The Russian Orthodox Church – past and present

In 988 AD Christianity in its eastern rite was adopted by Prince Vladimir I of Kiev. The date of the baptism of Rus’ is seen as the foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church herself. Initially the Church was composed of one metropolis, which included the Patriarchate of Constantinople and it was precisely the ecumenical patriarch that consecrated the head of Russian Orthodoxy.

Originally Kiev was the episcopal see of the Metropolitan. After three harrowing conquests (1237-1241) they conquered all Russia except the northernmost dukedoms. Kiev and other major cities were burned down completely. At that time both Russians and Greeks were appointed metropolitan archbishops. One of the Greeks, Theognostus (1325-1352) decided in 1328 to transfer for good the episcopal see from the destroyed Kiev to Moscow, which initiated the formation of the Moscow Metropolis. Ever since the mid-14th century, it was the major centre for the rebirth of religious and national revival. The 15th century was a period of spiritual rebirth for Rus’. This was a time of constructing many churches and restoring monastic life. Science progressed and the painting of icons had its golden age. The monasteries of Rus’ were in ongoing contact with Constantinople and the monasteries of Holy Mount Athos. In 1448 the Metropolis of Moscow gained the status of an autocephalous Church. In 1480 Moscow ultimately rejected the yoke of Tartar occupation. Since that time the Muscovite State grew in power, which contributed to the development of the Orthodox Church. In 1589 by a decision of eastern patriarchs the Patriarchate of Moscow was founded, composed of 4 metropolises, 6 archbishop’s sees and 8 bishop’s sees. The celebrations of establishing the patriarchate were attended by Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah II. The first patriarch was the Metropolitan of Moscow Job. The turn of the 17th c., despite religious success, was not beneficial in the history of the patriarchate. The Union of Brest, concluded in 1596, subjected the Orthodox Church in Poland to the pope. This was one of the root causes of the outbreak of the 1648 Cossack Rising in Ukraine led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Seeking the support of Tsar Alexy, in 1654 in Peryaslav, the Cossack council swore allegiance to the Moscow ruler. The Polish-Muscovite War initiated as a result of this treaty continued until 1667. No party could claim a decisive victory. As a result of the so-called ‘perpetual peace’ (1686), Ukraine was divided: the part of Ukraine left of the River Dnepr with Kiev was incorporated into the Muscovite State, while the part on the right-hand side of the River Dnepr remained within the Polish borders. As a result of these arrangements, since 1685 the Kiev Metropolis was subjected to the Patriarchate of Moscow (Patriarch of Constantinople Dionisius IV agreed to that in 1686).

The rule of Tsar Peter the Great (1682-1725) had a negative impact on the status of the Orthodox Church. The Tsar effected a reform within the Church that was supposed to subject her to the State. In 1700 Patriarch Hadrian died. The patriarch’s throne was then assumed by Stefan Yavorsky, who however was not raised to the rank of a patriarch. For the next two decades Tsar Peter himself selected bishops. Under the tsar’s supervision, Bishop Teophan Prokopovich prepared the Spiritual Guidelines, announced in 1721, which changed the legal status of the Church. The most important provision of the new law was the abolition of the patriarchate and its replacement by a permanent council of the clergy, called the Holy Synod. This in effect subjected the Church to secular rule and limited her activity. Faced with the despotism of the ruler, all opposition invariably ended in the execution or incarceration of dissidents. The limitation of the influence and freedom of the Church reached its apogee during the reign of Tsarist Catherine II (1762-1796). The Church was deprived of her property and many monasteries were closed down. Many bishops opposed to such actions. The most famous of such bishops was Arsenius Matsievich, Metropolitan of Rostov, starved to death in 1772 on the orders of the tsarist for criticising her policy. Other bishops were incarcerated or deprived of the right to wear clerical robes. At that time, despite the hard situation, the Church shows signs of spiritual revival, connected with the activities of such eminent persons as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724-1783) and St. Paisius Velichkovsky (1722-1794). They were followed by a number of glorious fathers of the 19th c. The greatest of them were the saints Seraphim of Sarov, Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov), Bishop Teofan the Hermit (Zatvornik), Bishop Ignacy Branchaninov, and the sages of the desert Optino, most notably St. Ambrose.

In the early 20th c. the Russian Church pressed ever stronger for the renewal of the Patriarchate. On 15 August 1917 the Local Council of the Russian Church was set up, whose most important decision was to restore the patriarchate. Metropolitan of Moscow Tikhon (Belayev) was elected the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Unfortunately, this was a time shortly preceding the revolution. As early as October 1917, after the Bolshevik revolution, the Temporary Government seizes power in the country, and the Church was stripped of legal status. The entire property of the Church was then confiscated and the persecution of the clergy began. Until 1939, 130 bishops, thousands of priests and monks and hundreds of thousands of the faithful were killed. Even greater numbers were sent to exile and forced labour camps. The reprisals did not break the Church, however. The persecutions were to a certain extent cut short by the outbreak of World War II. Seeking full public support, Stalin changed the country’s religious policy. For a time the Church was tolerated. The state authorities pledged to curtail their anti-religious propaganda. The election of the patriarch was permitted; the new patriarch was Metropolitan Sergey (Starogorodsky). 20,000 churches were re-opened, 70 monasteries and many theological seminaries were permitted to operate. Many clergymen were released from prisons. Following the death of Patriarch Sergey in 1944, Alexy I (1944-1970) was the patriarch. He tried to renew the ecclesiastical life in all of its aspects. However, when Nikita Khrushchev came to power in the Soviet Union, the Church was once again the target of severe persecution. Tens of bishops, thousands of clergymen and tens of thousands of rank-and-file faithful were sent to forced labour camps, camps and prisons. The destruction of churches was truly unprecedented. Monastic life was completely forbidden. Publishing and education were subject to the strictest control of the state. Serious changes took place only during the time of Mikhail Gorbachev. Reaching out towards Europe, Russia had to change its approach to religion. Permission was granted to re-open churches and monasteries. By the year 1990, 60 monasteries and 4,000 churches were restored to the Russian Orthodox Church, while over 2,000 new parishes were established. However, the needs were far greater. Especially pressing was the lack of the clergy, churches and religious literature.

At present the Patriarchate of Moscow has 150 million faithful in over 60 countries. The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is composed of 164 dioceses, 30,675 parishes in Russia, former Soviet Republics and other counties. The Church moreover possesses 805 monasteries. The ROC clergy includes 217 diocesan and auxiliary bishops as well as over 30,000 priests and deacons. At present ROC has 5 theological academies, two Orthodox universities and 2 institutes of theology, 48 seminaries (including 3 abroad – in the USA, France and Japan), 36 schools of theology and pastoral courses. Some academies and seminaries run courses for regents (directors of church choirs) and of writing icons. The Patriarchate of Moscow includes moreover the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Byelorussian Orthodox Church, Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church and a few dioceses in Europe and North America. The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Cyril I, is the head of the Church. He is the sixteenth patriarch since the origin of the patriarchate. The Patriarch of Moscow has the official title of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The patriarch’s residence and the Cathedral Church of the Theophany (Богоявленский собор) are located in Moscow.

Patriarch Cyril I is at the same time the Bishop of Moscow. At present there are 849 churches and chapels in the capital city and in the Moscow area. 27 monasteries – 14 for males and 13 for females – have the status of stauropegic ones, i.e. are subject directly to the patriarch. All the monasteries of the region are inhabited by 905 monks and 771 nuns. These and other -details were provided by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Cyril on December 23 during the diocesan meeting with Moscow clergy, traditionally taking place at the end of the year. In total, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) as the Bishop of Moscow had jurisdiction over 2,560 clergy, including 1,180 within city limits. New clergy for Moscow are taught in schools of theology and at St. Tikhon Orthodox University of the Humanities. Stauropegic monasteries are inhabited by 803 religious priests and 336 deacons as well as 149 priests and 75 deacons of so-called ‘white’ clergy (married males).

Cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church is a major direction of activity. Both Churches take the same position on issues of liberal secularisation, globalisation, social and economic ethics, the family and demographics. The Russian Orthodox Church has contacts with Protestant Churches, even if the relations with some of them have ‘cooled’ recently. This is because many Protestant communities embrace a secularised ideology in the sphere of theology, ecclesiology and moral sciences. Among others, some Protestant denominations have legalised the blessing of partnerships and the ordination of persons who openly admit their non-traditional sexual orientation.

ed. Tomasz Tarasiuk, cerkiew.pl