied from

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5704-412: The jurisdiction of Constantinople to that of Moscow. The handover brought millions of faithful and half a dozen dioceses under the ultimate administrative care of the patriarch of Moscow, and later of the Holy Synod of Russia, leading to a significant Ukrainian presence in the Russian Church, which continued well into the 18th century. The exact terms and conditions of the handover of the metropolis remains

5796-409: The lack of historical evidence supporting this narrative, modern church historians in Russia have often incorporated this tale into their studies. In the 10th century, Christianity began to take root in Kievan Rus' . Towards the end of the reign of Igor , Christians are mentioned among the Varangians . In the text about the treaty with the Byzantine Empire in 944–945, the chronicler also records

5888-473: The last Byzantine emperor, and the defeat of the Tatars, helped to solidify this view. By the turn of the 16th century, the consolidation of Orthodoxy in Russia continued as Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod created the first complete manuscript translation of the Bible into Church Slavonic in 1499, known as Gennady's Bible . At the same time, two movements within the Russian Church had emerged with differing ecclesial visions. Nilus of Sora (1433–1508) led

5980-463: The line that we need at the Council". A new and widespread persecution of the church was subsequently instituted under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. A second round of repression, harassment and church closures took place between 1959 and 1964 when Nikita Khrushchev was in office. The number of Orthodox churches fell from around 22,000 in 1959 to around 8,000 in 1965; priests, monks and faithful were killed or imprisoned and

6072-401: The number of functioning monasteries was reduced to less than twenty. Subsequent to Khrushchev's ousting, the Church and the government remained on unfriendly terms until 1988. In practice, the most important aspect of this conflict was that openly religious people could not join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , which meant that they could not hold any political office. However, among

6164-537: The oath-taking ceremony that took place in Constantinople for Igor's envoys as well as the equivalent ceremony that took place in Kiev. Igor's wife Olga was baptized sometime in the mid-10th century; however, scholars have disputed the exact year and place of her conversion, with dates ranging from 946 to 960. Most scholars tend to agree that she was baptized in Constantinople, though some argue that her conversion took place in Kiev. Olga's son Sviatoslav opposed conversion, despite persuasion from his mother, and there

6256-429: The opinion of a major part of the church's parishes, in 1927 issued a declaration accepting the Soviet authority over the church as legitimate, pledging the church's cooperation with the government and condemning political dissent within the church. By this declaration, Sergius granted himself authority that he, being a deputy of imprisoned Metropolitan Peter and acting against his will, had no right to assume according to

6348-425: The patriarch of "defiling the faith" and "pouring wrathful fury upon the Russian land". The result was a schism , with those who resisted the new practices being known as the Old Believers . In the aftermath of the Treaty of Pereyaslav , the Ottomans , supposedly acting on behalf of the Russian regent Sophia Alekseyevna , pressured the patriarch of Constantinople into transferring the metropolis of Kiev from

6440-481: The peasantry, there was widespread interest in spiritual-ethical literature and non-conformist moral-spiritual movements, an upsurge in pilgrimage and other devotions to sacred spaces and objects (especially icons), persistent beliefs in the presence and power of the supernatural (apparitions, possession, walking-dead, demons, spirits, miracles and magic), the renewed vitality of local "ecclesial communities" actively shaping their own ritual and spiritual lives, sometimes in

6532-399: The positions of teachers. The construction of the building began in 1722, but was stopped due to lack of funds. In the same year, an already built building was provided for the academy – the house of the deceased Tsarevna Catherine Alekseyevna . In August 1724 The Holy Synod appealed to the Emperor with a request to allocate money for the maintenance of students, teachers and servants. However,

6624-427: The priestly families of their diocese. In 1909, a volume of essays appeared under the title Vekhi ("Milestones" or "Landmarks"), authored by a group of leading left-wing intellectuals, including Sergei Bulgakov , Peter Struve and former Marxists . It is possible to see a similarly renewed vigor and variety in religious life and spirituality among the lower classes, especially after the upheavals of 1905. Among

6716-550: The renovated Orthodox doctrine, including that of sobornost . The resurgence of Eastern Orthodoxy was reflected in Russian literature, an example is the figure of Starets Zosima in Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's Brothers Karamazov . In the Russian Orthodox Church, the clergy , over time, formed a hereditary caste of priests . Marrying outside of these priestly families was strictly forbidden; indeed, some bishops did not even tolerate their clergy marrying outside of

6808-663: The scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognized its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war. The Russian Orthodox church was drastically weakened in May 1922, when the Renovated (Living) Church , a reformist movement backed by the Soviet secret police, broke away from Patriarch Tikhon (also see the Josephites and the Russian True Orthodox Church ),

6900-540: The state for support. The late 18th century saw the rise of starchestvo under Paisiy Velichkovsky and his disciples at the Optina Monastery . This marked a beginning of a significant spiritual revival in the Russian Church after a lengthy period of modernization, personified by such figures as Demetrius of Rostov and Platon of Moscow . Aleksey Khomyakov , Ivan Kireevsky and other lay theologians with Slavophile leanings elaborated some key concepts of

6992-534: The students of theological schools. At the head of the Regent class was an honored professor Nikolay Uspensky. On the initiative of the rector, Bishop Kirill (Gundyaev) of Vyborg, in 1979 the first enrollment for the Regency Department (formally formed in 1983) took place, where girls were admitted for the first time in the history of the revived theological schools. In 1988 an optional icon painting class

7084-411: The territories controlled by Bolsheviks was effectively reduced to services and sermons inside church buildings. The Decree and attempts by Bolshevik officials to requisition church property caused sharp resentment on the part of the ROC clergy and provoked violent clashes on some occasions: on 1 February (19 January O.S.), hours after the bloody confrontation in Petrograd's Alexander Nevsky Lavra between

7176-550: The war effort. In the early hours of 5 September 1943, Metropolitans Sergius (Stragorodsky), Alexius (Simansky) and Nicholas (Yarushevich) had a meeting with Stalin and received permission to convene a council on 8 September 1943, which elected Sergius Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus'. This is considered by some as violation of the Apostolic canon , as no church hierarch could be consecrated by secular authorities. A new patriarch

7268-564: The whole Russian tsardom is called a "third Rome". By the mid-17th century, the religious practices of the Russian Orthodox Church were distinct from those of the Greek Orthodox Church . Patriarch Nikon reformed the church in order to bring most of its practices back into accommodation with the contemporary forms of Greek Orthodox worship. Nikon's efforts to correct the translations of texts and institute liturgical reforms were not accepted by all. Archpriest Avvakum accused

7360-880: Was also opened. In 1797, the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Monastery was renamed the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and the Alexander Nevsky Main Seminary was transformed into the Alexander Nevsky Academy by decree of Paul I of 18 december 1797. In the Theological academies, in addition to general seminar courses, they decided to teach a complete system of philosophy and theology, higher eloquence, physics and languages: Latin , Hebrew , Greek , German and French . On behalf of Metropolitan Ambrose (Podobedov) , Bishop Eugene (Bolkhovitinov) drew up

7452-572: Was also overseen by an ober-procurator that would directly report to the emperor. Peter's reforms marked the beginning of the Synodal period of the Russian Church, which would last until 1917. In order to make monasticism more socially useful, Peter began the processes that would eventually lead to the large-scale secularization of monastic landholdings in 1764 under Catherine II . 822 monasteries were closed between 1701 and 1805, and monastic communities became highly regulated, receiving funds from

7544-406: Was completed and an additional four stone churches were constructed in Moscow. By the end of 1331, Theognostus was able to restore ecclesiastical control over Lithuania. Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige. His successor Alexius lost ecclesiastical over Lithuania in 1355, but kept the traditional title. On 5 July 1439, at

7636-569: Was elected, theological schools were opened, and thousands of churches began to function. The Moscow Theological Academy Seminary , which had been closed since 1918, was re-opened. In December 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine lifted classified top secret status of documents revealing that the NKVD of the USSR and its units were engaged in the selection of candidates for participation in

7728-600: Was established at the Leningrad Academy and Seminary, which was then transformed into the Faculty of Foreign Students. In the 1960s, a regency circle began to operate for seminary and academy students. Since 1967, the Academy Council, headed by the rector, Bishop Miсhael (Mudyugin) , decided to henceforth call the regency circle the Regency Class and to produce the first set of students from among

7820-722: Was established by decree of His Holiness the Patriarch on the basis of Theological and pastoral courses that worked in Leningrad in the 1945/1946 academic year. On October 14, 1946, on the Day of the Intercession of the Theotokos, the grand opening of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary took place in the presence of Patriarch Alexy I. After the beginning of new anti-religious persecutions in 1958,

7912-560: Was established, which published translations of the Holy Scriptures from Hebrew and ancient Greek into Russian, theological, ecclesiastical and historical works of professors and teachers of the Academy. Since the 1840s, the Academy began to accept representatives of other Local Orthodox Churches to study: from Bulgaria , Greece , Romania , Serbia and other countries. During the First World War , from September 1915 to

8004-522: Was launched in the Russian Empire. In accordance with this, Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) of Novgorod and St. Petersburg filed a petition for the transformation of the Alexander Nevsky Seminary into the Main Seminary. According to the decree of the Holy Synod of 1788, the best pupils of diocesan seminaries should be sent to study at the capital's Main Seminary. At the same time, higher classes of

8096-577: Was located at the courtyard of the bishop on the embankment of the Karpovka River . After the death of Archbishop Theophan in 1736, the seminary came under the jurisdiction of the Government Cabinet, but gradually began to decline. Finally, by the decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna of March 22, 1738, the senior pupils of this school were assigned to business, and the rest (in the number of 21 people) were transferred for further study to

8188-467: Was only metropolitanate in the Orthodox oikoumene that remained politically independent. The formulation of the idea of Moscow as the " third Rome " is primarily associated with the monk Philotheus of Pskov , who stated that "Moscow alone shines over all the earth more radiantly than the sun" because of its fidelity to the faith. The marriage of Ivan III to Sophia Palaiologina , the niece of

8280-425: Was opened. At first it acted as an educational center for laypeople, then as a circle with a workshop and a repository of icons that were restored and used for the needs of the academy, and later as a class with teachers who worked on a voluntary basis. This Russian university, college or other education institution article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This seminary -related article

8372-490: Was recognized as the lawful metropolitan by Vasily II until he left Moscow on 15 September 1441. For the following seven years, the seat of the metropolitan remained vacant. Vasily II defeated the rebellious Dmitry Shemyaka and returned to Moscow in February 1447. On 15 December 1448, a council of Russian bishops elected Jonah as metropolitan, without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople, which marked

8464-587: Was selected as the first Russian Patriarch after about 200 years of Synodal rule. In early February 1918, the Bolshevik-controlled government of Soviet Russia enacted the Decree on separation of church from state and school from church that proclaimed separation of church and state in Russia, freedom to "profess any religion or profess none", deprived religious organisations of the right to own any property and legal status. Legal religious activity in

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