The Russian Church Since the Revolution-GP Fedotoff-1928-98pgs-REL

7/27/2019 The Russian Church Since the Revolution-GP Fedotoff-1928-98pgs-REL

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? ' b e ussian Church since

the Xe . 2 7 o l u t i o m

B Y

G. P . FEDOTOFF

LONDONSOCIETY FOR PROMOTINGCHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGENZW YORK AND TORO$TO ; THE MACMILLAN CO.



F i r i i p n b i i s h . d z 9 a 8

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BYBILLING AND SON$, LTD . . GUHAFORD AND EBHRR



APPENDIX

CONTENTSPREFACE

I. THE REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND THE MOSCOW

SOBOR -

I I . SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

I I I . THE PERSECUTION OF RELIGION

IV. THE "RENOVATION" SCHISM -

V. THE INNER LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX C HURC H-

9

20

32

51

80

P A G E

- 94





PREFACEAFTER a t o t a l s u s e n s i o n o f n e w s f r o m R u s s i a l a s t i n g

between twenty-fou r an d f orty-eigh t , hours, news

r e a c h e d E n g l a n d o f t h e R e v o l u t i o n a n d t h e a b d i c a t i o n

of the Tsar . I remembe r go ing to my club and

w i t n e s s i n g t h e e n t h u s i a s m o f t h e m e m b e r s : "Havey o u h e a r d t h e g l o r i o u s n e w s f r o m R u s s i a ? " M y s u g -

g e s t i o n t h a t i t w a s a g r e a t d i s a s t e r w a s r e c e i v e d w i t h

p i t y i n g i n c r e d u l i t y , a n d f o r m o n t h s a f t e r w a r d s ' t h e

c e n s o r s h i p i m p o s e d u p o n t h e P r e s s t h e o b l i g a t i o n o f

" w r i t i n g u p " t h e R e v o l u t i o n .

T h r e e m o n t h s l a t e r , i n a ' p o s t c r i p t t o Birkbeck and

the Russian Churc h ( S . P . C .K . , 1 9 1 7 ) , I a t t e m p t e d t o

a p p r a i s e t h e e f f e c t o n t h e C h u r c h o f t h e g r e a t c h a n g e

i n i t s p o s i t i o n . B u t n e i t h e r I n o r a n y o t h e r i n d i v i d u a l '

a t t h a t t i m e c o u l d f o r e s e e t h e e x t e n t o f t h e c a t a s t r o p h e

o r c o u l d b e l i e v e t h a t i t p r e s a g e d t h e m o s t f e r o c i o u s

a t t a c k u p o n C h r i s t i a n i t y t h a t t h e w o r l d h a s e v e r

s e e n .

T h e s u r v i v i n g B i s h o p s o f R u s s i a g e n e r a l l y s p e a k

w i t h q u i e t c o n f i d e n c e o f t h e f u t u r e - t h e y k n o w t h e i r

p e o p l e , a n d t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e B o l s h e v i k s t o t e a r

C h r i s t i a n i t y o u t o f t h e i r h e a r t s i s e v i d e n t ; t h e f r o n t a l

attack on the Church has been largely ab andoned .

T h e m e t h o d s n o w f o l l o w e d a r e m o r e s i n i s t e r , i f l e s s

d i r e c t . I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e , a l l t r a i n i n g o f c a n d i d a t e s f o r

t h e m i n i s t r y h a s b e e n r e n d e r e d i m p o s s i b l e ; w h a t w i l l

h a p p e n w h e n c l e r g y a n d s a c r a m e n t a l i k e d i s a p p e a r ?



PREFACE

S e c o n d l y , e v e r y e f f o r t h a s b e e n m a d e t o d i v i d e

C h r i s t i a n s , e f f o r t s r e n d e r e d e a s y b y t h e p a r a l y z i n g o f

t h e e p i s c o p a t e : w h e n t h e B i s h o p s a r e o u t o f t h e i r

p r i s o n s o r e x i l e t h e i r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s r e n d e r e d i m -

p o s s i b l e. T h e P a t r i a r c h T i k h o n , w h e n a l i v e , w a s s o

a b s o l u t e l y i n t h e h a n d s o f h i s g a o l e r s t h a t n o b o d y o u t -

s i d e , o r e v e n i n s i d e , R u s s i a k n e w w h a t w e i g h t t o g i v e

t o h i s u t t e r a n c e s . H e n c e , n o t o n l y t h e s c h i s m s p r o -

v o ke d i n t h e u n h a p p y c o u n t r y i t s e l f , b u t t h e d i v i s i o n s

among st the e m i g r e s . A l l t h a t w e o f t h e A n g l i c a n

Communion can d o is to sh ow our impartial sym-

p a t h y f o r a l l w h o , i n c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f u n p a r a l l e l e d

d i f f i c u l t y , a r e w o r k i n g f o r t h e s a l v a t i o n o f C h r i s t i a n i t y

i n R u s s i a ; i t w o u l d b e p r e s u m p t u o u s o f u s t o j u d g e

between them . W i t h t h e H i e r a r c h s o f t h e E a s t e r n

C h u r c h r e s t s a g r e a t e r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , b u t e v e n t h e y ,

a r e c o m p e l l e d t o a c t w i t h c a u t i o n , a n d i t m u s t b e

r e m e m b e r e d t h a t t h e T r e a t y o f L a u s a n n e h a s p l a c e d

t h e ( E c u m e n i c a l P a t r i a r c h h i m s e l f i n a p o s i t i o n o f

v e r y g r e a t d i f f i c u l t y .

T h a t b r i n g s m e t o t h e f i n a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n . W h a t i s

t h e n a t u r e o f t h e f o r c e w h i c h i s m a k i n g t h i s r e l e n t l e s s

a t t a c k , n o t o n l y o n C h r i s t i a n i t y , b u t a g a i n s t t h e v e r y

i d e a o f G o d , i n w i d e l y d i f f e r e n t q u a r t e r s o f t h e g l o b e

- R u s s i a , T u r k e y , M e x i c o ? ' I n w h a t o t h e r c o u n t r i e s

w i l l t h e s a m e a t t a c k a p p e a r ? T h a t i t i s i n a v e r y r e a l

s e n s e s u p e r n a t u r a l i s a b u n d a n t l y d e a r . I s i t t h e

c o m i n g o f A n t i c h r i s t ? And if s o, how will our

p o r t i o n o f t h e C h r i s t i a n f a m i l y s u s t a i n t h e a t t a c k ?

Are we prepa red, like our Russian bro thers a nd

s i s t e r s , t o l a y d o w n o u r l i v e s , i f n e e d b e , f o r H i m

Who b oug ht us with His pr ecio us Blood ?

M o n s i e u r F e d o t o f f w a s e d u c a t e d i n t h e U n i v e r s i t y

v i



PREFAC E

o f P e t r o g r a d an d w as s u b s e q u e n t l y p r o f e s s o r o f

Mediev al History i n t h e U n i v e r s i t i e s o f S a r a t o f f a n d

P e t r o g r a d . He r emai ne d i n R u s s i a t i l l 1 9 2 5 , a n d

s p e a k s , t h e r e f o r e , w i t h a v e r y c o m p l e t e k n o w l e d g e o f

e i g h t y e a r s o f t h e g r e a t p e r s e c u t i o n . H e b e l o n g s t o

t h a t s e c t i o n o f t h e R u s s i a n C h u r c h i n e x i l e w h i c h i s

g a t h e r e d r o u n d t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n E u l o g i e i n P a r i s ,

a n d s e e s t h i n g s f r o m t h a t p o i n t o f - v i e w ; h e i s n o w

t e a c h i n g i n t h e R u s s i a n T h e o l o g i c a l I n s t i t u t e i n t h a t

c i t y . He m a y b e r e g a r d e d , t h e r e f o r e , a s a c o m p e t e n t

a n d t r u s t w o r t h y w i t n e s s , a n d h e w r i t e s w i t h m o d e r a -

t i o n a n d r e s t r a i n t . I t r u s t h i s l i t t l e w o r k w i l l h a v e a

w i d e c i r c u l a t i o n i n t h i s c o u n t r y .

ATHELSTAN RILEY .

Psxr Rcoe 'r, 1928 .

v i i



I



THE RUSSIAN C HURC H SINC E

THE REVOLUTION

CHAPTER I

THE REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND THE

MOSCOW- SOBOR

THE d o c t r i n e a n d t h e r i t u a l o f t h e R u s s i a n C h u r c h

h a v e f o r c e n t u r i e s m a i n t a i n e d a b o n d b e t w e e n t h e

C h u r c h a n d t h e s o v e r e i g n p o w e r i n t h e S t a t e . T h i s

w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y t r u e d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d o f t h e a u t o -

c r a t i c m o n a r c h y , w h i c h i n t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e w a s a

t h e o c r a c y , w h e r e i n the "a n o i n t e d " T s a r w a s a t o n c e

t h e p o l i t i c a l s o v e r e i g n a n d , like the Byza ntine

e m p e r o r s , t h e r u l e r o f t h e s p i r i t u a l c o m m u n i t y , t h e

Church. When, therefo re, the Revolution of 1917

d e p o s e d t h e T s a r , a g r e a t b r e a c h w a s m a d e n o t o n l y

i n t h e p o l i t i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e S t a t e , b u t i n t h e

d e e p e r c o n c e p t i o n s o f t h e C h u r c h a n d i n i t s r i t u a l ,

for n o loner cou ld the Emperor's name be re-

m e m b e r e d a t ' t h e a p p o i n t e d p l a c e s i n t h e s e r v i c e , a n d

no "Prov isio nal Gove rnment" or elected co uncil

c o u l d p o s s i b l y b e c o n s i d e r e d a s u b s t i t u t e o r s u c -

c e s s o r t o t h i s h a l f - s p i r i t u a l , h a l f - p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n .

T h e r e i s a l l t h e m o r e r e a s o n f o r a s t o n i s h m e n t t h a t

t h e C h u r c h s h o u l d s o q u i c k l y a d a p t i t s e l f t o n e w

c o n d i t i o n s a n d s o l o y a l l y a c c e p t t h e n e w a u t h o r i t y .

9



THE RUSSIAN C HURC H SINC E THE REVOLUTION

I n e x p l a n a t i o n , o f t h i s f a c t o n e m u s t p o i n t t o t w o

c i r c u m s t a n c e s . I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e , t h e R u s s i a n C h u r c h ,

n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g i t s c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e G o v e r n m e n t ,

or, indeed, because:of this connection, was no n-

p o l i t i c a l . T h e r e , w a s n o c l e r i c a l p a r t y i n t h e p o l i t i c a l

a r e n a . G r a n t i n g " unto Caesa r the things that are

C a e s a r ' s , " t h e C h u r c h m a d e n o a t t e m p t t o i n f l u e n c e

p o l i t i c a l p o l i c i e s , b u t r e s t e d c o n t e n t w i t h t h e s t r e n g t h

affo rded by State protection. An ex cep tion mus t

n e c e s s a r i l y b e m a d e o f a f e w i n d i v i d u a l b i s h o p s a n d

p r i e s t s . Unde r the last Tsar, a fe w bi sho ps en -

deav oured to save the - regime from the oncoming

r e v o l u t i o n b y l e n d i n g t h e i r s u p p o r t t o p a r t i e s o f t h e

extreme rig ht-the Unio n o f the Russian People,

a n d o t h e r s . T h e n a m e s o f t h e s e h i e r a r c h s w e r e k n o w n

t o a l l R u s s i a , b u t t h e y n e i t h e r r e p r e s e n t e d n o r h a d

had gre at influence o n the Chu rch . The Rus si an

p r i e s t r e t a i n e d h i s a g e - l o n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ; m o d e s t ,

s i m p l e , e v e n s u b m i s s i v e , h e o c c u p i e d h i m s e l f a l m o s t

e x c l u s i v e l y w i t h s e r v i c e s o f w o r s h i p , n o t a t t e m p t i n g

t o i n f l u e n c e s o c i a l o r p o l i t i c a l l i f e . Hence the Russi an

r a d i c a l i n t e l l i g e n t z i a , t h o u g h l a r g e l y a t h e i s t i c , w a s

quite wi thout hostility to the Churc h, and even

looked upo n the clergy ; a n d c e r e m o n i e s w i t h t o l e r a -

t i o n a n d a c e r t a i n d e g r e e o f r e v e r e n c e .

T h e s e c o n d r e a s o n f o r t h e C h u r c h ' s u n d i s t u r b e d l y

a c c e p t i n g t h e r e v o l u t i o n l a y i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e m o r a l

breakdown of the regime during the last few years

h a d t o u c h e d t h e C h u r c h i n i t s w e a k e s t p l a c e . I t w a s

a s e c r e t t o n o o n e t h a t t h e a p p o i n t m e n t o f b i s h o p s ,

even the v ery membershi p of the Holy Synod , wa s

e f f e c t e d b y t h e i n f l u e n c e o f R a s p u t i n , w h o w a s a l l -

p o w e r f u l a t C o u r t , S u c h a l o w e r i n g o f t h e p o s i t i o n

1 0



REVOLUTION OF1 9 1 7 ,

AND THE MOSCOW SOEORo f the Church was u nbearable even to the most

fanatical defenders of the autocracy among t h e

bish ops, such as Hermogen an d Theop han .

O f t h e W h i t e ( m a r r i e d ) c l e r g y , a b o u t a h u n d r e d

b e l o n g e d =to a small democra tic gr oup wh ich en -

t h u s i a s t i c a l l y w e l c o m e d t h e r e v o l u t i o n . There were

o t h e r s w h o l o n g h a d s h a r e d t h e l i b e r a t i n g a s p i r a t i o n s

o f t h e i n t e l l i g e n t z i a , u n i t i n g w i t h t h e m i n t h i s

s t r u g g l e a s e a r l y a s I 9 o 5 , a n d m e e t i n g w i t h t h e m f o r

a n u m b e r o f y e a r s i n t h e l i b e r a l " R e l i g i o u s P h i l o -

s o p h i c a l S o c i e t y . " I m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e o v e r t h r o w

o f t h e o l d r 6 g i m e , t h e r e w a s o r g a n i z e d i n P e t r o g r a d

"T h e U n i o n o f D e m o c r a t i c C l e r g y , " w h i c h c o n d u c t e d

C h r i s t i a n p r o p a g a n d a a m o n g t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y w o r k -

m e n i n t h e s u b u r b s , a n d w r o t e o n t h e i r b a n n e r " A

f r e e Ch u r c h i n a f r e e S t a t e . " I n m a n y p r o v i n c i a l c i t i e s

t h e o l d a n t a g o n i s m o f t h e p a r i s h c l e r g y , p r i n c i p a l l y

v i l l a g e p r i e s t s , t o t h e m o n a s t i c e p i s c o p a c y c a m e o u t

into the o pen . In stormy dioces an, con fere nces

d e a c o n s a n d r e a d e r s b o l d l y b r o u g h t u p t h e o f f e n c e s

o f t h e i r " L o r d s h i p s , " w h o b u t y e s t e r d a y h a d i n s p i r e d

o n l y f e a r ; i n s o m e p l a c e s t h e y r e m o v e d t h e i r s u p e r i o r s ,

b a s i n g t h e i r a c t i o n o n t h e r i g h t o f t h e c o m m u n i t i e s

t o e l e c t t h e i r o w n b i s h o p s , a s h a d b e e n g r a n t e d b y t h e

r e v o l u t i o n , a n d w h i c h , i n p r i n c i p l e , w a s e n t i r e l y

c a n o n i c a l . I n some places the bishops were even

a r r e s t e d . T h e P r o v i s i o n a l G o v e r n m e n t , i n t h e p e r s o n

o f i t s O b e r - p r o c u r o r o f t h e S y n o d , V . N . L v o f f ( n o t

to be c onf used with the hea d of the Gove rnment,

Prin ce G . E . L v o f f ) , t o o k u p o n i t s e l f t h e t a s k o f

" c l e a n s i n g " t h e e p i s c o p a c y a n d t h e H o l y S y n o d o f

R a s p u t i n i t e s a n d e x t r e m e m o n a r c h i s t s . I t is more

t h a n d o u b t f u l w h e t h e r t h e P r o v i s i o n a l G o v e r n m e n t

t i



hE RUSSIAN C HURC H SINC E THE REVOLUTION

h a d c a n o n i c a l a u t h o r i t y f o r t h i s . The Ober -pro cu ro r

o f t h e o l d r e g i m e r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e C h u r c h t h e s a c r e d

person of the Tsar. The de pendence of the Chur ch

u p o n a n e n t i r e l y n o n - e c c l e s i a s t i c a l , l i b e r a l , a n d r e -

publican (becoming more and more socialistic)

g o v e r n m e n t w a s a p a r a d o x , o f f e n s i v e t o e c c l e s i a s t i c a l

c o n c e p t i o n s , e v e n t h o u g h p e r h a p s p o l i t i c a l l y u n a v o i d -

a b l e . Thes e eve nts, the ha rd h and o f the Ober-pro-

c u r o r a n d t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f c l a s s a n t a g o n i s m w i t h i n

t h e c l e r g y , s e r i o u s l y d a m p e n e d t h e j o y o f r e g a i n e d

freedo m for the Church, which so many Othodox

people experienced during the first d a y s of the

r e v o l u t i o n .

This move ment, just mentioned abov e, co ntained

t h e s e e d o f t h e f u t u r e C h u r c h s c h i s m .

T h e r e v o l u t i o n _ p e n e t r a t e d t h e l i f e o f t h e n a t i o n ,

t a k i n g o n m o r e a n d m o r e t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a n a r c h y .

I t b e c a m e c l e a r t h a t , f o r t h e a r m y , t h e c h i e f m e a n i n g

o f t h e o v e r t h r o w l a y i n t h e c o n c l u s i o n o f p e a c e , - r e -

g a r d l e s s o f c o s t . . . P e a s a n t s s e i z e d t h e l a n d o f t h e

l a n d l o r d s , i n some places killing the propr ietors .

W o r k m e n d e m a n d e d t h e n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n o f f a c t o r i e s .

I n t h e c i t i e s m o b s o f d e s e r t e r s i n s o l d i e r s ' u n i f o r m s

r e i g n e d ; m u r d e r s , r o b b e r i e s , c r i m e s o f a l l s o r t w e r e

c o m m i t t e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y p r a c t i c a l l y w i t h o u t

punishment . I n t h e m i d s t o f t h e g e n e r a l b r e a k d o w n ,

the, Commun ist Party, - heade d by Lenin, pr essed

f o r w a r d f o r t h e s e i z u r e o f a u t h o r i t y , p r o m i s i n g t o t h e

m a s s e s p e a c e , l a n d , a n d b r e a d .

I t w as i n s u c h c i r c u m s t a n c e s t h a t t h e e l e c t i o n s t o t h e

All Russ ian Chu rch « Sob or" (Coun cil) too k place .

The Russian Church had ha d no Sobor during the

w h o l e p e r i o d o f t h e E m p i r e , t h e l a s t S o b o r b e i n g i n

12



REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND THE MOSCOW SOBOR

x666 . T h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f t h e c o n c i l i a r b a s i s i n t h e

C h u r c h h a d l o n g b e e n t h e w a t c h w o r d o f l i b e r a l s a n d

S l a v o p h i l e s , a n d c o r r e s p o n d e d w i t h t h e d e e p e s t c o n c e p -

t i o n s o f t h e C h u r c h . I n i 9 o 5 the Emperor, making a

c o n c e s s i o n t o c e r t a i n C h u r c h c i r c l e s , r e c o g n i z e d t h e

n e c e s s i t y o f c a l l i n g a g e n e r a l S o b o r o f t h e R u s s i a n

Church . T h e o r g a n i z i n g c o m m i t t e e w o r k e d f o r m a n y ' -

y e a r s , b u t b e f o r e ' l o n g i t b e c a m e c l e a r t h a t t h e o b j e c t

o f t h e b u r e a u c r a c y w a s t o b u r y t h e S o b o r , i n w h i c h i t

s a w d a n g e r s o f l i b e r a l i s m . A s a m a t t e r o f f a c t , w h e n

t h e e l e c t i o n s t o t h e S o b o r t o o k p l a c e , in the s ummer

O f 1 9 1 7 , t h e g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e o f Orthod ox R u s s i a ' w a s

r a t h e r c o n s e r v a t i v e , a m o n g t h e p e a s a n t s a s W e l l a s i n

t h e b r o a d m a s s o f t h e"

b o u r g e o i s i e " a n d n a t i o n a l l y

i n c l i n e d i n t e l l i g e n t z i a .

The Sob or o pene d in Mos cow on August 15,'

1917. The "def t" gro up i n the C hur ch, r e p r e -

s e n t e d b y p r i e s t s a n d p r o f e s s o r s o f t h e T h e o l o g i c a l

A c a d e m i e s , f o u n d i t s e l f g r e a t l y i n t h e m i n o r i t y . The

b a l a n c e w a s o n t h e s i d e o f t h e m o d e r a t e a n d r i g h t .

I t w o u l d b e w r o n g t o a s s e r t t h a t t h e S o b o r w a s c o n -

t r o l l e d b y t h e " r i g h t , j 1 h e a d e d b y ' t h e w e l l - k n o w n

Anthony Khra povi tsky, Archb isho p of Kharkoff,

f o r m e r l y o f V o l h y n i a . T h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h i s b i s h o p ,

o n e o f t h e m o s t l e a r n e d a n d t a l e n t e d i n t h e R u s s i a n

C h u r c h , w a s o f c o u r s e g r e a t , b u t t h e d o m i n a t i n g i n -

f l u e n c e u n q u e s t i o n a b l y b e l o n g e d t o t h e c e n t r e , l e d

by a gro up of dev oted laymen, such as Professo r

S . N . B u l g a k o f f ( n o w a p r i e s t ) a n d P r o f e s s o r E . N .

T r u b e t z k o y ( d e c e a s e d ) , w e l l - k n o w n p h i l o s o p h e r s a n d

i T h i s , i s t h e a t t i t u d e o f P r o f es s o r B . V . T i t l i n o f f i n h i s b o o k ,

"Th e C h u r c h d u r i n g the Revolution," pp . 68 a n d 91-9a . ,

Petrograd X924 .

1 3



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINC E THE REVOLUTION

t h e o l o g i a n s o f the new sc hool . As regard s both

C h u r c h a n d p o l i t i c s , t h e y m u s t b e p l a c e d a m o n g t h e

m o d e r a t e l i b e r a l s , n e a r t o t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n a l D e m o -

c r a t i c P a r t y ( C a d e t ) . T h e b i s h o p s i n t h e S o b o r , m o r e

i n c l i n e d t o t h e r i g h t , f o u n d s u p p o r t i n t h e p e a s a n t s ,

w h o s e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n g a v e d e m o c r a t i c c h a r a c t e r t o t h e

Sob or . C e r t a i n l y t h e r e w a s a w i d e g u l f b e t w e e n t h e

conser vative, Orthodox peasants and those who at

that time wer e bur nin g- the estate hou ses o f the

gentry .

T h e S o b o r s a t f o r a l o n g t i m e , a d j o u r n i n g i n t h e

f a l l o f 1 9 1 8 , i n t h e m i d s t o f t h e f i g h t i n g o f t h e C i v i l

W a r , w i t h i t s w o r k u n f i n i s h e d . H o w e v e r , i t d e l i n e -

a t e d a n d i n p a r t e f f e c t e d a b r o a d p r o g r a m m e o f r e -

f o r m i n C h u r c h a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w h i c h r e f l e c t s a s p i r i t

o f m o d e r a t e l i b e r a l i s m . T h e p r i n c i p a l r e s u l t s w e r e t h e

democratizing of the paris h administrations, the

d r a w i n g o f l a y m e n i n t o a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n C h u r c h

l i f e , s u c h a s i n t h e s e l e c t i o n o f t h e i r p a s t o r s , a n d t h e

e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e c o n c i l i a r b a s i s i n t h e h i g h e r

C h u r c h a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . M a n y o f t h e s e e c c l e s i a s t i c a l

r e f o r m s f a i l e d o f r e a l i z a t i o n b e c a u s e o f t h e b e g i n n i n g

of Communist persecution of the Church .

But the pri nci pal achi ev ement of the Sob or w as

u n q u e s t i o n a b l y t h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f t h e P a t r i a r c h a t e .

T h e P a t r i a r c h a t e i n R u s s i a , i t w i l l b e r e m e m b e r e d ,

was a band oned by Peter the Great, and replaced by

t h e H o l y S y n o d , c o n s i s t i n g o f b i s h o p s a p p o i n t e d b y

the Tsa r. Befo re the revo lution the id ea of the

r e s t o r a t i o n o f t h e P a t r i a r c h a t e w a s s u p p o r t e d i n e p i s -

c o p a l c i r c l e s b y t h o s e w h o l o n g e d f o r C h u r c h i n d e -

pendence. This mo vemen t was s timulated lar gely b y

Metropolitan Anthony Khr apov itzky, and w as no t

14



REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND THE MOSCOWSOBORp o p u l a r a n i o n t h e l i b e r a l s . T h e d e f e n d e r s o f " s o b o r -

n o s t j " ( c o n ' a r i t y ) ' ; f e a r e d t h a t i n t h e p e r s o n o f t h e

P a t r i a r c h t h e r e w o u l d b e a d e s p o t i c h e a d f o r t h e

Church . B u t i n t h e f a l l o f1 9 1

7 t h e s i t u a t i o n w a s

s u c h t h a t t h e i d e a o f a P a t r i a r c h u n i t e d p r a c t i c a l l y

the who le of Orthodox Russia . In the Gov er nmen t

t h e r e w a s l i t t l e a u t h o r i t y , .and the Churc h without

q u e s t i o n f a c e d a b i t t e r c u p o f a d v e r s i t y . I n a y e a r o f

o r a l t u r m o i l i t w a s n e c e s s a r y t o p u t t h e , c a r e o f

e C h u r c h i n s t r o n g h a n d s , t o f i n d l e a d e r s a r o u n d

w h o m i t w o u l d b e p o s s i b l e t o u n i t e p e r s e c u t e d

Orthod oxy .

The October (Nov ember ) Revolution o blig ed the

S o b o r t o h a s t e n t h e e l e c t i o n o f t h e P a t r i a r c h . Th e

s o l e m n c e r e m o n y o f e l e c t i o n t o o k p l a c e t o t h e t h u n d e r

o f c a n n o n , f o r t h e B o l s h e v i k s w e r e b o m b a r d i n g t h e

K r e m l i n , which was defended by a band o f j u n k e r s

remainin g loyal to the Prov isio nal Gov ern ment .

T h r e e c a n d i d a t e s w e r e c h o s e n b y b a l l o t , a n d o f t h e s e

o n e w a s t o b e e l e c t e d b y l o t . T h e S o b o r l e f t t h e , f i n a l

s e l e c t i o n t o t h e w i l l o f G o d , a n d a r e v e r e d s t a r e t z -

a monk ho nour ed b y the who le of Mosco w--drew

fro m the u rn the na me of Tikhon (Belavin), the

Metropolitan of Mosco w . Anthony , wh o wa s the

f a v o u r i t e c a n d i d a t e f o r t h e P a t r i a r c h a t e , a n d w h o e v e n

r e c e i v e d a m a j o r i t y o f v o t e s i n t h e b a l l o t , w a s d i s -

a p o i n t e d i n h i s e x p e c t a t i o n s .

e o n e o n w h o m t h e l o t f e l l h a d i n n o w a y b e e n

d i s t i n g u i s h e d a m o n g t h e b i s h o p s , e i t h e r b y l e a r n i n g

o r b y o r a t o r y , b y a s c e t i c i s m o r b y p o l i t i c a l i n f l u e n c e .

M o d e s t a n d u n a s s u m i n g , h e c o n q u e r e d e v e r y o n e w h o

knew him by his goo dness and amiability . S e v e r a l

y e a r s o f s e r v i c e i n A m e r i c a h a d b r o a d e n e d h i s a d -

i s



THE RtIS'3' IAN CHURCH SINC E THE REVOLUTION

m i n i s t r a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e , b u t h e r e m a i n e d a b o v e a l l

a h u m b l e a n d s i m p l e p a s t o r o f t h e h u m i l i t y - l o v i n g

R u s s i a n Church . I t w o u l d h a v e b e e n d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e

C h u r c h t o f i n d a b e t t e r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f h e r r e a l

s p i r i t u a l c h a r a c t e r . D o u b t l e s s t h i s a c c o u n t s f o r t h e

e x t r a o r d i n a r y l o v e o f t h e p e o p l e f o r t h e P a t r i a r c h .

H a v i n g e l e c t e d t h e P a t r i a r c h , t h e S o b o r d i d n o t

l e a v e h i m c o m p l e t e a u t h o r i t y o v e r t h e R u s s i a n C h u r c h .

H e w a s o b l i g e d t o a d m i n i s t e r i t i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h

a S y n o d a n d a H i g h e r C h u r c h C o u n c i l . F u r t h e r m o r e ,

e v e r y t w o y e a r s a N a t i o n a l S o b o r w a s t o b e c a l l e d ,

. w h i c h m i g h t e v e n i m p e a c h t h e P a t r i a r c h . F i n a l l y ,

b e f o r e a d j o u r n i n g , t h e S o b o r e v e n l a i d d o w n t h e m a i n

l i n e s o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s t o t h e n e w B o l s h e v i k G o v e r n -

ment . A t t h a t t i m e t h e s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s c o u l d n o t b u t

b e e x c e e d i n g l y t e n s e . T h e n e w r e v o l u t i o n a r y p o w e r ,

a s - d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m t h e P r o v i s i o n a l G o v e r n m e n t ,

f r o m t h e v e r y b e g i n n i n g m a i n t a i n e d a n i n i m i c a l a t t i -

tude toward s the Chur ch . A n t i c i p a t i n g t h e g e n e r a l

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f

C h u r c h ' a n d S t a t e , a s e r i e s o f d e c r e e s w a s i s s u e d , b e -

g i n n i n g i n D e c e m b e r ,1 9 1 7 ,

d e s t r o y i n g t h e e c o n o m i c

b a s i s o f C h u r c h e x i s t e n c e : t h e d e c r e e o f D e c e m b e r 4

c o n f i s c a t i n g a l l C h u r c h l a n d e d p r o p e r t i e s ( a l o n g w i t h

a l l p r i v a t e d o m a i n s ) , o f December i i withdraw ing

a l l s c h o o l s f r o m t h e C h u r c h ( i n c l u d i n g t h e t h e o l o g i c a l

p r o f e s s i o n a l s c h o o l s ) , o f D e c e m b e r 1 8 i n s t i t u t i n g c i v i l

m a r r i a g e a n d ` t u r n i n g o v e r t h e r e g i s t r y b o o k s t o t h e

Gov ern ment . I n J a n u a r y , 1 9 1 8 , a l l G o v e r n m e n t s u b -

s i d i e s f o r t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e C h u r c h a n d i t s i n s t i t u -

t i o n s w e r e d i s c o n t i n u e d .

H o w e v e r , t h e p r i n c i p a l f a c t o r l a y n o t i n t h e s e

d e c r e e s , b u t r a t h e r i n t h e g e n e r a l a t h e i s t i c i d e o l o g y

1 6



REVOLUTION OP ! 9 1 7 AND THE MOSCOW SOBORo f t h e , n e w G o v e r n m e n t a n d i n t h e v i o l e n t c h a r a c t e r

o f i t s d i c t a t o r s h i p . The Provisio nal Gov ern ment h a d

j u s t b e e n o v e r t h r o w n b y t h e s o l d i e r s a n d s a i l o r s o f

the, Petro md g a r r i s o n . I n t h e b e g i n n i n g o f J a n u a r y

t h e C o n s t i t u e n t A s s e m b l y , c h o s e n i n g e n e r a l e l ec t i o n s ,

w a s d i s p e r s e d . T h e p o w e r f o r t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y w a s

seized by the Sovi ets of Worker s an d Soldiers '

D e p u t i e s - a c t u a l l y b a n d s o f d e s e r t e r s a n d o f w o r k -

me n "Red g uar ds . " T h e c e n t r a l p o w e r , t h e S o v i e t o f

P e o p l e ' s C o m m i s s a r s , p o s s e s s e d n o a d m i n i s t r a t i v e

a p p a r a t u s , a n d h a d n o a u t h o r i t y i n t h e p r o v i n c e s .

T h e o f f i c i a l s a n d i n t e l l i g e n t z i a b o y c o t t e d i t , w h e r e a s

t h e w o r k e r s a n d s o l d i e r s p u t i n t o i m m e d i a t e e f f e c t

t h e d i c t a t o r s h i p o f t h e p r o l e t a r i a t , w o r k i n g u p c l a s s

h a t r e d t o w a r d s t h e i n t e l l i g e n t z i a , w h i c h w a s c a l l e d

" b o u r g e o i s " N o o n e s e r i o u s l y b e l i e v e d i n t h e p e r -

manence of the new po wer, w hich he ld out to the

p e o p l e w h a t a p p e a r e d t o b e t h e m o s t U t o p i a n w a t c h -

w o r d s : s o c i a l i s m a n d s e p a r a t e p e a c e . The re is

n o t h i n g a s t o n i s h i n g i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e O c t o b e r

R e v o l u t i o n w a s c o n s i d e r e d b y p r a c t i c a l l y t h e w h o l e

o f t h e i n t e l l i g e n t z i a a s t h e d o w n f a l l o f R u s s i a , a s t h e

l a s t c o n v u l s i v e a c t o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n b e f o r e G e r m a n

o c c u p a t i o n . And it wa s n atural that the Mosc ow

S o b o r s h o u l d a l s o b e t o u c h e d by t h i s p o l i t i c a l ' a t t i t u d e .

On Nov embe r x I i t a d d r e s s e d t o t h e p e o p l e a p r o -

c l a m a t i o n c a l l i n g f o r r e p e n t a n c e a n d a r e t u r n t o t h e

w a y o f C h r i s t . R e f e r r i n g t o t h e b o m b a r d i n g o f t h e

K r e m l i n a s a"

b l a s p h e m o u s c r i m e a g a i n s t t h e O r t h o -

d o x f a i t h a s w e l l a s a g a i n s t t h e O r t h o d o x p e o p l e a n d

i t s h i s t o r y , " t h e p r o c l a m a t i o n p o i n t e d t o t h e"

r e -

s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e s e d u c e r s a n d l e a d e r s w h o . were

p o i s o n i n g t h e h e a r t o f t h e p e o p l e b y t e a c h i n g s d e n y -



RUSSIAN CHURCH; SINCE THE REVOLUTION'

i n g f a i t h i n C o d , p l a n t i n g e n v y , g r e e d , a n d r a p a c i o u s -

n e s s ." "The Russia n nation i s be ing d estroy ed b y

t h i s d e m o n i a c a l g o d l e s s n e s s . "On No v e m b e r I ' 7 , having r eference to the

Bolshevi k propo sal of peace to Germany, the Sobo r

a c c e p t e d a n o t h e r p r o c l a m a t i o n i n w h i c h i t i s s t a t e d ,

" t h a t t h e p e r s o n s s p e a k i n g i n t h e n a m e o f t h e R u s s i a n

n a t i o n i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l a f f a i r s a r e n o t t h e f r e e l y e l e c t e d

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , n o r d o t h e y r e p r e -

s e n t t h e m i n d a n d w i l l o f t h e n a t i o n , w h e r e f o r e t h e y

canno t be consid ered authorized to conduct peace

n e g o t i a t i o n s . " T h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f the Church i n

politics w as en tirely un avoi dable at that moment .

O n e c a n s a y w i t h o u t q u e s t i o n t h a t t h i s p r o c l a m a t i o n

o f t h e S o b o r r e p r e s e n t e d e x a c t l y t h e c o n v i c t i o n o f

t h e e n t i r e R u s s i a n n a t i o n , i f o n e m e a n s b y n a t i o n t h e

w i d e r a n g e o f t h e e d u c a t e d c l a s s e s , w i t h o u t r e g a r d t o

p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s . I t i s t r u e t h a t , i n t h e p r o c l a m a t i o n

w h i c h h a s b e e n q u o t e d , t h e S o b o r s p o k e i n t h e n a m e

o f " o n e h u n d r e d m i l l i o n O r t h o d o x p e o p l e , " a n d t h i s

was a mistake . But in November , 1917, i n Mo s c o w

no one could suspect how deeply the watchwords of

the Bolsheviks h ad penetrated, thanks to the d e-

m o b i l i z i n g a r m y , i n t o t h e v e r y d e p t h s o f t h e h u n d r e d

million Orthodox peasants .

A n d i t w a s n o t a p e r s o n a l a c t , n o r d i d t h e P a t r i a r c h

Tikhon take upon himself the role of leader of

c o u n t e r - r e v o l u t i o n w h e n , e n t i r e l y i n t h e s p i r i t o f t h i s

p r o c l a m a t i o n o f t h e S o b o r , h e p l a c e d a n a n a t h e m a o n

t h e B o l s h e v i k s f o r " p e r s e c u t i n g t h e T r u t h o f C h r i s t ,

f o r d a i l y a n d i n b e a s t l y m a n n e r d e s t r o y i n g e n t i r e l y

i n n o c e n t p e o p l e ." Reco unting the nu merou s acts of

v i o l e n c e a g a i n s t t h e C h u r c h , t h e P a t r i a r c h c a l l e d t h e

i s



REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND THE MOSCOW SOBORf a i t h f u l ~ ~ t o r i s e u p i n d e f e n c e ' c r f t h e i n s u l t e d a n d

oppressed Church, even to s u f f e r f o r t h e c a u s e o f

C h r i s t i f n e c e s s a r y . "

T h i s f a m o u s p r o c l a m a t i o n o f t h e P a t r i a r c h i s d a t e d

J a n u a r y x g , I g I g . I n o r d e r c o r r e c t l y t o a s s e s s i t s

- m e a n i n g , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o t a k e i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n t h e

f a c t t h a t i n i t , t h e " , B o l s h e v i k s " - a r e n o t ; d e f i n i t e l y

mentioned , that excommunication from the C hurch

w a s p a s s e d n o t u p o n d e f i n i t e i n d i v i d u a l s o r g r o u p s o f

i n d i v i d u a l s , b u t u p o n " t h e o u t c a s t o f m a n k i n d ." Ye t

i t w a s n o t d i f f i c u l t t o s u r m i s e w h o m t h e P a t r i a r c h

had in mind . He op enly s poke of the p o w e r which

"dis playe d ;unrestrained self-will and continuous

v i o l e n c e a g a i n s t e v e r y o n e ." This i nd efi nite exc om-

m u n i c a t i o n c o u l d n o t h a v e s t r i c t ` c a n o n i c a l e f f e c t . On

n o o c c a s i o n d i d a n y p r i e s t r e f u s e t h e s a c r a m e n t s o f t h e

s e r v i c e s t o C o m m u n i s t s w h o t u r n e d t o t h e C h u r c h ( a n d

t h e r e w e r e s u c h , e s p e c i a l l y a m o n g t h e s o l d i e r s ) . Th e

"ana thema" of the Patriarc h wa s in f act only_ the

energetic expression o f religious and, moral c o n -

demnation.n d i n t h i s j u d g m e n t t h e e n t i r e R u s s i a n '

Church s tood behin d the Patriarch .

I n 1 9 1 8 , however, the Church - no longer r e p r e -

s e n t e d t h e w h o l e R u s s i a n p e o p l e . A g a i n s t t h e b a c k -

g r o u n d o f t h e t e r r i b l e e v e n t s t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e C i v i l

W a r , t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e S o b o r r e m a i n e d c o m p a r e =

t i v e l y , unnoticed by the broad masses o f t h e p e o p l e .

S e v e r a l t i m e s s u s p e n d i n g i t s w o r k a n d h a v i n g b y n o

m e a n s f i n i s h e d i t , t h e S o b o r a d j o u r n e d i n t h e f a l l o f

x 9 x 8 , p l a c i n g - u p o n t h e P a t r i a r c h T i k h o n t h e h e a v y

b u r d e n o f a u t h o r i t y i n t h e C h u r c h , a t t h e m o m e n t o f

t h e v e r y s h a r p e s t r e v o l u t i o n a r y c r i s i s .

9



CHAPTER I T

SEPARATION OF CHURC H AND STATE

THE d e c r e e r e g a r d i n g t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f C h u r c h a n d

State was publishe d on Janua ry 2 3 , 1 9 1 8 . I t c o n -

s i s t e d o f t h i r t e e n a r t i c l e s , t h e m a j o r p a r t o f w h i c h

o n l y d e f i n e d t h e s t a t u s n e c e s s a r i l y c o n s e q u e n t u p o n

t h e n e w s e c u l a r i z e d f o r m o f g o v e r n m e n t . I n p r i n c i p l e

i t p r o c l a i m e d f r e e d o m o f c o n s c i e n c e a n d f r e e d o m o f

f a i t h . A r t i c l e 2 s t a t e d : " W i t h i n t h e c o n f i n e s o f t h e

R e p u b l i c i t i s f o r b i d d e n t o p a s s a n y l o c a l l a w s , o r

' i s s u e d e c r e e s , w h i c h m a y h i n d e r o r l i m i t t h e f r e e d o m

o f c o n s c i e n c e . " A r t i c l e 3 s t a t e d : "Ever y c itizen may

c o n f e s s a n y r e l i g i o n o r m a y c o n f e s s n o r e l i g i o n ; e v e r y

l o s s o f l e g a l r i g h t s c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e c o n f e s s i n g

o f a n y f a i t h o r c o n f e s s i n g o f n o f a i t h i s a b o l i s h e d . "

A r t i c l e S s t a t e d : " T h e f r e e p r a c t i c e o f r e l i g i o u s c e r e -

m o n i e s i s g u a r a n t e e d i n s o f a r a s i t d o e s n o t i n t e r f e r e

w i t h s o c i a l o r d e r . "

N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e d e c r e e d i d n o t c o n s i s t e n t l y s u s -

t a i n t h i s l i b e r a l a t t i t u d e . F o u r o f i t s a r t i c l e s e n -

c r o a c h e d u p o n e s s e n t i a l r i g h t s o f t h e C h u r c h , b i n d i n g

i t s a c t i v i t i e s h a n d a n d f o o t . A r t i c l e1 3

p r o c l a i m e d a l l

p r o p e r t y o f t h e c h u r c h e s a n d o f c h u r c h s o c i e t i e s t o

b e t h e p o s s e s s i o n , o f t h e p e o p l e . A r t i c l e I i f o r b a d e

" o b l i g a t o r y c o l l e c t i o n s a n d a s s e s s m e n t s o n b e h a l f o f

c h u r c h s o c i e t i e s . " A n d A r t i c l e I 2 . r e a d s : ; , " No chu rch

or religio us soci eties have the righ t to posse ss

20



$ PAAATION OP C HURC H . AND STATE

p r o p e r t y . The y d o . n o t h a v e t h e r i g h t o f j u r i d i c a l

p e r s o n s . "

In accor dance w ith the wording o f t h e l a s t

a r t i c l e , a l l e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e p a r i s h e s w e r e i n

f a c t r e n d e r e d i m p o s s i b l e . They could n ot have a

r e g u l a r b u d g e t , c o u l d n o t p r e p a r e e s t i m a t e s ( e . g . , f o r

r e p a i r o f b u i l d i n g s ) , d i d n o t h a v e e v e n t h e r i g h t o f

a s s e s s i n g t h e m s e l v e s . A r t i c l e 1 3 a p p r o p r i a t e d f r o m

t h e c h u r c h e s e v e n c h u r c h b u i l d i n g s a n d c h u r c h v e s s e l s ,

a l t h o u g h t h e n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n p r o c e d u r e w a s c i r c u m -

s c r i b e b y t h e f o l l o w i n g l i m i t a t i o n : " B u i l d i n g s a n d

o b je c t s u s e d s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r p u r p o s e s o f w o r s h i p s h a l l

b e a s s i g n e d b y s p e c i a l d e c r e e o f t h e l o c a l o r c e n t r a l ,

a u t h o r i t i e s f o r f r e e u s e b y t h e r e s p e c t i v e r e l i g i o u s

s o c i e t i e s ." The in def inite wor ding of t h i s a r t i c l e

t h r e a t e n e d e v e n t h e c o n d u c t i n g o f C h u r c h ' s e r v i c e s ,

and made m e n f e a r t h e w o r s t : W h a t i f t h e o r g a n s o f

G o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d r e f u s e t o i s s u e t h e n e c e s s a r y d e -

c r e e s o f a s s i g n m e n t ?

A n d , f i n a l l y , t h e g r e a t e s t a n x i e t y w a s c r e a t e d b y

A r t i c l e , 9 , w h i c h e n c r o a c h e d e v e n o n t h e s p i r i t u a l

a c t i v i t y , o f t h e C h u r c h . "The scho ol is separated

fro m the Church . R e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n i s f o r b i d d e n

i n a l l g o v e r n m e n t a n d p u b l i c s c h o o l s , a s w e l l a s i n

p r i v a t e s c h o o l s w h e r e g e n e r a l e d u c a t i o n a l s u b j e c t s a r e

t a u g h t . C i t i z e n s may t e a c h a n d b e t a u g h t r e l i g i o n

p r i v a t e l y

T h i s a r t i c l e f o r b a d e e v e n p r i v a t e , v o l u n t a r y r e -

l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n i n t h e s c h o o l , w h i c h p a r e n t s ' c o m -

m i t t e e s e v e r y w h e r e i n s i s t e d u p o n . On the v er y d a y

o f t h e p u b l i s h i n g o f t h e d e c r e e , J a n u a r y 2 3 , t h e

Cen tral Co mmittee of the All-Russ ian Uni on o f

P a r e n t s ' O r g a n i z a t i o n s p r o c l a i m e d t h e p r o h i b i t i o n . o f

s1



THE RUSSIAN C HURC H SINC E THE REVOLUTION

r e l i g i o u s t e a c h i n g t o b e « c o n t r a r y t o t h e p r i n c i p l e

o f t h e a u t o n o m y o f t h e R u s s i a n s c h o o l a n d a n e g a t i o n

o f t h e t r u e f r e e d o m o f c o n s c i e n c e . "

T h e d e c r e e r e g a r d i n g t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f C h u r c h " a n d

S t a t e n e c e s s i t a t e d t h e i s s u i n o f e x p l a n a t o r y i n t e r -

p r e t a t i o n s , w h i c h a p p e a r e d o n y s e v e r a l m o n t h s l a t e r ,

Au g u s t 24, 19 1 8 , a n d J a n u a r y 3 , 1 9 19 . T h e s e i n t e r -

pretations w ere far f rom favo urable to the Churc h .

R e l i g i o u s s o c i e t i e s w e r e p e r m i t t e d t o f i n a n c e t h e m -

s e l v e s o n l y b y v o l u n t a r y c o l l e c t i o n s . T h e c h a n g i n g o f

c h u r c h b u i l d i n g s i n t o c i v i l i n s t i t u t i o n s w a s p r o v i d e d

f o r ' i n t w o c a s e s : ( 1 )"

i f t h e r e s h o u l d n o t b e f o u n d

those des irous o f accepting the Church pro perty"

i . e . , if a parish sho uld not be orga nized), and

(2) "if as a result of need f or suc h premises f or

g e n e r a l l y u s e f u l p u r p o s e s , t h e l o c a l S o v d e p , r e s p o n d -

i n g t o t h e d e m a n d o f t h e w o r k i n g m a s s e s ( p r e f e r a b l y

i n p l e n a r y s e s s i o n ) s h o u l d p a s s t h e n e c e s s a r y r e s o l u -

t i o n . " A n d , f i n a l l y , t h e G o v e r n m e n t f o r b a d e r e l i g i o u s

instruction to children an d youths under ei ghteen

y e a r s o f a g e , e x c e p t p r i v a t e i n s t r u c t i o n i n g r o u p s n o t

e x c e e d i n g t h r e e p e r s o n s . I n t h i s m a n n e r a l l a t t e m p t s

a t t e a c h i n g r e l i g i o n i n t h e c h u r c h e s w e r e c h e c k e d , a n d

youth was giv en ove r to the mercy of the Gove rn-

ment's . a t h e i s t i c p r o p a g a n d a .

I n J a n u a r y , 1 9 1 8 , h o w e v e r , t h e f a i t h f u l f o u n d a l l

o t h e r t r o u b l e s s e c o n d a r y i n f a c e o f a n x i e t y f o r t h e

f a t e o f t h e c h u r c h e s a n d o f r e l i g i o u s s e r v i c e s . D i d n o t

the decree regarding the separation of Church and

S t a t e a c t u a l l y i m p l y t h e c l o s i n g o f t h e c h u r c h e s ? A

f e w d a y s b e f o r e i t s p u b l i c a t i o n , a n o r d e r w a s i s s u e d

f o r t h e r e q u i s i t i o n o f t h e A l e x a n d e r Nev s k y La v r a ,

i s P e t r o g r a d , ; t h e p r i n c i p a l m o n a s t e r y o f t h e c a p i t a l ,



SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

t h e r e s i d e n c e o f t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n a n d s e a t o f t h e T h e o -

l o g i c a l Acad emy . The prg mises o f t h e . f a v r a ' w e r e t o

b e t u r n e d o v e r t o t h e C o m m i s s a r i a t o f S o c i a l W e l f a r e .

A r m e d p a r t i e s w h i c h t w i c e e n d e a v o u r e d t o t a k e o v e r

t h e L a v r a w e r e m e t w i t h d e c i s i v e r e b u f f s o n t h e p a r t

o f t h e C h u r c h a u t h o r i t i e s , a n d o n J a n u a r y I 9 a g r e a t

c r o w d , w h i c h g a t h e r e d a t t h e s o u n d i n g o f t h e a l a r m

b e l l , r e f u s e d t o , a d m i t t h e s o l d i e r s . On Ja nu ary ; 21

there was a grea t sacred pro cessio n in Petrograd,

w h i c h r e g i s t e r e d t h e p r o t e s t o f t h e O r t h o d o x p o p u l a .

. n t i o n a ga i n s tt h e s e i z u r e o f i t s s a c r e d t h i n g s . TheGov ern ment sub mitted . T h e r e f o l l o w e d a n e x p l a n a -

t i o n t h a t i t h a d b e e n i n t e n d e d n o t t o c l o s e t h e m o n a s -

t e r y b u t t o h o u s e i n v a l i d s i n i t . H o w e v e r , t h e s t r u g g l e

had beg un throughout the who le of Russia . I n t h e

p r o c l a m a t i o n o f J a n u a r y 1 9 , a l r e a d y r e f e r r e d t o , t h e

Patriarc h Tikho n mentioned , in a dd ition to Alex

a n d e r - N e v s k y , t h e s e i z u r e o f t h e P o c h a e v s k a j a L a v r a ,

o n e o f t h e g r e a t e s t m o n a s t e r i e s o f t h e U k r a i n e ( i n

V o l h y n i a ) , a n d t h e d e s e c r a t i o n o f t h e d e e p l y v e n e r a t e d

c h a p e l o f t h e S a v i o u r i n P e t r o g r a d . A f e w d a y s a f t e r

t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e d e c r e e , t h e S o b o r e n t e r e d o n

i t s m i n u t e s : ( L ) " T h a t i n t h e g u i s e o f l a w p r o v i d i n g

f r e e d o m o f c o n s c i e n c e , t h e r e w a s a m a l i c i o u s a t t a c k

a g a i n s t t h e e n t i r e s t r u c t u r e a n d t h e , l i f e o f t h e O r t h o -

d o x C h u r c h , a n d a n a c t o f o p e n p e r s e c u t i o n a g a i n s t

i t ' ; a n d ( z ) " t h a t a n y p a r t i c i p a t i o n e i t h e r i n t h e p u b -

l i c a t i o n o f t h i s l e g i s l a t i o n h o s t i l e t o t h e C h u r c h , o r

a t t e m p t s t o e f f e c t i t , i s i n c o m p a t i b l e w i t h < m e m b e r ,

ship in the Orthodox Chur ch, and bring s -upon the

guilty pers ons o f Orthodox fai th the most severe

p u n i s h m e n t o f t h e C h u r c h , e v e n t o t h e e x t e n t o f e x -

communica tion . " S i m u l t a n e o u s l y w i t h t h i s r e s o l u t i o n

s 3



THE AVSSIAW - C HURC H SINCE - THE REVOLUTIONt h e S o b o r a d d r e s s e d a p r o c l a m a t i o n t o t h e "Ortho-

dox people" ; "Unite all of yo u, men and women,

o l d a n d y o u n g f o r t h e d e f e n c e o f o u r i n h e r i t e d S a c r e d

Thin gs . . . f o r t h e p e o p l e ' s r u l e r s s e e k t o d e s p o i l

t h e p e o p l e o f t h i s h e r i t a g e o f G o d . . . . I t i s b e t t e r

to shed one' s blood and to become worthy of a

m a r t y r ' s c r o w n t h a n t o s u r r e n d e r t h e O r t h o d o x f a i t h

t o t h e e n e m y f o r - h i s a b u s e . " '

T h e p r o c l a m a t i o n o f t h e S o b o r m e t w i t h a l i v e l y

respo nse among the people . Ev ery where la ymen

u n i t e d f o r t h e d e f e n c e o f t h e c h u r c h e s . I n P e t r o g r a d ,

a f t e r t h e " B r o t h e r h o o d f o r t h e D e f e n c e o f t h e A l e x -

and er-Nevs ky Lav ra," who se members v ow ed to

d e f e n d t h e L a v r a " e v e n t o d e a t h , " h a d b e e n f o r m e d ,

u n i o n s w e r e o r g a n i z e d i n e a c h p a r i s h , n u m b e r i n g u pto 60,ooo members . I n M o s c o w s i m i l a r u n i o n s w e r e

u n i t e d i n a g e n e r a l c o u n c i l . The per son of the

P a t r i a r c h w a s s u r r o u n d e d b y a guard which was

m a i n t a i n e d b y t w e n t y - f o u r p e r s o n s i n t u r n . T h e m o v e -

m e n t f o u n d r e s p o n s e e v e n i n t h e p r o v i n c e s . E v e r y -

w h e r e t h e r e t o o k p l a c e s a c r e d p r o c e s s i o n s , n i g h t

v i g i l s , a n d m e e t i n g s o f p r o t e s t . The cr owd s we re

u n a r m e d , b u t i n s o m e p l a c e s , d u r i n g a t t e m p t s a t c o n -

f i s c a t i o n o f t h e c h u r c h e s , t h e y m a u l e d t h e c o m m i s s a r s .

I n a n u m b e r o f p l a c e s t h e R e d t r o o p s f i r e d , a n d t h e r e

were many killed and woun ded -e . g . , i n T u l a , K h a r -

k o v , a n d o t h e r p l a c e s . F i n a l l y , t h e o p p o s i t i o n w a s

c r u s h e d . T h e C o m m u n i s t p o w e r m a d e t h e d e c r e e r e -

g a r d i n g t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f C h u r c h a n d S t a t e c o m p l e t e l y

e f f e c t i v e w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s w h i c h i t c o n s i d e r e d n e c e s -

s a r y .

1 T s e r l o v n i o V i e d o m o s t i , No . 3 - 4 , i q j 8 . Q u o t e d b y Ttlino$,

at . , , c i t .

a4



SEPARATION OF C HURC H AND . ETAT* -

I n w h a t a c t u a l forms did t h i s s e p a r a t i o n f i n d e x -

pressio n? The most radical w as t h e i n a u g u r a t i o n n o f

t h e s e c u l a r i z a t i o n o f t h e s c h o o l . The teach ing of

r e l i g i o n t o c h i l d r e n w a s forbidd en not only in the

s c h o o l but in the chur ches . The clerg y w ere left

practically without income, and ne arly every where

e v i c t e d from the parish houses, wh ich had now been

n a t i o n a l i z e d . Only i n t h e v i l l a g e s t h e c l e r g y r e t a i n e d

t h e i r h o m e s a n d l a n d , t h i s l a t t e r g r e a t l y d i m i n i s h e d .

A l l t h e commercial enterprises belongin g to the

C h u r c h , s u c h a s c a n d l e - f a c t o r i e s a n d p r i n t i n g -hops,

w e r e c o n f i s c a t e d . O n l y t h e c h u r c h b u i l d i n g s w e r e l e f t ,

a n d t h e s e , a f t e r a n i n v e n t o r y , w e r e t u r n e d o v e r t o

t h e o r g a n i z e d p a r i s h e s , a l o n g w i t h r e s p o n s i b i l i t y - f o r

maintainin g them a s w e l l a s f o r g u a r d i n g a l l t h e v a l u

a b l e e c c l e s i a s t i c a l o b j e c t s w h i c h t h e y c o n t a i n e d . I f t h e

p a r i s h , b y r e a s o n o f p o v e r t y o r b e c a u s e o f f e w n e s s o f

p e o p l e , w a s unable to maintain the chu rch, it was

t u r n e d o v e r t o t h e l o c a l S o v i e t , which, as we have

s e e n , i n a n y c a s e h a d t h e r i g h t t o a p p r o p r i a t e t h e

b u i l d i n g f o r a n y p u r p o s e i t m i g h t d e c i d e u p o n . Ho w

w i d e l y ' d i d t h e S o v i e t s m a k e u s e o f t h i s p r i v i l e g e ?

In t h e f i r s t p l a c e , t h r o u g h o u t t h e w h o l e R e p u b l i c a n d

w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n , p r i v a t e c h u r c h e s w e r e c l o s e d - - i n

s c h o o l s , b a r r a c k s , g o v e r n m e n t i n s t i t u t i o n s , e t c . , a l t o -

g e t h e r a v e r y c o n s i d e r a b l e n u m b e r . These were con-

v e r t e d i n t o d a n c i n g - h a l l s , c l u b s , o r t h e a t r e s . Whe re

i n s t i t u t i o n s w e r e o c c u p i e d b y Reds o l d i e r s , d e s e c r a t i o n s

were frequent . I k o n s a n d s a c r e d o b j e c t s w e r e o f t e n

destroyed or covere d with blasphemous scribb lings .

A g r e a t n u m b e r o f f a c t s i n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , a s r e l a t e d

to the, south of Russia, and ba sed upo n, m a t e r i a l

g a t h e r e d b y a C o m m i s s i o n und er Gener al Denik in,

$ 3



THE RuSSrAw CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTIONi s c o n t a i n e d i n t h e " B l a c k B o o k , " e d i t e d - b y A . A .

V a l e n t i n o f f . '

C a s e s o f s e i z u r e a n d p r o f a n a ti o n o f p a r i s h

c h u r c h e s , e s p e c i a l l y i n . t h e v i l l a g e s , w e r e r a t h e r i n f r e -

quent . I n t h i s r e g a r d t h e w a v e o f r e l i g i o u s f e r v o u r

o f J a n u a r y , 1 9 1 8 , d i d n o t p a s s w i t h o u t e f f e c t . The

a u t h o r i t i e s a b a n d o n e d t h e i r e n c r o a c h m e n t s o n c h u r c h

s e r v i c e s , c o n s i d e r i n g . t h e m a n i n e r a d i c a b l e s p i r i t u a l

r e q u i r e m e n t o f t h e m a s s e s , a n d o n l y i n e x c e p t i o n a l

circumstances infri nged u pon them . The closing of

c h u r c h e s w a s m o s t f r e q u e n t i n t h e w o r k e r s ' s e c t i o n s ,

w h e r e M a r x i s t p r o p a g a n d a m a d e d e e p i n r o a d s , b u t i n

t h e v i l l a g e s g e n e r a l l y o n l y w h e r e t h e p r o x i m i t y o f a

n u m b e r o f c h u r c h e s r e n d e r e d i t d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e i m -

p o v e r i s h e d p o p u l a t i o n t o s u p p o r t t h e m . N e v e r t h e l e s s ,

e v e n i n t h e v i l l a g e s w e k n o w o f c a s e s o f w r e c k i n g a n d

e v e n o f t h e b u r n i n g o f c h u r c h e s . I n t h e c i t i e s a g r e a t

number of shrines were closed and demolished ; i n

M o s c o w i t s e l f a n u m b e r o f - c h u r c h e s w e r e t o r n d o w n ,

o n e o f t h e m , i n c i d e n t a l l y , i n o r d e r t o c l e a r t h e -g r o u n d

in f ront of the statue o f Vorov sky . I n t h e s p r i n g

of 1923, info rmation came fr om wid ely sepa rated

l o c a l i t i e s r e g a r d i n g t h e p u b l i c b u r n i n g o f i k o n s , -' a

r e s u l t o f t h e c a m p a i g n o p e n l y s p o n s o r e d b y t h e B o l -

shev ik Pravd a . "

M o s t p i t i f u l o f a l l w a s t h e f a t e o f t h e m o n a s t e r i e s .

I P u b l i s h e d i n P a r i s , 2 9 2 5 . Also an Englis h editio n, 1924,

bea rin g the title "The Assault of Heav en, " and a Germane d i t i o n .

g . I a v e s t i a V a i k (Offi cial or gan o f the Sov iet Gove rnment) .

Mosc ow , No . 78 (2825 ), 2923 .

3I b i d .

• Prav da [ O f f i c i a l o r g a n o f t h e R u s s i a n C o m m u n i s t ( B o l s h e v i k )

) P a t t y ] . , Mos co w, No . i 2 7 , May , 2923 .



SEPARATION OF Z".HURGH AND STATET h e i r s e c u l a r i z a t i o n began, as we have seen, e v e n

b e f o r e t h e p u b l i s h i n g o f t h e d e c r e e . I n t h e d e c r e e

i t s e l f a n d i n t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s r e l a t e d t o i t w e f i n d

nothing regard ing the monasteries . In re spo nse to

i n q u i r i e s f r o m t h e p r o v i n c e s , t h e F i f t h S e c t i o n . o f t h e

C o m m i s s a r i a t o f J u s t i c e e x p l a i n e d t h a t " t h e f a t e o f

t h e m o n a s t e r i e s r e s t s u p o n t h e j u d g m e n t o f t h e l o c a l

Sovie ts, depen ding upon the purpos e to which they

c o n s i d e r i t d e s i r a b l e t o a s s i g n t h e m , s u c h a s t o s a n a -

t o r i u m s , f a r m s , s c h o o l s , a s y l u m s f o r i n v a l i d s o l d i e r s ,

o r f o r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n i n t o s o m e s o r t o f u s e f u l h u s -

bandry . " A s a r e s u l t , p r a c t i c a l l y a l l o f t h e m o n a s t e r i e s

i n R u s s i a w e r e l i q u i d a t e d , a n d t h e m o n k s s c a t t e r e d .

R e g a r d i n g t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e s e c u l a r i z a t i o n , t h e o f f i c i a l

o r g a n s u p p l i e s t h e f o l l o w i n g f i g u r e s : u p t o t h e f a l l o f

1920, 6 3 7 m o n a s t e r i e s h a d b e e n l i q u i d a t e d ; b y 192 2 ,

49 more had been added . Howev er, i n t h e i n t e r e s t s

o f a c c u r a c y i t s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t b y n o m e a n s i n a l l

c a s e s d i d c o m p l e t e l i q u i d a t i o n t a k e p l a c e . In ma ny

m o n a s t e r i e s s o m e o f t h e o l d m o n k s w e r e l e f t t o l i v e

o u t t h e i r d a y s , i n t h e c a p a c i t y o f w a t c h m e n o r w o r k e r s

a t t a c h e d t o t h e n e w i n s t i t u t i o n s . I n p l a c e s w h e r e h i s -

torical monasteries wer e made ov er into museums

( s u c h a s t h e r e n o w n e d T r o i t z k y - S e r g i e v s k a j a L a v r a ) ,

a number of monks remained as caretakers . F i n a l l y ,

i n s o m e p l a c e s s m a l l d o m e s t i c d w e l l i n g s w e r e r e t a i n e d

under the form of legalized ag ricultural communes .

I n M o s c o w i t s e l f o n e c a n s t i l l f i n d s e v e r a l m o n a s t e r i e s

w i t h r e g u l a r a s c e t i c l i f e . There hav e even b een re-

t a i n e d s e v e r a l a l l - R u s s i a n c e n t r e s o f p i l g r i m a g e ( a t

t h e r e l i c s o f r e n o w n e d s a i n t s ) , w h i c h a r e e x p l o i t e d b y

t h e l o c a l S o v i e t s . I t w a s o n l y i n A p r i l , 1927, t h a t t h e

a u t h o r i t i e s c l o s e d t h e S a r o v m o n a s t e r y , m a d e f a m o u s

2 7



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTIONb y S a i n t S e r a p h i m . T h e r e v e n u e f r o m p i l g r i m s s t o p -

p i n g a t t h e m o n a s t e r y h o s t e l s h a s s a v e d t h e s e s a c r e d

places from the gener al fate of bei ng dos ed and

d e s t r o y e d .

I n g e n e r a l , t h e S o v i e t p o w e r h a s a l l o w e d t h e p r e -

s e r v a t i o n o f r e l i g i o u s s e r v i c e s a n d t h e r e l i g i o u s o r g a n -

i z a t i o n o f t h e f a i t h f u l , a l t h o u g h i t h a s d i s p l a y e d a n

evid ent tenden cy toward s limiting them as much as

p o s s i b l e . But what abo ut the d ecr eed " freedom of

c o n s c i e n c e " ? I f b y t h e t e r m f r e e d o m o f c o n s c i e n c e i s

u n d e r s t o o d n o t o n l y t h e f r e e d o m o f r e l i g i o u s c e r e -

m o n y b u t a l s o t h e f r e e d o m t o c o n f e s s r e l i g i o n , t h e

freedom to preach and ev angelize, then one cannot

s p e a k o f f r e e d o m u n d e r t h e r e g i m e o f t h e C o m m u n i s t

d i c t a t o r s h i p . L o c a l Sov iets not inf requ ently pro-

h i b i t e d e v e n p r e a c h i n g i n t h e c h u r c h e s , o r d e m a n d e d

t h e p r e v i o u s p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e s e r m o n f o r c e n s o r -

s h i p . Tolera ting the sermon i n the chur ches , the

authorities practically have forbi dden religio us

a d d r e s s e s i n public meetings outside the church,

especia lly by laymen . Every public expres sion o f

religiou s convi ction in Communist Russia has b een

accompanied by risk-discharg e f rom employment,

a r r e s t , e x i l e , a n d , i n t h e f i r s t y e a r s , e v e n e x e c u t i o n .

D u r i n g t h e e x p u l s i o n o f p r o f e s s o r s f r o m t h e u n i v e r -

s i t i e s , w h i c h t o o k o n a m a s s c h a r a c t e r i n 192 2 . and

1 9 2 3 , t h e i r a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s r e l i g i o n w a s t h e m a i n

f a c t o r . In 1921 the r ec tor o f Sar atof f Uni ve rs ity

( t h e p h y s i c i s t Z e r n o f f ) w a s a r r e s t e d a n d d i s c h a r e d

s i m p l y b e c a u s e h e h a d a p p e a r e d i n t h e l o c a l c a t h e

t o g i v e a d d r e s s e s o n r e l i g i o u s - p h i l o s o p h i c a l s u b j e c t s .

T o s p e a k i n d e f e n c e o f C h r i s t i a n i t y i n S o v i e t R u s s i a

i s j u s t a s d a n g e r o u s a s t o s p e a k a g a i n s t s o c i a l i s m o r

s8



SEPARATION OF CHURCH'' AND STATE

t h e d i c t a t o r s h i p o f t h e p a r t y . e s h a l l s e e l a t e r t h a t

the Co mmunist party combine s i n i t s i d e o l o g y

s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t c a p i t a l i s m a n d s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t Go d .

B y 'a c e r t a i n i n c o n s i s t e n c y, ' t h e a u t h o r i t i e s t o l e r a t e

t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a f e w t h e o l o g i c a l s c h o o l s , o r , r a t h e r ,

c o u r s e s f o r t h e p r e p a r a t i o n o f p r i e s t s . U p t o 1 9 2 3 t h e

T h e o l o g i c a l I n s t i t u t e i n P e t r o g r a d , t h e s u c c e s s o r o f

t h e c l o s e d T h e o l o g i c a l A c a d e m y , c o n t i n u e d t o w o r k .

T h e t e r r o r o f 1 9 2 3 , h o w e v e r , c a u s e d i t t o c l o s e i t s

d o o r s . S u b s e q u e n t l y m o d e s t p a s t o r a l c o u r s e s w e r e

opened . The s chi smatic "Renov ated" Chu rch h a s

t h r e e h i g h e r s c h o o l s , i n M o s c o w , P e t r o g r a d ; a n d K i e v .

If one leave s aside the Renov ated Church, t h e

m o s t l i k el y e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t h e P e t r o -

g r a d C o u r s e s ( i n c i d e n t a l l y , w i t h v e r y f e w s t u d e n t s a n d

l i m i t e d i n i t s a c t i v i t i e s ) i s t h e d e s i r e o f t h e a u t h o r i t i e s

t o c o n t r o l t h e a t t i t u d e o f t h e c h u r c h i n t e l l i g e n t z i a .

T h e r e i s l i t t l e n e e d t o s a y t h a t p r i n t e d d e f e n c e o f

t h e f a i t h i s i m p o s s i b l e . N o t i n p r i n c i p l e b u t i n p r a c -

t i c e t h e c e n s o r f o r b i d s t h e i s s u i n g o f a n y b o o k s o f

r e l i g i o u s c o n t e n t . E x c e p t i o n s , a n d t h o s e v e r y r a r e ,

a r e m a d e f o r t h e s e c t a r i a n s a n d R e n o v a t e d C h u r c h .

I n s p i t e o f n u m e r o u s a p p l i c a t i o n s , t h e C h u r c h h a s n o t

y e t b e e n p e r m i t t e d e v e n t o p r i n t G o s p e l s , p r a y e r -

b o o k s , o r i n d i s p e n s a b l e l i t u r g i c a l b o o k s . P r i n t i n g i n

t h e C h u r c h S l a v o n i c l a n g u a g e i s a l t o g e t h e r p r o h i b i t e d .

F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e t a k e n e v e r y p o s -

s i b l e m e a s u r e f o r t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e o l d r e l i g i o u s

l i t e r a t u r e . I n t h e n a t i o n a l i z e d b o o k s h o p s a n d s t o c k -

r o o m s o f p u b l i s h i n g h o u s e s g r e a t q u a n t i t i e s o f s u c h

l i t e r a t u r e w e r e s e i z e d a n d s e n t t o t h e p a p e r f a c t o r i e s

o r s o l d b y w e i g h t i n v a r i o u s l o c a l i t i e s f o r u s e a s w r a p -

p i n g p a p e r b y m a r k e t t r a d e s m e n . I n t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s

2 9



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTIONoperation a large number o f s c i e n t i f i c a l l y v a l u a b l e

w o r k s w e r e l o s t , s u c h a s " t h e e d i t i o n s o f t h e " P a l e s -

t i n e S o c i e t y " a n d o f t h e t h e o l o g i c a l a c a d e m i e s . I n a l l

t h e p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s , e x c e p t f o r t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s a n d t h e

C e n t r a l G o v e r n m e n t - l i b r a r y , b o o k s o n r e l i g i o n w e r e

c o n f i s c a t e d , t o g e t h e r w i t h a g r e a t q u a n t i t y o f p h i l o r

s o p h i c a l , h i s t o r i c a l , s o c i o l o g i c a l , a n d e v e n a r t i s t i c

l i t e r a t u r e .

T y p i c a l o f t h e m i n u t i a e o b s e r v e d i n t h e p e r s e c u t i o n

o f r e l i g i o n w a s t h e o b l i g a t i o n i m p o s e d b y t h e c e n s o r

t o p r i n t t h e w o r d " Go d " a n d o t h e r s a c r e d n a m e s i n

s m a l l l e t t e r s . This c avil wo uld seem to be a minor

t h i n g , b u t i t p r o v e d v e r y i m p o r t a n t f o r t h o s e w i t h

s e n s i t i v e r e l i g i o u s c o n s c i e n c e . I n t h e r e g i m e o f p e r -

s e c u t i o n o f t h e C h u r c h , m a n y a u t h o r s c o n s i d e r e d t h a t

f o r t h e m t o s u b m i t t o t h i s o b l i g a t i o n w o u l d b e a n a c t

o f f o r m a l a p o s t a s y . We k n o w o f a c a s e w h e n t h e

p u r e l y s c i e n t i f i c , h i s t o r i c a l - a r t i s t i c r e s e a r c h e s c o n c e r n -

i n g t h e n e w l y r e s t o r e d i k o n o f t h e V l a d i m i r s k y V i r g i n

( o n e o f t h e m o s t r e m a r k a b l e p r o d u c t i o n s o f B y z a n t i n e

p a i n t i n g ) c o u l d n o t b e i s s u e d b e c a u s e t h i s c o n d i t i o n w a s

u n a c c e p t a b l e t o t h e a u t h o r . B u t t h e e a s i l y u n d e r s t o o d

s e n s i t i v e n e s s o f a u t h o r s w a s m a n y t i m e s m a g n i f i e d i n

t h e t o u c h i n e s s o f t h e c e n s o r . T h e c e n s o r f o r b a d e n o t

o n l y p u r e l y t h e o l o g i c a l o r e v i d e n t l y C h r i s t i a n w o r k s ,

b u t e v e n b o o k s o n t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e C h u r c h a n d o n

t h e s c i e n c e o f r e l i g i o n i n g e n e r a l , e x c e p t f o r p u r e l y

p r o p a g a n d i z i n g a t h e i s t i c l i t e r a t u r e . How ev er , this

w i l l n o t s e e m r e m a r k a b l e t o t h o s e w h o k n o w t h a t t h i s

s o r t o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p e r s e c u t i o n ( e v e n e x i l e ) w a s

d i r e c t e d n o t o n l y a g a i n s t r e l i g i o n b u t a g a i n s t e v e r y

s o r t o f p h i l o s o p h i c a l o r h i s t o r i c a l i d e a l i s m . T h e e x i l e

o f R u s s i a n p h i l o s o p h e r s t o f o r e i g n c o u n t r i e s i s c l e a r

30



SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATEe v i d e n c e o f t h i s . I t may b e n o t e d f u r t h e r t h a t t h e

stru~ l e a g a i n s t i d e a l i s m , i n the mind of the con-

vinced Communist, draws fro m the same source as

h i s s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t r e l i g i o n : i d e a l i s m i s p o t e n t i a l l y

r e l i g i o u s , v e r y r e f i n e d , b u t a n o l e s s d a n g e r o u s f o r m

o f m y s t i c a l c o n t a g i o n .



CHAPTER IIITHE PERSECUTION OF RELIGION

ANALYSIS o f t h e d e c r e e c o n c e r n i n g t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f

C h u r c h a n d S t a t e , a n d t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f i t s r e a l i z a -

t i o n , p r o v i d e s a g r e a t d e a l o f m a t e r i a l w i t h w h i c h t o

a n s w e r t h e g e n e r a l q u e s t i o n : Do e s C o m m u n i s m c o n -

d u c t o p e n p e r s e c u t i o n a g a i n s t t h e C h u r c h a n d r e l i g i o n

i n g e n e r a l ? H o w e v e r , t h i s m a t e r i a l i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t l y

e x p l i c i t . T h e C o m m i s s a r i a t o f j u s t i c e , w h i c h h a s c o n -

c e n t r a t e d i n i t s F i f t h D e p a r t m e n t a l l a f f a i r s r e l a t e d

t o t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f C h u r c h a n d S t a t e , i s e s s e n t i a l l y

t h e b e a r e r a n d g u a r d i a n o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y l e g a l i t y -

an idea which was new and exceptional, and by no

m e a n s g e n e r a l l y o b l i g a t o r y i n t h e s y s t e m o f S o v i e t

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e f i r s t y e a r s o f t h e

d i c t a t o r s h i p . I n i t s i n s t r u c t i o n s t o l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s

t h e C o m m i s s a r i a t f r e q u e n t l y r e s t r a i n e d t h e f a n a t i c a l

d e s t r o y e r s o f c h u r c h e s , r e m i n d i n g ' t h e m o f t h e p r o -

clamation provid ing freed om of conscience . I t i s

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h i s s a m e C o m m i s s a r i a t

i n t h e b e g i n n i n g c o n d u c t e d a t h e i s t i c p r o p a g a n d a . I t

i s c l e a r t h a t t h e r e c a n n o t b e t a l k o f t h e n e u t r a l i t y o f

t h e G o v e r n m e n t i n m a t t e r s o f f a i t h . Ther e may only

be ques tion as to the means to be employed in the

s t r u g g l e w i t h r e l i g i o n . I n f u l f i l l i n g i t s t a s k t h e

C o m m i s s a r i a t o f J u s t i c e f o l l o w e d a c a r e f u l c o u r s e ,

falling bac k upon the Gove rnment's mono poly of

c u l t u r e .

32



THE PERSECUTION OF RELIGION

But there were other organs which conducted the

struggle more openly, even glaringly. At the very

time when the circulars regarding the freedom of con-

science were being distributed, the Tch6ka through-

out the whole of Russia were shooting priests andbishops . The archives of this terrible institution are

inaccessible; its affairs were conducted so summarily,

with such a minimum of paper procedure, that it is

questionable whether at any time it will be possible

to establish the exact number of victims of the terror,

or to discover motives o f accusation .' According to

the approximate conclusion of General Denikin's

Commission, published in The Times in March,

1922, 28 bishops and 1,215 priests were shot during

the years 1918-1919 .' According to official data of

the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, 2obishops and 1,414 priests had been executed up to

1922 . When the "Renovated" Bishop, Nikola'Kashinsky (Solovejtchik), came from Russia (1926he gave the following figures

White clergy (priests) . . . 2,691

Monks . . . . . . . . . 1,962

Nuns and other o rdained ranks 3 .447

8,ioo

None of these figures pretend to accura cy .

However, the undisputed fact that mass execution s

of the clergy took place does not exhaust the evidence

of persecution against the Church . These terrible

figures do not constitute the largest sums in the

1 Cf . Melgunoff, "The Red Terror in Russia ." Berlin, 1924 .

a Taken from P. N. Miliukoff, "Russia in Trans formation"

I . , p, 194. Paris, 1927 .

33 C



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH-. SINCE TH8 RIVOLUTION

bloody totals . According to approximate data of the

Denikin' Commission for the same period, there were

6,775 professor s and teachers, 8,8oo doctors, etc . ,

in the general figure of I,716,118 (1) killed. The

bloody machine of the terror was not instituted

against the Church alone, and other professions from

among the intelligentzia gave even larger numbers of

victims .

Another evasion of the charge of persecution is

attempted by raising the question of political motives

necessitating the terror-i . e . , the possibility of

political guilt of the clergy .

Knowing the loyalty of the clergy to the Tsa rist

regime, it was easy to reach the conviction that

ministers of the Church had to play an outstanding

part in the " White " counter-revolutiona ry move-

ment. However, this supposition is entirely arrone-ous . In actual fact, in the territory of the White

overnments, the clergy, especially the bishops,

Messed and inspired the troops, but these representa-

tives of the Church, who took a definite side in the

Civil War, for the most part evacuated Russia along

with the defeated White troops in 1920What we see in the interior of Red Russia is some-

thing quite different. Here, after the first wrathful

gestures of the Sobor and the Patriarch in the begin-

ning of 19 18, a change set in, not, however, in the

attitude towards the anti-religious revolution, but in

establishing practical relationships with it . As early as

March, i 9 , I 9 , the representatives of the Sobor con-

ducted negotiations with the authorities to secure

p o s s i b l e favourable interpretation of the decree for

the Church. The popular movement in defence of

3+




the Church was not so powerful as the leaders of the

Church had , hoped. Soon they understood that they

could not speak in the name of on e hundred million

Orthodox, that the former ' Orthodox peasant Russia

in its broad masses had been won over by the Com-

munist Revolution . The leaders of the Church soon

understood the hopelessness of open struggle and the

danger of bringing the Church under heavy fire,possibly endangering even the holding of services . o f

worship. According to Orthodox conceptions, t h e ,

cult so completely embraces the public service of the

Church, that for its preservation the leaders were .

ready to make great sacrifices. We shall see when , wespeak of the internal life of the Church, that this line

of conduct was dictated by purely religious, mystico- .

as cetic conception s-conception s inherent to Ortho-

doxy renewed by the regenerated Church .

Wehave one very valuable impression of thepolitical attitude of the Patriarch in the summer of

x 9I 8, belonging, to a witness who unquestion ably

commands confidence, Prince G. N. Trubetzkoy, theformer Russian . minister in Serbia . Five years after

this date, at the time of the trial of the Patriarch, he

made the following statement to the Vienna repre-

sentative of the telegraph agency Russpress : - " As a

worker in the White Movement, I visited the Patri,

arch Tikhon and asked him to send his blessing to

the White armies, secretly if necessa ry . I ws . ex -

pected . to convey his blessing to , the Don, and , I

guaranteed that this secret would not be disclosed . ; I

endeavoured to persuade the Patriarch to, do this, f o r -

the reason that his blessing would greatly raise the

morale of the troops . But the Patriarch was unmov-

3S



THE RUSSIAN - CHURCH SINCE THE IZVOLUTION

able, and even in this decisive moment did not alter his

conviction that the clergy must stand outside politics

and political struggle." In a letter to the editor of the

Russian newspaper Rul, published in Berlin, July 1 7 ,

1923, the Prince inserted into this interview the

following correction, still further emphasizing the

non-political attitude of the Patriarch : " I did not

ask the permission of the Patriarch to give his bless-

ing to the tro ops of the Volunteer Army . . . . I re-

quested the permission of His Holiness to give in his

name a blessing personally to one of the outstanding

leaders of the White Movement, under condition of

maintaining absolute secrecy . However, the Patriarch

did not find even this possible, so strongly did he hold

himself aloof from any sort of politics . " '

On the first anniversary of the October Revolution

(October 2 1 , I9I8), the Patriarch addressed a long

communication to the Soviet of People's Commissar s .

Recounting all the misdeeds of the Bolsheviks against

the people and the Church, the Patriarch concluded

with the remarkable words : " It is not for us to judge

earthly powers ; all authority from God would draw

unto itself our blessing if it were in truth the ' servant

of God,' for 'rulers are not a terror to good works,

but to the evil' (Rom. x i ii . 3 ) . However, to you whouse your- power for the persecution and the destruc-,

tion of the innocent, we issue our word of admonition :

celebrate the anniversary of your coming to power by

the release of the imprisoned, the cessation of blood

letting, of violence, of ruination, of restraint of

faith ; turn not to destruction but to the construction

of order and law ; give to the people the respite from

1 Rul (Berlin Russian daily), No . 798. July 17,-19 : 9 3 -

36



THE' PERSECUTION 'OF"-RELIGION

civil warfare which they have longed for and de-

served . For otherwise the blood will be on your ownhead. ' For all they that take the sword shallperish with the swo rd' (Matt . xxvi . 52) . "

` Despite the vigour and sharpness of this remon-

strance, it is easy to see in it the patriarch's recognition

of the Bolsheviks a s de jure in authority. In the

fifteenth century the Metropolitan Philip of Moscow

similarly admonished Ivan the Terrible, yet without

calling for revolt against him as Tsar . It was the

admonition of . a pastor, not the proclamation of a

political enemy .

A year later, in 1919, in an encyclical datedSeptember 25, -the Patriarch imposed on the priest-

hood responsibility for keeping aloof from the Civil

War " I remember how we," continued PrinceTrubetzkoy, "

standing at that time close to the

Volunteer Army in Southern Russia, were distressed

over the,epistle of the Patriarch ; but, subsequently .

I could not help but admire his wise restraint . Where-ever bishops an d priests conducted prayers for the

victorious advance of the Volunteer Army, the dergy

shared the fate of this army and were obliged' hastily

to abandon their parishes, to the great detriment of

the Church. "

This brings us back to the question of the counter-

revolutionary crimes of the clergy . So far as records

ar e available, they show that in practically every

instance where punishment was imposed for political

offence, it was on account of conducting prayers for

the White Guards.' But was it possible for a simplepriest to refuse the passing troops their natural de-

C1. "The Assa ult of Heaven . "

37



TIRE RUSSIAN CHURCH S1Ntz THE RVOLUTION

mind to dedicate their advance with prayers? Not

a l l the priests after this "crime" abandoned their

parishes for safety with the retreating White Army .

Many remained for torture and death . As for the

Reds, no prayers were requested ; they got along with-

out the blessing of the Lord .

In the majority of cases the priests were arrested

and shot without guilt of any sort . They succumbed

along with the "hostage " bourgeoisie, along with

the landowners, merchants, barristers, and other repre-

sentatives of the liberal professions and political

parties. The terror which the Communist Party con-

ducted had not a perso nal, but class char acter, in

accordance with the spirit of Marxist philosophy .

11 We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class,"

writes Latzis, one of the leading workers in the

TchEka, in the "Weekly Gazette " of the Extra-

ordinary Commission. "In drawing up evidence, do'not look for incriminating material to prove that the

person under prosecution acted by deed or wordag ainst the Soviet power . The first question which

you must ask him is, what is his ancestry, education,

or profession . These questions must determine the

fate of the accused . Therein lies the meaning and the

essence of the Red terror . " '

The, priests perished as representatives of the

"bourgeoisie," a category corresponding to the~~ aristocracy " of the French Revolution. Is thereevidence which would allow us to say that the keen

edge of the Red terror was directed against them with

especial hatred? I believe that one may answer this

question affirmatively . The evidence regarding Voro-

'1 Quoted from Miliukoff,of-,cit.,p. 187-188 .

3 8



TAE PERSECUTION OF RELIGION

b i e f f f , President of the Tchika m-Perm, may be a p p l i e d

not to him alone. His secretary gave evidence in adeposition to the French Lieutenant, Adrian Souber

biel (February x o, 1919) :u Toward the clergy, Voro-

bieff's-attitude was that' of hatred, and he called them

' black magpies.' I can confirm that he shot many

priests and monks." 1

The chronicle of the Red terror allows us dogeneralize this attitude . From among a great number

of instances we . give the following : ' 1 In Poltava

Government the Red Army seized the Spasso-Preo-

brajensky Monastery, occupied and bega n to rob and

desecrate it. After a short time their officer ordered

the Superior, the Abbot Ambrosius, to gather all the

monks together . Part of them were absent, so there

gathered altogether twenty-five persons . It wasannounced that they were under arrest, and they were

ordered to turn over the keys to the monks' cells and

to all the other quarters of the monastery . Then the

monks were ordered to fetch firewood, with the ex-

planation that they were all to be burned . However;

the approach of the Volunteer Army broke up this plan .

It was impossible to delay, so they hurriedly drove

all the arrested monks out of the city and thence to

the railway station . Here, in the darkness of the

night, they began to shoot them in groups. Theshooting bega n with the Superior Ambrosius, whowas killed by the Communist officer Bakai with his

revolver . Afterwards the Red soldiers began to shoot

the rest. Seventeen monks were killed, the remaining

seven, being only wounded,'saved their lives by simu-

lating death " (August 6, 19 i 9) .

1 Quoted from "The Assault of Heaven . "

3 9



THE. RUSSIAN CHURCH -SINCE THE' REVOLUTION

There is evidence of special hatred towar d the

Church in those tortures and "qualified" execution s

which in some places were inflicted on the clergy .

We have information regarding the most beastlycruelty, which we are not yet in a position to confirm .

Nevertheless, the bodies of the executed which were

exhumed and photographed by the Whites confirmthe most awful rumours a nd testimonies . We are told

of a case of impaling in Poltava, as in Kherson of a

priest who was hung o n a cros s, etc . An Englishdiplomatic agent reported to his Government that

Andronik, Bishop of Perm, was buried alive .' There

is no need to say more. This hatred toward theclergy on the part of the -Tcheka officials completely

harmonizes with confirmed instances of the mostcynical sacrilege in the churches, especially those occu-

pied by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War .

However, the question of persecution of theChurch is less to be decided by various, although

numerous, cases of violence, than by the avowed char-

acter of the entire system, by the spirit of Bolshevism .

Russian Communism makes the strugg le with religion

one of its chief objectives . In the "Programme of the

Communists," Bukharin says : " Faith in God is a

reflection of the most abominable of earthly relation-

ships-faith in slavery ." Every member of the Party

is required to conduct anti-religious propaganda. For

observing Church ceremonies (marriage, baptizing of

children) he may be excluded from the Party. Thesame objective stands before the Comsomol (theCommunist Youth Association). (Paragraph 5 of theSection concerning Political-Educational Work of the

1 Melgunoff, op . c i t .

40



THE PERSECUTIOIaj_ OF _RELIGION

Russian Comsomol.) The programme accepted at . t h e

Third Congress, October 2, I92o, reads as follows

"Rearing its members to be convinced Communists,

the Russian Comsomol conducts an ideological

struggle with the religious plague which is consum-

ing t h e young generation of workers and aids the

representatives of the bourgeoisie to deceive the

people."' The reference here is not to the Church as

connected with the old regime and not to one oranother religious organization, but to the very prin-

ciple of religious faith, which is so hateful to Com-

munism .

" We must act so that every blow to the traditional

structure of the church, to the clergy, etc . , will be

turned into a blow aga inst religion in general ."

" Even to the blind it is clear to what extent a decisive

struggle is necessary against the priests, whether they

call themselves pastors, abbots, rabbis, patriarchs,

mullahs, or the pope ; and similarly it is inevitable that

at a certain' stage this struggle must be carried on as a

struggle against God, whether He is called Jehovah,

Jesus, Buddha, or Allah ." Thus writes one of the in-

augurators of the anti-religious struggle, the old

Marxist, L. Stepan off.' To be sure, this attitudetoward religion is no novelty in Marxism . The re-

nowned phrase, ' 1 Religion is opium for the people,"

which is written large on the wall of the City Hall

opposite the shrine of the Iversky Virgin, is a quota-

tion from Marx . But in none of the European socialist

parties or groupings has the struggle against religion

a N. Bukharin, " Programma Kommunistoff," p . 5 t .

2 "Purposes and Methods of Anti-Religious Propaganda,"

PP. 18-37 .Moscow, 1923 .

41



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCS -

.

THE IEYOLUTIOIi

been put to the fore as in Russian Communism. Outof atheism they have made a new creed, preachedwith real religious fanaticism . Communism has castout of its programme the classical watchword of social

democracy- , Religion is a private matter . " ForCommunism, religion is a social enemy against which

struggle is obligatory . Many Russian church peoplebelieve that its anti-Christian motive constitutes the

jugular vein of Bolshevism . Perhaps this is an exag-

geration : neither Lenin nor Trotzky was able person-

ally to devote time to anti-religious propaganda . TheCivil War, the internal social struggle (terror), and the

economic problem occupied the entire attention of

these chief leaders . However, this propaganda

attracted to its service not a few of the strong Com-munist leaders, ideologists, and theoreticians, whoproved unsuited for essentially practical or economic

work. We name Lunacharsky, Jaro slavsky (secretaryof the Central Control Commission of the, Party), and

the above-mentioned Stepan off . Bukharin also de-

votes no little attention to this matter . As regards the

form of the struggle and the organization of propa-

ganda, it is necessary to make a distinction between

two periods-the period of the Civil War and theyear s following the Civil War . The dividing line

comes in 1922 .

During the Civil War the Bolsheviks had little

time for the Church . While by no means hiding their

attitude towards it, and working off their hatred by

pers ecuting individual priests, ora nizing lectures

(Spitzberg, Lunacharsky), etc., they' did not under-

take the struggle on a broad programme. Leavingthe Patriarch in freedom, they even seemed to forgive

42



THE PERSECUTION OF lELIGION

him the anathema which he proclaimed in r 9 I S . Thes t r u g g l e w i t h the Church was concentrated, as wehaveseen, in the Commissa riat of justice, whence local

Soviets were i n s t r u c t e d , anti-religious agitators were

sent out and literature distributed . In i g I g special

success accompanied the "exhibit method" ofstruggle with Orthodoxy-the exposure of relics .

The blow seemed to be extremely well aimed . For the

masses, the cult of the saints occupied nearly the

central place in religion .' The Russian people believed

in ' the mira culous preservation of the relics of the

saints ; their splendid shrines constituted centres of

wors hip, attracting thousands of pilgrims . No oneknew exactly what lay beneath the bro caded coverings

in these gilded coffins . The simple people and evena large part of the clergy were convinced that the

bodies of the saints were preserved as in life . Werethey pious legends or pious frauds? Learned theo-

logians and bishops who conducted investigation s in

regard to the relics, of course, knew their secrets . In

reality there was no secret, for much had been written

about the matter . But there are few who read works

of science or research . The legend was maintained upto the very revolution, and the Bolsheviks decided

to blast it and so to strike a blow at the very heart of

the people's faith .

At the end of 1918 there began a move of exposing

relics, carried out under especially imposing circum-

stances, for the sake of publicity . Photographs, even

cinema films, were taken of the certain occas ions,

where exposure was made by priests and monks f o r -

cibly set to the task. In the majority o f t h e c o f f i n s

there were .found simply bones or dummies of padding

43



TUN R1 SS!AN_C•HURCH SING$ THE 'REVOLUTION

stuffed in canvas to resemble a human body . It

seemed that the religious deception was unmaskedin plain sight . But the Bols heviks were mistaken in

their reckoning s . Everywhere the desecration of

coffins brought forth an explosion of religious feeling .

There was no open opposition, but legends of,

newmiracles were born and spread throughout Russia .

They told of Commissars destroyed by heavenly

anger, of disturbed saints appearing to haunt the un-

godly, of real relics being miraculously hid, so as not

to be liven up to the enemy, and in place of them-

selves eaving only the few bones which the investi-

gators discovered. Above all, in some places the relics

were found actually to be in the con dition of mummi-

fied bodies . Such bodies were tra nsferred to Moscow

to the Museum of Hygiene (! ), apparently for the

purpose of ro oting out the superstition ; but evenhere they were made objects of r everence on the part

of Or thodox visitors .

The exposure of relics was the sharpest form ofan ti-religious propaga nda during the first period of

the revolution . So long as military Communism wasconducting the struggle at the front in the Civil War,

cultural lie in Russia remained comparatively free,

however strange this may seem at first glance . This

refers to the Church, to the universities, to the Press,

etc . It is true that there was no political Press except

that of the Government, but religious, philosophical,

and scientific publications were not suppressed by the

military censorship, which was the only one thatexisted during these years . "NE .P ."1 put an end to

this, however . Par tly eman cipating the peas an try and

1 "New Economic Policy . "

44



THE PERSECUTION OP RELIGION

s m a l l industry from the yoke of Communism, the

' " N .E .P. " marked the beginning of the endeavour to

crush out r e l i g i o u s freedom in Russia. Beginningapproximately with 1922, the Bolsheviks threw a l l the

ideological forces at their disposal into the devastating

of bourgeois culture . The exiling from Russia of a

number of Russian philosophers an d writers was a

sign of this change . Simultaneously there went on

the proletarization-i. e ., the tearing down of the uni-

versities, the penetration of the Comsomol into the

schools, the establishment of the"Glavlit " and pro-

vincial " lits," a censoring apparatus which precluded

in Russia any philosophical or social literature except

that of Marxist character . Now the strug gle with the

Church became the focus of intern al policies . Thepropaganda of godlessness assumed hitherto unheard-

of proportions. On March 31, Ig22, in the MoscowPravda we read : " The inauguration of anti-religious

work among youth was approved by a special council

of our party anti-religionists . The All-RussianCouncil of Political Education (Politprosviet) heartily

welcomes this initiative . " This programme wascarried out unswervingly .

In the schools they demanded that the teachers

actively participate in the propagation of godlessness .

On the great holidays, such as Easter and Christmas,

special lectures were given to explain to the children

the superstitious and pagan sources of Christian c e r e -

monies and beliefs. Tiny children being brought up i n

Government "children's homes" were instilled with

atheism as the official symbol of faith . Here is an

example of a picture from life printed in the Pravda,

June 4, 1923 (No . 242), regar ding a n incredible

45



THE RUS AN CHURCH: SINCE Tf*- REVOLUTION

voting which took place in the children's home inKrementchug .

" Who believes thai there is a God, raise his hand ."

Up come three, four, seven . . . two are dropped .

"Who is against God?"Up comes a forest of hands .

A cheerful cry : " Hurrah, God hast lost . "

The preaching of godlessness was combined with

the propaganda of proletarian morality, which ir\ .prac-

tice was immorality. Incidentally, while the questionnof the school and of children's immorality only slightly

pertains to our subject, it is, of course, related to it

for the reason that the wearing down of all religious

feelings could not but affect the helpless minds of the

children . As is well known, children in Soviet Russia

practically from infancy must pas s through the pre-

paratory work of the Communist Party. The three,

successive age group organizations are called : "Octobrists," " Pioneers," and "Comsomol." Religiousconviction s a re still permitted amon g Octobrists an d

Pioneers, although the propaganda of atheism isheartily carried forward . But the Comsomol (the upper

class es of the middle school, an d the higher s chool,

together with the working youth and part of thepeasant youth) consists of those who are atheists, by

conviction, who are obliged by their constitution, as

we have- seen, to conduct anti-religious propaga nda .

The Comsomol in Russia numbers not less than onemillion members .

It was at Christmas, 1922, that the Comsomol firs t

brought its atheist propaganda out on the street, en-

deavouring, with its sacrilegious carnival, to insult the

religious feelings of Christians . In all the chief cities

+6



THE PERSECUTION. OF RELIGION

of Russia, parades were organized as parodies of the

Orthodox sacred processions . A Soviet semi-official

correspondent picturesquely , describes the " Comsomol

Christmas" i n Moscow in the following manner : '

"The God-fearing Moscow population saw a rares p e c t a c l e . From the Sadowa to the Place of the Revo-

lution there stretched an unending procession of gods

and heathen priests . It was a splendid method for

lear ning about this thousand-year-old fanaticism.

Here was a yellow Buddha with short feet and hands

giving the blessing, squinting and exhaustinglyrog uish ; and the Babylonian Marduk, the Orthodox

Virgin, Chinese bonzes, and Catholic priests, the

Roman Pope i n his yellow tiara, giving the b l e s s i n g

to new adepts ; a Protestant pastor on a high pole;

Russian priests in typical stoles, offering for a small

price to marry anybody . And here a monk sitting on

a black coffin with exposed relics . He is praising his`

wares for possible purchasers . A student from Sverd-

l o f foff Communist University splendidly acts a comedy

of p r i es t l y greediness .

We need no rabbis !We need no priests !

Down with the bourgeoisie !

Down w i t h t h e k u l a k s ! " Z

Similar mockery took place all over Russia . Hereand there the celebration was concluded by burning

the "gods," as in Tiflis, where the day was made the

occasion for turning over the former military cathedral

to the Comsomol. The population, and no t o n l y , the

f a i t h f u l , l o o k e d upon this hideous carnival with dumb

1 Iavestia Vsik. January io, z923 .

The "tight-fisted," the popular name f o r w e ll - t o - d o p e a sa n t , ,

47



TILE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTION

horror . There were no protests from the silent streets

-the years of terro r had done their work-but nearly

everyone tried to turn off the road when it met this

shocking procession . I, personally, as a witness of the

Moscow carnival, may certify that there was not a

drop of popular pleasure in it. The parade movedalong empty streets and its attempts at creatinglaughter or provocation were met with dull silence on

the part of the occasional witnesses .

That evening blasphemous dramatic presentationstook place in mos t of the theatres, concerning whos e

nature one may judge from the title of one of the

most widely distributed anti-religious plays, "The

Immaculate Conception." Followinthe" ComsomolChristmas" came the "Easter" of-1923. However,the failure was evident . In fact, this gross insulting of

religion brought to life a cor responding reaction in

the form of a strengthening of religious feelings, and

a protest in the broad masses of the population . Scott

the carnivals were abandoned, though blasphemousplays and "educational" lectures were continued .

At subsequent great holidays, however, the Comsomol

members have not been able to abstain from the satis-

faction of passing by the churches singing their char-

acteristic songs, and even creating disturbances in the

churches themselves . But the hoo liga n char acter of

the an ti-religious s truggle was already meeting con-

demnation on the part of the leaders . " The strugglewith God must be conducted by education, byscientific organization." A whole series of books(Stepanoff, Pokrovsky, and others) is devoted to -the

methodology of anti-religious propaganda. For thispurpose there a re established numerous 'clubs of the

48




"godless" (bezbojniki) . There is a special Govern-

ment publishing house called "Atheist ."' There are

several bookshops in the capital which deal only in

this propagandist literature . The "natural science"

point of view on religion is combined with theMarxist view, that religion is only an aspect of class

exploitation . -Radical historical criticism is drawn

upon to provide material forthe struggle, especially

against Christianity. The book by Drews, "TheGrist Myth," and the works of other authors of his

school, furnish powerful weapons . In recent years the

theory advan ced by Drews has become in its way a

Communist dogma . In contrast to Kautsky and to the

old Marxist conception of Jesus as a social reformer,

they demand now from the Communist the assertion

Christ never existed . I know of a case when an ex-

perienced propagandist on the anti-religious front, a

professor of the Leningrad University, lost his Com-

munist career because, his scientific training would not

allow him to adjust himself to the new dogma .

But Drews is too heavy an instrument for themasses . For them, and especially for youth, there i s

published a "comic" magazine " Bezbojnik (God-l e s s ) ." It is hard to conceive of anything moreinsipid or wretched than this "'humour . " Thetalentless pictures with unending similarity give

constantly the same sort of caricatures of Jehovah,

Christ, the Virgin, and the titles constantly emphasize

that these "Gods " are in the service of the bour-

geoisie. A crude pornography runs through thisimpious literature .

There can be no doubt regarding the purpose of

the governing power in Russia . It is endeavouring to

49 a



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE -THR REVOLUTION

destroy all religion. And in view of this purpose, all

the executing and exiling of the clergy, all the re-

straints put on the activity of the Church, cannot but

be looked upon as real persecution. For the executions

and the exilings they always find pretences wherebythey can continue the fiction of the freedom of faith .

But these pretensions deceive no one . Russian Bol-

shevism has cleverly refused to close all the churches

and proclaim all priests to be outlaws, as was done in

the French Revolution . Nevertheless, the hatred of

the Communists for religion is sharper and more

radical than was that of the French Jacobins . Theyfight no t against Christianity only, but agains t the

very idea of religion and even a gainst every kind of

idealistic philosophy. Not only the Orthodox andCatholic clergy suffer in Russia : rabbis are arrested,

synagogues are closed, the printing of books i n ancient

Hebrew is forbidden . Of all the faiths it is probablethat Mohammedanism has the greatest freedom,though even Islam comes under the general ban . Fear-

ing the fanaticism of the Eastern peoples, and in view

of the general political stake in the MohammedanEast, Communism tolerates, in spite of its decrees, the

religious s choo ls of the Mohammedans . But complete

freedom from persecution obtains only among the

semi-barbarian heathen peoples, toward whom the Bol-

sheviks act carefully, as towards ethnog raphic sur-

vivals . As a result of this s trang e religious policy,

paga nism in the form of religious dualism, con jurst,

and similar forms, has experienced during recent years

an unexpected revival in fa r corn ers of Russia, even

in the parts which from time immemorial have beenOrthodox .

so



CHAPTER I TTHE "RENOVATION" SCHISM

THE .new religious policy of the Communist powerhas not been limited to the spread of atheistic propa-

ganda . As regards the Orthodox Church, efforts have

even been made to rupture it from within-and in part

successfully. In the spring of 1922 a schism tookplace in the Church :which even up to the present

divides it . into two, although unequal, parts . In order

to understand this so-called "Living Church" or"Renovated Church" schism it is necessary to make

certain explanations .

Up to the present time the minutes of the councils

of the central organs of the Communist Party on

Church question s have not been published, so we do

not know who is principally responsible for inspiring

the religious policy of the Party. But so far as the

views of the leaders find expression in the Party

Press, we note two points of view. One, which wemay, call doctrinaire, struggles with religion as such,

with every sort of religion, making no distinction be-

tween religious forms . For Communists of this type,

rationalistic and democratic confessions seem the most

dan gerous, because they ar e more deceptive for the

masses. "No compromise with r e l i g i o n " i s t h e i r watch-

word. The other type may be called opportunists,they recognize the energy alive in religious " . p r e ) j u -

dices," and desire t o roo t them out step by step ; for

Sr



i

THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTION

'these the change fro m Orthodox cons ervative forms

of religion to more free or sectarian forms is con-

sidered desirable. They maintain, for instance, that

Protestantism and the rationalistic sects are stages in

the wearing out of Christianity, and are willing t0

grant them comparative support. The Baptists inRussia received from Lenin himself the privilege of

free preaching, and even special Red passports, guaran-

teeing them this privilege. The same refers to certain

other sects, Seventh Day Adventists, Pashkovites, and

others .

But the granting of relatively free activity to these

sects did not weaken the dominating place of the per-

secuted Orthodox Church . A group of Communists,

therefor e, got the idea of an Orthodox "Reforma-

tion," a reformation representing principally political

interests. The question before them was the follow-

ing : Might it not be possible, in place of the incorri-

gible, fundamentally counter-revolution ary Tikhon

Church to create a democratic, revolutionary Church,

loyal to the Soviet power? Although the " sovietiza-

tion " of the whole Orthodox Church might not beaccomplished, yet it should be possible to chip off

from it a revolutionary minority, and with its help to

establish a dictatorship in the Church similar to that

existing in the universities and in literature . In the

universities there had just been made the successful

experiment with "Red professors ." Leaning on the

handful of professors who called themselves socialists,

and on the Comsomol, the Party was able to master

the higher schools . October in the universities,

October in the theatre, why not October in the

Church ?



THE RENOVATION" SCHISM

Such, approximately, was the trend of thought

which, in I g 2 2 , led the Party to the S ing of a

Church revolution. This was a victory oft h e oppor-

t u n i s t s o v e r t h e d o c t r i n a i r e s , a l t h o u g h f o r t h e C h u r c h

it brought a new wave of terror . It is not without

reason that from this time on, Church p o l i c y i s

'directed not from the Commissariat of justice but

from the terrible G.P.U. (the new name of, theTcheka) . A t t h e h e a d o f t h e e c c l e s i a s t i c a l s e c t i o n o f

t h i s i n s t i t u t i o n t h e r e w a s p l a c e d a m y s t e r i o u s p e r so n ,

hitherto unknown, a certain Tutchkoff, who at the

p r e s e n t t i m e o c c u pi e s i n R u s s i a t h e p o si t i o n o f s e c r e t ,

so to speak underground (similar to all the institu-

t i o n s of the G. P .U.), Ober-procuror of the Russian

Church.

But neither the G.P.U . nor the Party was able

openly to take upon itself the organizing of the

Church revolution . It was not so much the-c o n s t i t u -

tional freedom of c onscience . a s t h e at h e i st i c e t h i c s o f

t h e Party which made any participation in the re-

formation of the Church impossible for them . For

this they found other people . We have already

acquainted ourselves with the democratic movement

in the clergy and with its failures in the Moscow

Sobor . R e m a i n i n g i n t h e m i n o r i t y , t h e c l e r i c a l d e m o -

c r a t s d i d n o t l e a v e t h e C h u r c h b u t w o r k e d i n i t , with-

o u t , m e e t i n g o p p o s i t i o n , i n s p i t e o f t h e c o n s e r v a t i v e

attitude of the majority. Those siding with Com-

munist social principles were able to advance their

i d e a s f r o m c h u r c h p u l p i t s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e w o r k i n g -

m e n ' s s e c t i o n s . S u c h a p e r s o n w a s t h e p r i e s t B o y a r s k y

in Petrograd . His Christian Communism did not

hinder him from being a professor i n the Theological

5 3



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE ?HE It$'VOI:UTION

Institute, which in the first years of the revolution

succeeded the old Theological Academy. AnotherPetrogra d liberal priest, Alexander Vvedensky,brought certain reforms into the Liturgy, endeavour

ing to harmonize mystical Christianity and modern

culture. His brillian t sermons made him one of the

most popular priests in the former capital ; the Metro-

politan Benjamin, valuing his zeal and talent, main=

tained toward him an attitude of paternal friendliness

and took him as companion during his pastoral visits .

A third representative of the movement, the priest

Egoroff; beginning also with the reform of the cult

and the establishing of a Communist brotherhood, did

no t remain within the fold of the Church, but died

as the head of the small community of sectarians, con-

sisting largely of intelligentzia . Notwithstanding the

toleran ce exercised by the hierarchy toward such

radical priests, the latter were unsatisfied . Theythirsted for a fundamental rejuvenation of theChurch, a real reformation, and in this they found

themselves in agreement with desires proceedingfrom

the headquarters of the :Communist Party .

We.do not know the moment of formation of this

unnatural union of Church reformers with atheists

which appeared in the open in the spring of x922 .

Did the Communists support a movement spon-taneously arising within the Church, or did they

themselves project it, in collaboration with revolu-

tiona ry churchmen? The latter seems the more likely

(in certain particulars) but, as I must repeat, we have

no direct evidence of this .

As is well known, the occasion for the schism was

the terrible famine of T92I-1922 and the related

54



THE' RENOVATION' SCHISM

question of the confiscation of the church treasures .

In August, 1921, the Patriarch called upon the Church

to make collections on behalf of the famine sufferers ;

creating an All-Russian Church Committee for the

Help of Famine Sufferers, but this organization wasdisbanded by the Bolsheviks, who feared any

or ga nized public effor t, especially of the Church,

and the sum which it had collected was taken over

by the Government Committee. The distrust camefrom both sides : the authorities feared the initiative

of the Church ; the Church, like all the intelligentzia,

distrusted the authorities, fearing that the moneycollected for the famine-stricken would be spent for

other purposes . This disintegrated the desire to meet

the national calamity and dampened the spirit of sacri-

f i c e . In February, 1922, i n a l l the (Bolshevist) papers

there' was begun a campaign for the confiscation of

church treasures, in which fantastic estimates were

made of their quantity and value . The Patriarch gavehis permission (February 19) for the transfer to

Government agents of objects which were not essential

for the cult, but insisted on the transfer being volun=

tary. The Church desired to contribute, not t o bethe object of robbery .

It must be noted that the notion of private property

had by no mean s died out, in spite Of the abortive

attempt of Communism, and both the populationgenerally and the authorities felt that the ikons

and sacred vessels, as heretofore, belonged to the

Church. On February 21 , a resolution was passed` by

the All-Russian Centra l executive Committee " t o p r o -

teed with the confiscation of church treasures and to

. transfer them to the -organs of the Commissariat of

55




Fina nce for aiding the famine-stricken . The P a t r i -

arch . replied 'to this decree by his encyclical of

February 28, in which he stated : "We call uponfaithful followers of the Church even a t the present

moment to make such contributions, desiring onlythat these contributions may be the response of aloving heart to the needs of a neighbour, only that

they may actually provide real help to our suffering

brothers . But we cannot approve the withdrawalfrom the churches, even though it be by voluntarycontribution, of the sacred objects, whose use for

other than services of worship is forbidden by the

canon s of the Ecumenical Church, an d is punishable

as sacrilege-laymen by excommunication, ordainedperso ns by dismissal from Orders ."

This epistle clearly forbade the clergy to turn over

church sacred objects to agents of the Government .

Evidently, however, the authorities consciouslyso ught conflict, desiring to discredit the 'Church in

the eyes of the people. The condition s laid down by

the Patriarch, in the absence of a free Press,, remained

unknown to the broad masses. To show up theChurch a s the enemy of the suffering an d dying popu-

lation was more advantageous to the Communiststhan, in a greement with the Church, to receive the

treasures which they demanded . The confiscation was

effected throughout Russia (principally by tearing

off the precious metals and jewels from ikons), but led

to the opposite results . For the first time since the

events of early 19 18, the masses showed readiness to

defend the things they held sacred. The people, who

had permitted the desecration of relics, rose in defence

- o f i k o n s . Yet there was no general revolt . Crowds of

56



pimple surrounded the churches, hindering the com-

missions from carrying away the treasures, in some

places making use of fists and stones. The priestKrasnitzky, at the trial of the Petrograd Metropolitan

Benjamin, stated that there were 1,41 q. local cases of

sanguina ry excesses .' The decree was carried out in

full, yet the robbing of the churches gave the People's

Commissa riat of Finance altogether only 23,997 pudsof silver, and a certain quantity of gold and Jewels'---a

figure which the official orga n r ecognized as ridicu-

lously small .' The wealth of the Church turned outto be a myth .

But the a sa n~ ina ry excesses' , claimed still more

bloody victims than fell in the local disturbances . In

each city in Russia court trials were begun . Thou-sa nds of priests, bishops, and laymen were brought to

trial before revolutionary tribunals, now held in

p u b l i c a s distinguished from the trials, of 1918-1920.

Everywhere death sentences were passed. Scores o f

executions mark this fatal summer (1922) for the

Church. In the Moscow trial, which took place inMay and resulted in eleven death sentences, the Patri-

arch gave . evidence as a witness . As the author o f the

February epistle, he asked that all the guilt might be

borne by himself. As a result he was deprived ofliberty (con fined in a mona stery) and remanded for

t r i a l. This was the moment which the revolutionary

group in the clergy used for revolt .

1 Pravda, No . 110, 1922 Moscow.

2 The figures when put into English weight equivalents a re,

approximately : gold, 993 lbs . ; silver, 823,267 lbs . ; pearls,

1o lbs . ; platinum, etc ., 2,g71 lbs . ; diamonds, etc., 1,31,3 carats .

IS Isvestia Vsik . December 19, 1922 . Moscow.

57



1 1

THE RUSSIAN' CHURCH' SINCE THE .REVOLUTION

From the very beginning of the campaign, the

Petro gr ad gro up came out openly, i n meetings and i n .

newspapers, i n favour of the confiscation of the

treasures on behalf of the famine-stricken . The priest

Vvedensky spoke with pass ionate eloquence, winning

over a great many. Certainly the conscience of manyof the faithful was torn by conflicting claims . Theywanted to contribute, but were indignant at enforced

confiscation . They gladly gave up the "treasures,"

but wished to retain the " holy things "-even though

it be by providing the money equivalent of them .

In response to the encyclical of the Patriarch, the

Petrograd group replied by a sharp letter in the news-

papers, heralding the beginning of the schism . After

the arrest of the Patriarch, the, priests Vvedensky andBielkoff, together with their Moscow fellow-worker, -

Kalinovsky, visited the Patriarch (May 1 2 ) i n prison,

with the permission of the authorities . They referred

t o the death sentences which had been passed, putting

responsibility for them on the Patriarch, and, for the

welfare of the Church, demanded his temporary,abdication until the convening of a Sobor . The Patri-

ar ch, factually deprived of the possibility of ad-

ministering the affairs of the Church (being in prison),

signed a memorandum turning over the temporaryaministration of the Church to the senior Metro-

politan, Agathangel of Jaroslavl . The actual text of _

the Patriarch's memorandum in reply to the written

demand of the delegation reads as follows : "Thepersons named above ( i . e . , the priests signing the

request) to accept and transmit to His Grace, the-

Metropolitan Agathangel, on his arrival', in Moscow,'

the affairs of the Synod, with the participation of the

58 .



THE RENOVATION " _ 'SCHISM

s e c r e t a r y Numeroff." This clearly- states that this

up of .opposition priests was authorized t o be the

l ink between the imprisoned Patriarch and the Metro -

SAga thangel . Such are the facts, communicated

by the Patriar ch himself after his release (in the

encyclical, July 1 5 , 1923), and recognized even by the

o f f i c i a l historian of the Renovated Church . '

But the group of,Church revolutionaries, distort-

ing the p l a i n meaning ' of the ;,memorandum, built,

upon- it the foundation of a Church revolution . Theyan no unced that the Patriar ch had abdicated and had

transferred authority to them-i . e ., to the new Higher

Church Administration. They proposed to Agath-angel; of Jaroslavl that he enter the revolutionary

Higher Church Administration, thus legalizing the

revolution . After his refusal, Agathangel was arrested ,

and" exiled to Narym, a most unhealthy' region of

Siberia . In compensation- f o r this refusal, twobishops (Antonin and Leonid) joined the priest-

revolutionaries, and the new Higher Church Ad=ministra tion,- accepting also so me laymen into i t s

membership, ann ounced itself the supreme authority

in the Russian Orthodox Church. On May 14, in

the - lzvestia of the All-Russian Central Execu-tive Committee, there- was published the -declaration

of the revolutionaries . . Beginning by extolling the

Soviet Government, it concluded by char ging the'

Church` with counter-revolutionary activity,' even

with - attempts to "create a coup d ' e t a t . "

The Metropolitan Agathangel was able, before his

exile, to issue an encyclical prohibiting relationships

1 " P r o f e s s o r Titlinoff, "The New Church," P . 5 5 . ' P e t r o g r a d ,

1923 .

59'



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE- REVOLUTION

with the new Higher Church Administration, and

the priest Vvedensky was excommunicated by theMetropolitan Benjamin of Petrograd . The responseto this action came in the form ora fearful explosionof the terror . The Higher Church Administrationdeprived of their robes all bishops and priests who

declined to recognize its authority, and the G.P.U.

immediately arrested them . These two institutions

worked in close contact . Practically all the bishops

loyal to the Patriarch were arrested that summer

(1922) ; mos t' of them were exiled . Beginning withthis period, exiling to remote places in Russia o r

Siberia took the place of execution (although notalways) in the practice of the G .P.U. It must not beforgotten that simultaneously the public trials of

those who had hindered the confiscation of churchtreasures were continued. In Petrograd, after a sensa-

tion al trial, the Metropolitan Benjamin, and three

other pers on s were shot .' His meekness, his readi-

ness to suffer death for Christ, his great modesty, his

exceptional thoughtfulness for others, for the welfare

of the Church-made an ineradicable impression onall the witnesses of this great trial, even in the ranks

of the Communists. He became a veritable martyrfor the Russian Church. The Renovated priests,among them Kra snitzky, who gave false evidence be-

fore the court, immediately became traitor s in ' the

eyes of the people. The stone thrown by an oldwoman at the head of Vvedensky was an expression

of the general hatred toward him which had takenthe place of his former popularity .

1 Cf . account o f one who attended t h e t r i a l , p u bl i s h e d i n

"The Assault of Heaven . "

6o



THE a RENOVAT1c$N" SCHISM

Under the threat of imprisonment and possible

execution,

rankbeing without bishops, the larger part

of .the rank and f i l e o f t h e priesthood recognized, un-

willingly, the authority of the Higher ChurchAdministration . The Government recognized only ,

the H.C.A. a s de facto at the head of the Orthodox

Church in Russia ; the Patriarch and all who followed

him were placed i n a half-outlaw condition . ThePatriarchal Church went underground . Services ' of

worship in private homes, and secret bishops, gave it

a "catacomb " character. It seemed as though theRenovation had won a great victory . It was at this

time that it developed a progra mme of reform, with

which we shall become acquainted .

It must be noted, however, that the movement was

not unified. It immediately broke up into several

groups, organized along the line of parties . Practic-

ally each one of the leaders had his own personal

"Church"-i. e . , a group of priests subordinated to

the general Higher Administration . Krasnitzky

headed the"Living Church," Antonin " The Union

of Church Regeneration," Vvedensky the "Union ofParishes of the Ancient-Apostolic Church." TheLiving Church at first was the stron gest of these

organizations . For the bro ad masses its name became

the general title of the movement . Under this name

(The Living Church) a journal was issued, which re-

flected theoriginal reforming pas sion of the move-

ment. Some of these groups were more radical, othersmore conservative, but, looking at them as a whole,

one is astonished to see how insignificant are the

purely religious or ecclesiastical' motives of their

reformation and how preponderant and dispropor-61



THE RUS SIAN CHURCH SINCE . THE UVOLUTION

tion ate the revolutiona ry character of their tactical

methods and phraseology .

m

F i r s t of _all, these groups endeavoured to remain

and to call themselves Orthodox . They did not en-croach upon any of the dogmas o r Sacraments of the

Church. They had no particular theological idea what-

ever to put as the basis of the new reformation . Their

ideas were such as had been commonplace in Ortho-

dox liberalism, proceeding from the early , Slavophils,

from Vladimir Solovieff, and others . One can say with

certainty that these ideas are shared . b y many of the

representatives of the Tikhon Church : such a s the

idea of the legitimacy of development, of progress i n

Church forms, in legislation, in the cult, in theological

thought. One can discover only a general spirit of

rationalism, only the absence of feeling or the

ystical and the ascetic side of religion . Tere werecertain echoes of Protestantism in the unsuccessful

attempt to abandon the cult of relics--a questionwhich was presented at the first Reformed Sobor,

but, meeting with opposition, remained undecided .

The entire reformation was directed_ along the line

of the cult and the canonical structure of the Church .

For some the reform of the cult found expression in

the movement toward simplification, towards compre-

hensibility-hence the conducting o f Liturgy in the

Russian language (as against the usual Church-

Slavonic). Others--e.g., Vvedensky, Antoninwished t o conduct the eucharistic ceremony openlybefore the congregation, though in the Eastern.Church it has always been mysteriously celebrated

i n the sanctuary, behind the screen of the "RoyalDoors." In the new practice, the doors were not

6s



THE "RENOVATION" $CIUSM

closed, ; t h e s e c r e t eucharistic prayers were recited aloud

(Vvedensky), finally, the sanctuary lost its significance

and, the altar was placed in the middle of the church

(Antonin) .

The general pro gr amme of cano nical reforms was

dictated less by the spirit of Protestantism than by, the

11 class" claims of the White (married) clergy, turned

simultaneously against the episcopacy and against the

laity. The second marriage of, the

clergy-i. e . ,

permis-

sion for widowed priests to marry a second time-and

the appointing of bishops from the White (mar ried)

clergy--these were the two chief points o reform .

The following is a characterization of the tendencies

of the first Reformed Congress (August, 1922) byone who joined the movement but who was without-the enthusiasm of the first period 1 "The chief atten-

tion of the Congress was directed towards the struggle

with mon asticism and mon astic influence, and toward

the strengthening of the leading role for the White

clergy ." 'The Con gress emphasized the dan gerous in-

fluence of mona sticism in the fate of the Church and

practically made an end to the monastic institution .

It demanded the closing of all city-monasteries (a few

s t i l l -remained) and their transformation into parish

churches, for the reason that monks have no place in

ordinary life. The village monasteries were to betransformed into working brotherhoods, similar to

the usual type of agricultural communes a nd pro-

ducing co-operatives; otherwise into c l i n i c s , asylums,

.or homes for the aged, with the requirement that the

monks should learn the requisite occupations . As,re- .

gards those monks holding hierarchical positions who1 Titlinoff, "The New Church," pp i4 f

6 3



THE RUSSIAN 'CHURCH - SINCE THE REVOLUTION

opposed the ren ovation of the Church, the Congr ess

requested the new Church authority to depose themimmediately, and to deal similarly with such person s

in future .

"For the improvement of the episcopacy, the Con-

gress proposed that immediately, without awaitingthe Sobor, episcopal appointments be opened not o nly

to widowers but to marr ied clergy . In order to crush

all Church counter-revolution, the Con gress recom-

mended the most decisive measures, up to deporta-

tion of the guilty fro m their dioceses . Incidentally,

the Con gress resolved to disband immediately thos e

parish councils which opposed the Renovation Move-

ment, and to form new councils con sisting of pers on s

recommended by the priest and made responsible to

him. The opponents of this resolution were threatenedby punishment, even up to excommunication .iscussing

the future internal construction of the Church,

the Cong ress went so far as to pass a r esolution re-

cognizing as fully franchised laymen only those who

carry out in life the principles of the Living Church ."

The dictatorship of the parish priest is expressed

in this resolution in a most ra dical form . However,"depor tation from the diocese " might be car ried out

only by the Government authorities-G.P.U. Theresolution thereby recognizes the con nection between

the Living Church and this institution . I t , is i n the

relation of the Renovated Church to the State that

one finds the key to the understanding of the schism .

The Living Church rising against the Churchof the Patriarch accused the latter of political counter-

revolution . In the avowal of the political sins of the

old Church (under the Tsar's regime) lies the prin

64



THE "RENOVATION" SCHISM

cipal source of the revolution ary sentiment of the

Living Church. "The Church must be essentially theexpression of union of love and truth, and not a

political orga nization, not a counter-revolution ary

p a r t y , " proclaims the declaration of this group the day

after their revolt .' However, it did not even attempt

to maintain a non-political position . The documentjust cited begins with a characterization of the positive

achievements of the Soviet Government and expresses

regret that"the Church actually remained aloo f in

this struggle in the cause of truth and the welfare of

mankind." The journal The Living Church, con-

ducted a campaign in defence of the Christian mean-

ing of the Communist revolution . Although not all

the grouping s of the Renovation were draped to -the

sa me extent in Red bunting yet the Sobor of 1923

proclaimed the Communist revolution a " Christian

creation." "The sun of social truth shone above the

world on October 25, 1917 . . . though unbelieving,

the Government has undertaken the task which we,

believing Christians, must fulfil," stated Vvedensky

in his speech proposing an expression of thanks to

Lenin as " the tribune of social truth ." The reso lu-

tion of the Sobor states : " Having listened to the

report of the Archpriest Vvedensky, the All-Russian

Sobor of the Orthodox Church proclaims to theChurch and to all mankind that at the present moment

all the world is divided into two classes : t h e c a p i t a l i s t -

exploiters and the proletariat, by whose labour and

blood the capitalist world has constructed its fortunate

state . In. all the world only the Soviet Government of

Russia has undertaken the struggle with this social

l a v e s i a Yzik, No. io6, May 14,, 19zs .

6s a




evil. Christians cannot be passive observers in this

struggle . The Sobor proclaims capitalism a deadly

sin, and struggle with it the sacred duty 'of Christians .

The Congress calls attention to the fact that the

Soviet power, in its system of government, alone

in the whole world is realizing the ideals of the

Kingdom of God. Consequently, every believing-churchman must not only be a loyal citizen, but also

persistently struggle in union with the Soviet power

or the realizing of the ideals of _ the Kingdom of

God . "

The Renovated Sobor in January, 1925, in its con-

gratulation to the Government, had the bad taste to

call this mixture from the Gospels and Marxism"religious Leninism," for getting . Lenin's avowedgodlessness . The same Sobor requested the Govern-

ment's "favourable attention " in view of the "un-questioned value of its work for the State . "" 1 1 This(the Renovation Movement) must unquestionablypromote the improvement of the standing of theSoviet Government, even among its enemies abroad,

and the final strengthening of the Soviet regime

within . "

In the two year s between the Sobor of 1923 an d

the Sobor of 1925, the revolutionary sentiment faded .

Instead of world revolution there had taken place

only the strengthening of the Soviet regime in Russia .

This evolution partly corresponds to the evolution of

Communistic policy. Only one thing remains clear,the continued endeavour of the Reno vated Church to

remain under the protection of the Government .

Herein lies the key to the whole movement . The idea

of social revolution, it is true, governed the Russian

66



THE "RENOVATION " " SCHISM'

.masses during the f i r s t years after " October,'. '

but it took on such a clearly atheistic character that

it remained foreign to the bosom of the Church .

Sympathy with Communism was very rarely met with

in the Church . The ordina ry parish c l e r g y , entirely

unrelated to the people ( c f . the resolution of the

August Congress, 19 2 2 ) and nurtured throughout the

centuries in the spirit of bureaucratic submission to

the State, was entirely immune to infection by the

principlesof the . revolution . This infection was in-

jected by a few priests-democrats Vvedensky, Boyar-

sky. Kra snitzky was a doubtful chara cter . He hadalways been known as an . extreme monar chist, a

memberof the "Russian Assembly," who, . while a

student in the Theological Academy, wrote a disserta-

tion against socialism and, at the time of the famous

Beiliss affair in 1913, made a speech about Jews using

Christian blood in their cult . Among the Living

Churchmen there were a great number of formermonarchists-" black hundreds "-but most of t h e

adherents were passive or- indifferent .

It is characteristic of the membership of the move-

ment that there participated in it not so much the

younger as the older groups of the clergy, "resp ect-

able" priests, etc. For this group the thought of loss

of, Government protection was unbear able. Not being

ready to suffer martyrdom, imprisonment, or exile, it

so ught the mercy of the new authority without any

particularly difficult compromises with its religious

conscience . . Hence comes the peculiar, combination of

moderation in religious programme with verbalradicalism in politics . The Red formulae of the revo-

lution were simply expressions of servility, and sub-

67



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH - SINCE THE REVOLUTION

mission to the authorities was the favourite theme in

Renovated sermons .

In this mann er the tradition s of the old Syno4ical

Church continue to live in the Renovated Church .

Only the phra seology is changed, the spirit remains

the same . It would be a great mistake to give verbal

credence to the Renovated and construe the opposition

between them and the Patriarchal Church to be the

opposition between revolution and counter-revolu-tion. Church counter-revolution certainly exists-outside Russia, in the emigration (more precisely, in

certain parts of the emigration). The PatriarchalChurch is the Church cleansed in the fire of the revo-

lution, internally deeply non-political . TheRenovatedChurch is the old, traditional ecclesiastical order only

camouflaged in revolution ar y colour . Neither a revo-

lution ary Church no r even a revolution ary sect was

constituted in Russia, for there was no place for it .

The Russian Revolution was anti-religious, andreligion was not revolution ary . This fact, which has

deeply disappointed many who lon ged for refor mation,

must be borne in mind in order to understand themeaning of events in recent Russian Church history .

The professional programme of the Renovatedclergy (as distinct from the reforming pro gramme of

its leaders) was realized' in the Sobor of May, 1923 .

This Congress, which the Renovated consider theSecond Sobor of the Russian Church after revolu-tion, was in point of fact the Sobor of a separatist

fraction . The partisa ns of the Patriarch did not par-

ticipate in it. At this Sobor, mon asticism was pra c-

tically liquidated . Second marr iage of the clergy waspermitted, and the . "White episcopacy" was estab-

68



THE KRENOVATION" SCHISM

l i s p e d . A number of priests received mitres- ,-

the new Church had practically no canonical bishops .

Readers and lower clergy were made into priests .

There was opened a wide field for pers on al ambition .

Vvedensky, from being a priest, was immediatelymade Metropolitan, and s oon thereafter, in recogn i-

tion of his service as preacher, was given the title of

"Apologist-Evangelist ."

The Patriarch remained in prison, but not abdic-

ating his post, as the Living Churchmen had an-nounced . Tocomplete the revolution there remained

for them nothing else but to degrade him. They con-

demned the Patriarch in absentia, though he declined

to recognize himself as under the jurisdiction of this

Sobor. The trial consisted of listening to three accusa-tory speeches without defence or witnesses . Moreover,consent to the prosecution of the Patriarch was one of

the points in the questionnaire which had to be filled

in by members of the Sobor before it began its work,

and, consequently, a condition for participation in it .

The judgment on the Patriarch was included in thepolitical resolution from which we have alreadyquoted, and which still further emphasized thepolitical character of this action : "The Holy Soborof the Orthodox Church in 1923 condemns thecounter-revolutionary struggle and its methods-

methods of hatred of mankind . In particular the Sobor

grieves at the anathema proclaimed on the SovietGovernment and on all those adhering to it. TheSobor a nn ounces that this anathema has no validity .

On the basis of Church canon the Sobor hereby pro-

claims the Patriarch Tikhon deprived of his position

and of monastic status and returned to his former lay

69



THE RUSSIAN- CHURCH SINCE THE 'REVOLUTION

condition . Hereafter the Patriarch Tikhon is the lay=

man Vasily Belavin." The Sobor proclaimed thePatriarchate itself to be a counter-revolutionary in-

stitution and abolished it .

When they info rmed the Patriarch Tikhon, in his

imprisonment, of the resolution of the Sobor, he wrote

on it : " Not valid. The humble Tikhon, Patriarch of

Moscow an d of all Russia . "

But the triumph of the Renovated was imaginary

and turned out to be short-lived. They were able,

having the friendly collaboration of the G.P.U , to

seize the majority of the churches and even to attract a

large portion of the White clergy . But their influence

on the laymen was entirely insignificant . We quote the

words of the moderate Renovated laymen, cited above,

summarizing the results of the first stage of the move-

ment : "The first sin of the ecclesiastical-renovated

movement lay in its separating from the Churchmasses . The Living Church was unable to attract the

lay elements into the sphere of its influence ."' Yet the

financial basis of the Church lay in the laity, in their

voluntary contribution s . Very soon the Renovatedwere obliged to feel the influence of this powerful

factor . Episcopal mitres constituted poor compensa-

tion for empty Church treasuries . The emptiness of

the churches themselves was plain evidence of the

attitude of the people .

We have said that in the firs t months after the

revolution the Church was prepared even to . a c c e p t

an illegal position, " to enter the catacombs." In this

condition the episcopate found itself. For the parish

priesthood, however, there remained another way out,

1 Titlinoff, "The New Church," p . ao .

70



THE - " RENOVATION ~ ~ SCHISM

which many took advantage o f . Discontinuin the

mention of the Patriarch in the cul t , they nev l e s s

declined to submit t o the new Higher ChurchAdministration, announcing themselves--i . e ., their

parishes--to be Autocephalic. This condition was

canonically absurd, but legally invulnerable under the

Soviet Constitution, The Patriarchal Church wasbroken up into a mass of separate communes with

secret con nection between them . The authorities had

no more basis for persecuting them than any sectarians .

There was even an heroic minority which made no

compromise and con tinued to pray for the Patriarch

unafraid of arrest. After the period of the sharpest

terror (executions) had passed, the strength of these

confess or s was triumphant over the weakness of the

timid . Priests of the Renovated began a mass return

to the Patriarchal Church . They were gladly received

on condition of public penitence .

One may well ask why the authorities did not exert

their entire strength in order to destroy the Patriarchal

Church. But it must be remembered that in the policyof the Soviet Government towar d religion there has

never been complete unanimity . In 1923 we see inits Press the domination of the tendency which wehave called doctrinaire . The Communists cast ridicule

upon the new Church . The or ga nization of the LivingChurch is called by the Izvestia an ecclesiasti

N.E.P . trust, (No . 22o, 192,2) . Particularly character-

i s t i c . i s the peech of Bukharin, delivered after theclosing of the Living Church Sobor, stating thatthe Sobor did not live up to the expectation s o f the

Government. The Living Church people did notsecure the con fidence or esteem of the mass of the

71




f a i t h f u l , who s a w i n t h e m o n l y d e s e r t e r s a n d h e r e t i c s .

Bukharin is in favour of liquidating the present

Higher Church Administration, looking upon the

activity of Antonin and his collaborators a s " p e t i t

b o u t e o i s h a b i t s ." "The churches must be wiped off

the face of the earth as the breeding ground of

counter-revolution . The struggle against the Church

should be entrusted to comrade Dzerjinsky (the then

head 'of the G. P .U . ) . Citizen Belavin should be

executed . "

However Utopian the first part of Bukharin's de-

mands (regarding the Church) may have been, the

t h r e a t w a s v e r y r e a l a s c o n c e r n e d t h e P a t r i a r c h . From

a l l t h e c o r n e r s of R u s s i a t h e r e w er e r e c ei v e d ( a s a l w a y s ,

i n s p i r e d ) r e so l u t i o n s o f w o r k e r s ' a n d p e a s a n t s ' g a t h e r -

ings demanding the death sentence for the Patriarch .

E q u a ll y l o u d w a s t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n o n

t h e p a r t o f E u r o p e a n p u b l i c o p i n i o n . One can believe

t h a t t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s ( p a r -

t i c u l a r l y t h e E n g l i s h a t t i t u d e ) a v e r t e d t h e f a t e w h i c h

was being prepared for the Patriarch. The trial was

several times postponed, showing the uncertainty of

t h e a u t h o r i t i e s . In the last analysis, although the

Bukharin method was not to be used in destroying

t h e C h u r c h , y e t t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t a l l r e l i g i o n s w a s

to be continued, and, consequently, there was no

ground for supporting the Living Church . Yet it

s h o u l d b e a l lo w e d t o l i v e , f o r t h e e x is t e n c e o f a s c h i s m

wad profitable for anti-religious propaganda-much

more useful, indeed, than a revolutionary State

Church . The Living Church might be able to seduce

"those little ones ." As the Izvestia wrote, "the

R e v o l u t i o n a n d t h e S o vi e t p o w e r i s l e a s t o f a l l i n n e e d

72




of verbal expressions of loyalty on the part of the

Church. For us it is sufficient if the Church seriously

and finally ceases counter-revolutionary activity." But

the Bolsheviks knew very well that the Patriarch was

not g u i l t y of counter-revolution . We have seen thatas early as in September, z g I g, he addressed to the

clergy an encyclical concerning the no n-participation

of the Church in politics a nd advising "submission to

the instruction s of the Soviet Government when they

are not contrary to faith and conscience ."

The Patriarch had been ready to sacrifice person al

ambition for the sake of the Church and now he con-

firmed-his position . We have no information regard-ing the negotiations which led to the publication of

the well-known letter of June 16, 1923, but it is clear

that the Patriarch speaks, in good faith . In this letter

he recog nizes his guilt before the Soviet Government

at the beginning of the revolution , he promises to

exhibit loyalty in relation to the Soviet Government,

and rejects the monarchist movement inside Russiaas well as in the emigration s . (The las t point is in

reference to the Sobor held in December, 1921, in

Sremsky Karlovtzi, Jugoslavia, at which, under the

presidency of Antony Khrapovitzky, there was passed

a resolution concerning, the necessity of restoring the

Romanoff dynasty in Russia . )

Judging by its style of composition, the document

signed by the Patriarch could not have been composed

by him. He signed the prepared text, sacrificing itsform. This sacrifice brought him comparative free-dom, and to the Church its head . The charge ag ainst

him was dropped, an d he pass ed the las t year an d a

half of his life in the Don Monas tery (Mos cow) under

73



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH' SINCE THE REVOLUTION

the surveillance of agents, but able to receive visitors

an d to go to the Moscow churches to officiate at

services. Tutchkoff did not let him out of sight .

The meeting of the Patriarch with the bishops was

made ' difficult in the extreme . Nevertheless, the re-

turn of its head to the Church had a great mor al

significance. The masses met their "Father" with

enthusiasm. The ranks of the Renovated meltedrapidly. Churches, together with penitent priests,

were turned into "Tikhon " churches . Soon thenumber of the Renovated churches in the cities fell

to about one-third of the total number-a proportion

which is maintained up to the present time . Accord-

ing to the latest information received from Russia, in

the summer of 1927, the number of the OrthodoxTikhon parishes is 3S,000, that of the Renovated

17,000 (the Ukrainian Autocephalic Church 3,ooo) .

The Patriarch Tikhon died on March 8, 192S .

His death made a tremendous impression on thewhole of Orthodox Russia. Hundreds of thousandscrowded to his funeral in the Don Monastery . This

demon stration of popular love and faithfulness re-

minded the Moscow population of the great funeral

of Lenin. Befor e his death the Patriarch signed adocument, analogous to the letter of 1923, in which

he bequeathed to his successors loyalty to the Soviet

power, and once again condemned the Karlovtzibishops . The authenticity of this

atestament " was

questioned, but without adequate grounds., TheMetropolitan Peter, one of the three candidatesnamed by the Patriarch for the post of locum tenens,

certifies to its authenticity . The election of a newPatriarch was impossible for the reaso n that the

74




authorities would not gran t the old' Church permis

sion to . hold a Sobor. The administration of the

Church came into the hands of a " guardian of the

Patriarchal throne ." The Metropolitan Peter, who

declined the Renovated proposal of peace, was so on

arrested, and authority actually passed into the hands

of the Metropolitan Sergius -of Nijni-Novgo ro d .

In the beginning of 1926 this bishop had madeefforts to conduct the election of a Patriarch by means

of a circular memorandum vote of the bishops, and

this was made the .occasion for the new devastation of

the Orthodox hiera rchy in 1926. Not only Sergius,

but a . whole series of "successors " were arrested,

one after the other . Yet the name of the locumtenens Peter continued to be used in the ritual, and

the memory of the Patriarch Tikhon was stronger

than - any hierarchical force in holding the Church

together .

The evolution o f-the Renovated movement during

the last few years is extraordinarily characteristic . It

has endeavoured more and more with each year tosmoo th over the traces of its revolution ary origin .

Already in the autumn of 1923 it announced the dis-

char ga of those of its roups whose names had become

hateful to the people .' Since Kras nitzky an d Bishop

Antonin declined to submit to this decision, the

Living Church and The Union of Regenerationdrag along their existence a s little sects, each defying

the other . The Renovated desire no other title than

Orthodox. At the 1923 Sobor, the MetropolitanAlexander Vvedensky, who continues the leader of

the movement, announced : "Renovation is Ortho-doxy, and the Renovated are Orthodox ." Since their

75



--THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTION

Church is now headed not by the Higher Church

Administration but by a Synod (here also a r eturn to

tradition), it became proper to call it the " Synodical

Church." In order to present greater semblance ofcanonicity, the Synod elected as its chairman theBishop Eudokim, whose consecration in the episco-

pacy dated from lon g before the schism .

At the '1925 Sobor the extremes of the first year s

of the movement were condemned . It was resolved

to avoid appointing married bishops . They had longago given up the new calendar, also under thepressure of the conservative mas ses . The Patriarch

Basil III . , of Constantinople, sent a complimentary.

epistle to the Sobor of 1925, and it seems that certain

other Eastern Patriarchs have also formally or in-

formally recognized the Synodical Church. Ingeneral the Orthodox East, deceived by the nameu synodical," tends to see in it a,direct continuance of

the old Synodical Church . From the canonical .point

of view this is entirely wrong . The old RussianChurch inheritance lives in the Patriarchal Church .

But if on e speaks o f the spirit of the old Synodical

Church, of bureaucratic subjection to the State, then

one may say that in the present Synodical Church

there truly lives the synodical spirit, not "renovated"

by the revolution . Politics, together with hatred for

the memory of the Patriarch, alone distinguish the

Synodical Church from the Patriarchal . The speechof the Metropolitan Vvedens ky in opening the Sobor

of 1925 was an out and out political denunciation . '

' Cf . Viesinik Sviatieshevo Synoda Rossieskoy Pravoslavnoy

Tserkvi (Organ of the Renovated Syno dical Church), No . i-z,

igz6. Moscow76



THE "RENOVATION" ' SCHISM

Realizing the failure of the movement, the

Renovated several times endeavoured to make peace

with the Tikhon Church on the bas is of recogn ition

of its hierarchy. Small gr oups of Tikhon priests and

even bishops (winter of 1925-1926) were prepared to

enter upon such an agreement. But they stumbled

on the protesting cons cience of the Church people,

who could not forgive the Renovated the blood which

they had shed or the betrayal of their brother priests

to the anti-Christian Government . Arrests of bishops

and priests of the Patriarchal Church, exile to Siberia,

to Solovki, etc., were almost an everyday occurrence .

A letter from Russia printed i n the Russian emigr ant

Press in July, 1927, gives the names and cathedra

of 117 bishops who were in exile on January 1, 1927 .

The letter adds that this list is not complete ; regard-

ing 4o exiled bishops definite information is lacking . 1

And on every occasion, as is not denied by theG.P.U., the gr ounds for condemnation lay in de-nunciation by some one of the Renovated priests .

The Synodicals themselves were not subject to re-

pression . Notwithstan ding the contempt with which

the Communists look upon them, the Governmentor ga ns have had two distinct attitudes towards the

Church groups . Only the Synodicals have been per-

mitted to issue an official organ, to publish brochures

(polemical) ; certain of their leaders have been able

even to hold public lectures . It would appear that,

among the Orthodox,' the Metropolitan Vvedenskyenjoys a monopoly of public religious addresses in

Russia . He travels throughout the whole of Russia

with lectures on various religious subjects, even

1 Posliednia Novosti. Paris Russian daily. July ss, 1927.

7 7



THE RUSSIAN :CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTION

appearing in debates against the Communists. Byway of privilege, he is permitted publicly to defend

Christianity. One of his debates with Lunacharskycreated a strong impression on Father d'Herbigny,

who notes this in the report of his visit to Russia .

The reverend author was unable, unfortunately, tosecure any interviews with representatives of thePatriarchal Church (meetings with foreigners sub-

jected them to dangers) . Consequently he condemnedthe old Church and received an entirely erroneousimpression rega rding the essentials of disa greement

(the question of priests shaving their beards, and the

struggle for the calendar seems to occupy his principal

attention) . '

A brief summary may be in order. We do' notdeny the existence of disinterested reformatory en-

deavours on the, part of certain leaders of the schism,

no r that this tendency follows the line of the old

liberal movement in the Russian Church . But these

ideological tendencies from the very beginning were

ruined by the crimes of political intriguers a n d ' later

submerg ed in the shadow of old r6gime opportunism .

The miserable failure of the reformation has com-promised for the future the healthy ideological con-

tents- of this movement .

A few words in regard to the Church in theUkraine. Here the Church schism was complicatedby the development of a third,' so-called Autocephalic

Ukrainian Church . Its tendency is definitely

1 D'Herbigny, " L'Aspect Religieux de Moscou en Octobre,tgzs .. " Cf . also the objective chronicle, published in the several

numbers of the Irenihon,, Catholic monthly. Amay.sur-Meuse,

Belgium.

78




nationalistic . It takes its s ource from unwillingness

' t o submit to the Moscow Patriarch. Not finding inthe Ukraine a single bishop ready to become head of

their Autocephalic Church, the priests-nationalists got

along without bishops. Eventually they con secratedbishops for themselves by a ceremony unheard of in

Orthodoxy, and broke off the Apostolic succession of

the hierarchy. Hence comes their popular denomina-tion as "self-consecrated ." They conduct services in

the Ukrainian tongue and have followers not so muchin the villages as in the cities, among the nationalistic

intelligentzia. In the Ukraine, therefore, we find

three Church org anization s struggling between them-

selves, and each calling itself Orthodox . Recently the

self-con secrated were persecuted by the authorities,

.who, suspect the political-separatist tendency of their

moement. It would appear that the persecution hasconsiderably weakened their Church. Only theSynodical Church receives the comparative protection

of. the authorities in the Ukraine .

79



CHAPTER VTHE INNER LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

IN conclusion we should like to lift the curtain hiding

the inner spiritual life of the persecuted but un-

crushed Russian Church. All observers are in agree-

ment that Russia, in spite of the apparent victory of

Communism, is passing through a religious regenera-

tion. But foreign observers are condemned to see

only the extern als, whereas the real Christian Russia

is doomed to silence. We take the liberty, therefore,

of concluding our review of the Church since therevolution with a rather long quotation from a letter

from Russia printed in the Paris religious j ourn al

Pout . '

Now, as formerly, the Church is the nationalsan ctuary . Nowhere but in the Church does on e find

the breaking down of class barriers, the liberating joy

of unity, of communion between many people other-wise held far apart fro m each other . But the wor-shippers are not the same as ten years ago . Ordinary,

simple folk no long er fill the churches . Rather onesees a majority of the intellectuals, particularly in the

c i t i e s . These are of very different types and havebeen brought to the Church in many different ways .

Some find in her arms conso lation for their bereave-

1 Pout, Russian Religious-Philos ophical Quarterly, No z,

pp . 3-12, "A Letter from Russia." Pario .

so



THE INNER LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

ment, some a shelter for their wounded love ofcountry. Others, the young and hopeful, are not

driven to her by sorrow and suffering, but areattracted by love and hope an d by the youthful en-

thusiasm that the Church awakens in them. Many of

our clergymen and bishops now come from the ranksof the laymen. It would be an exaggeration to say

that the intellectuals outnumber the others, but they

are a very considerable fraction of our con gregations .

Many workmen attend the suburban churches, as domany tradesmen. The latter have somewhat resumedtheir, place in society, with the economic regeneration

of the country, and, more than any other class, retain

both the outward appearance and the conservativetraditions of the old Russia .

And what of their numbers? They are very large,but it is difficult to say whether they form a minority

or a maj ority of the na tion . We have nb accuratestatistics,, and can judge only by the size of our con-

gregations . . Our churches are filled, but not to over-

flowing . When we con sider that the edifices turned

over to the Living Church are practically empty, it,

would appear that the total attendance is smaller than

before the revolution . Neither is it increasing rapidly .

The terrible years o f I9I7-1920 were a period of

religious revival. Since then conversions have beenless frequent. That part of the intelligentzia which

stoo d aloof from the Church is not caught up in the

present stream of return to it, it is deeply rooted in

the old trenches of positivism or absorbed in thesearch for material well-being . Amon g the city poor,

the Baptists and different sects of 1 ' Brethren "-find

many new adherents. The simplicity of their moral81 F




preaching an d the strictness o f their person al lives

attract many. Among the cultured, the old infatua-

tion for Tolstoi, theosophy, and even for Roman

Catholicism has vanished. The Orthodox Church has

rallied to itself practically all the truly religious-

minded among our intellectuals. One consolation isthat we have no more " dead leaves," in the phrase of

Tiutcheff. None among us attends in order "to do

the proper thing," or "to stand well in the com-munity." On the contra ry, some are prevented fromattending because they hold official positions . Those

who come pray here as perhaps they never beforeprayed .

In, the villages we witness a different picture

although our knowledge of conditions there is far less

general. We can judge only from what we see invillages near a railway, and consequently more or less

influenced by city manners. Unquestionably Russiastill has a great number of secluded corners where

condition s remain as they have been for centuries,

almost untouched by the revolution. But can therebe many such corners, after the tremendous upheaval

which rocked the very foundations of the nation?

The first thing we notice in the villages is that the

churches are nearly empty. As a rule, only womenan d old men a ttend service. The youth have imbibedthe teaching of a theism . The middle-aged who havecome back from the war, after travelling far and wide

over the . world, have brought with them a large dose

of scepticism, or at least religious indifference . Only

now is the village living through a period of -en-

lightenment, two hundred years behind the rest ofEurope, but without special enthusiasm at that . The

8z



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH, SINCE THE REVOLUTION

the i n f l u e n c e of laymen in the Church . The Bolshevist

law separating Church and State turned the churches

over to parish committees of twenty elected repre-

sentatives. They keep the church building in repair,

call and dismiss pastors, and exercise the fullest rights

of congregational autonomy. Rarely does a bishopventure t o interfere in a parish, election. Consequently

the priest's hold on his parish is entirely dependent

o n h i s moral and religious authority. Even matters of

church policies and ritual are often taken out of his

hands by the laymen . - The parish committee deter-

mines whether the building is t o belong to the-Living

or to the Patriarchal Church, whether the generalpolicy is to be extreme" or "moderate ." As a rule, the

laymen are conservative. A priest passing over to the

Living Church i s nearly always obliged to manoeuvre

so as to abolish the old committee and secure the

election of a new one ; but this usually results in an

empty church and the break-up of the parish . Fre-

quently the main support of the priest in the parish

l i e s i n the "brotherhoods," which exist both for men

and women. They have a double purpose . They take,

care of the church building, they hold frequent (occa-

sionally all night) prayer services, they have frequent

corporate 'Communion ; all this makes the brother-

hood into a religious commune, sometimes living avery intense religious life . But it would be impossible

not to mention here the darker sides of the brother-

hoods, the dominating influence of the individual in

the person of the priest, and of the occasional un-

healthy exaltation of these organizations, which con-

sist principally of women . During the period of the

schism many of these organizations blindly followed

S4




sound common sense of our peasants makes them

incurably suspicious of all kinds of theories, which

have so much attraction for our city labourers .

Nevertheless, this propaganda undermines the oldfaith. So' the peasant is preoccupied just now with

what he considers practical things . He has becomeintensely interested in the cultivation of the soil . Hehas lost the feeling of mystery that formerly sur-

rounded his conceptions of agriculture . But he has a

conservative instinct that makes himwant to keep the

Church as a ritualistic institution . Girls rarely consent

to marry without a religious ceremony, and eventhe Communists are obliged

to yield to thisa

super-

stition." Children are still baptized ; the burial service

is read ; the traditional Church holidays are ob-

served. There i s a peculiar renaissance of ethno-

graphic . ceremonies, practically pagan, and recently

even of real - paganism in the North of Russia, result-

; ng in a dual faith . But alongside you find new ideas

which are penetrating into the villages by means of

Communist newspapers, the cottage library, dramatic

presentations, and the revolutionary songs of theyouth .

As a rule, the village clergy have not passed

through the purifying fire of persecution. They re-main timid and oppressed,. not much above theirfellow villagers i n culture and education . Materially

they have lost some of their revenues, but the village

still gives them enough to live upon-in any casemore than the school-teachers. When at a certainperiod the schools were made dependent upon local

support one after the other was closed . The Sobor of

19 r7-1918 had a noticeable effect in strengthening

83




their priests into the Living Church Movement, andthese circumstances seem to have cooled the en-thusiasm f o r brotherhoods .

During the period of the imprisonment of thePatriarch, the-exiling of bishops, and the apparent

triumph of the Living Church, together with the

defection and equivocation of many of the pastors,

the hierarchical basis of the Church was badlyshaken. Each Church lived its own life, not de-pending upon the authority of the central Church

administration, frequently even developing a lackof faith in it. The faithful gathered around thefew priests who remained firm, and occasionally even,

figuratively, descended into"catacombs " or gave

special attention to the voice of the a startzy." Onecan still note the traces of this peculiarity of parish

life . . The boundaries of episcopal authority remain

undefined. A bishop who has shown himself to be atrue confessor, who is a hierarch of strong will and

severe life, may firmly rule the Church and depend

upon obedience. But as a general rule the authority

of the episcopacy is now weakened at the expense ofthe growing influence of the lower clergy and laymen .

This does not contradict the increased longing for

authority and a canonical basis for the life of the

Church. However, spiritual authority frequentlyoutweighs canonical authority . In this matter also the

present moment is one of change. It is necessary toreview and to make over many things . For instance,

many of the darker aspects of parish democracy have

come to light. There are well-founded charges thatthe exceptional influence of laymen in the parish at

times interferes- with the independence of the priest .

$5



TH,E . RUSSIAN CHURCH SINCE THE REVOLUTION

In church committees the voice of the more . well-to-

do part of the community has greater weight .

Attracted by the beauty of the ritual and by financial

success, it is sometimes inclined, not to value -moral

purity or the spiritual zeal of the pastor .

The years of persecution were, for the Church, a

period of weakening of its outward unity andsolidarity. There were actually moments when it was

without the administration and without a head except

the Holy Spirit living in it . Perhaps herein is to be

found the great miracle of its redemption and its in -

destructible inner solidarity . One should not over-

estimate the importance of various acts proceeding

from even very highly placed hierarchical authority .

Such acts were accepted or declined, according tothe degree to which they satisfied the hidden

mysterious consciousness of the Church . The Patri

arch was the living heart of Russia, in him was con-

centrated the love and prayers of the whole Church ;

as a result, there moved in the Church an invisible,

blessed power. But it is not possible to measure this

power by the administrative actions of the Patriarch .

In the absence of freedom of speech and the difficul-

ties attending personal conversations, these actions

were variously construed, troubling some and con-tradicted by others . But never did .they lead to a

cris is , and never did they shake the reverence for him

who was looked upon as the vicarious sufferer for the

whole of the Russian Church. The Patriarch was thepraying protector and the voluntary sacrifice forthe whole of Russia, rather than its leader and

administrator, and the way chosen by him, in spite of

a l l . uncertainties and recognized mistakes, was the

86




way of salvation . In this it is impossible not' to see

the special outpouring of Grace, which has not de-

parted from Russia .

What have been t h e spiritual fruits plainly pro-

duced within the Russian Church? I shall begin with

the most evident, visible t o a l l observers. We havewitnessed a remarkable adornment of Divine service .

It now possesses a severe beauty that could notformerly be found . Never before has' it been per-

formed in so solemn and spiritual a manner. Andalthough the- secret of this new revelation of spiritual

beauty lies principally in the deep faith of the serving

priest, yet the new spirit has taken hold of all those

worshipping in the churches, giving clarity and a rich-

ness of impression to each word of the reader, every

exclamation of the deacon . In nearly all, even in the

smallest churches, there are beautiful choirs . Thefaithful are loath to quit the temple . They love the

long services, sometimes lasting on festival days for

five hours .

The reformation of the ritual proclaimed by the

Living Church followed the line of returning to old

forms of worship, reviving forgotten ritualistic tradi-

tions. In the attempt to enrich the ritual, the North

borrowed somewhat from the Orthodox Ukraine .

Such, for instance, was the acceptance of the Lenten

"Passion " and the service of burial of the Virgin at

the all-night v i g i l service before Assumption . In a

few cases, though this is with great circumspection,

new prayers have been introduced into the ritual .

But it is clear to all that the living meaning of

the ritual is revealed in the eucharistic service, in the

i n n e r a t t i t u d e o f t h e faithful toward it, For many it

97




has again become a true mystery . The Cup is seldom

presented in vain ; many take Communion and all

share in their joy . They speak of a "Eucharistic

Movement " in the Russian Church, which may be

considered as the fruit of the work of Father John

of Kronstadt, though there is yet no uniformity in

practice. This is a question of greatest importance,

and it is decided by each pastor and by each layman

in his own way. Some urge frequent participation in

the Communion, but require worthy preparation ;

others demand Communion at each service of theLiturgy. There are some believers, though not many,of course, who take Communion every day, others

every week, but principally Communion is taken atthe great feasts . The exceedingly difficult question

of confession which is connected with this movement

is also variously solved . Some practice corporate con-

fession ; others ; though very few, separating the one

sacrament from the other, permit participation in the

Eucharist without confession . The majority retainconfession, obligatory and secret. Thus we see that

even in this central question of Church life there

appears considerable freedom and the absence of

external regulation .

From the Church, from the ritual, there proceed

various spiritual, streams which feed the customary

and family life, but these personal and family fruits

of the Church are not easily measured . Among somey o u w i l l s e e t h e r e v i v a l o f O r t h o d o x c u s t o m s , e l s e - e

where you will see rooms made into oratories andapartments into monasteries . In the noise of the great

cities, along with monstrous "godless" demonstra-tions, there is blazing the fire of ascetic and spiritual



THE INNER LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH'

life. Private prayer,-sometimes prayer meetings, com-

plement worship in the church .

As is well known, national shrines. and monasteries

throughout the whole of Russia have been desecrated

and destroyed. But it is probably not known to all

that this destruction was not complete. As heretofore,

in the summer time, pilgrims go on foot to the shrine

of St, Seraphim,' and to Kiev f o r Assumption. Some-

times there appear new centres of pilgrimage, as i nPodolia,'where a vision of the Crucifixion served as

the occasion for a great movement of pilgrims. Theneed for miracles, the thirst for visions of heavenly

mysteries, is still strong in all ranks of Church people,

though it was especially marked during the years of

persecution and famine . At that time one frequently

heard of visions, prophecies, or miraculous signs .

It was during this period that there occurred inSouthern Russia the renovating of ikons and cupolas,

and the appearance in the village of Kolomensk, near

Moscow, of the Ikon of the Sovereign Virgin, sym-

bolically receiving the crown of the last Russian Tsar .

The monastic idea, which a short time ago seemed

to belong to the past ages, isaga in growing popular .

Not all monasteries have been closed . Here and there

they still exist under the name of 1 1 labouring com-

munities," some even in the capital itself . Othershave been converted into institutions where aged

cripples and invalids are allowed to pass the remainder

of their lives as custodians and keepers of sacred

objects and relics that have been declared to be objects

of art worthy of preservation by the existing Govern-

1 In April, 1927, the monastery at Sarow was closed, and the

relics of St. Seraphim removed to an unknown destination.

89




ment. In some places young novices are accepted intomonastic life with the customary ceremony, but taking

no other vows than to be prepared to suffer and to

be crucified for the world . These monasteries attract

many, but monastic life is to-day possible for only a

few. So the ascetic ideal seeks a new outlet, which isfound by uniting in lay communities while still living

the life of the world . These groups keep in close

touch with the Church, but are not in the same degree

under the guidance of the clergy .

Even "startchestvo " 1 has passed beyond the con-

fines of monastic walls. Sometimes a parish priestfamous f o r his ascetic life and deep spiritual insight

becomes known as a " staretz." Not infrequently he

is a priest deprived of his parish by the Soviet authori-

ties. Such men wield great influence over largenumbers of people. These non-monastic startzy

occupy somewhat the place of father-confessors t o

their followers. Their influence, which is more wide-

spread than formerly, must be regarded as a new

feature of Russian life .

The influence of father-confessors is not limited to

the sacrament of confession, but occasionally, direct-

ing the whole of life in all its daily difficulties and

trials, the father-confessor becomes the director of

conscience .

The ascetic and mystical strain is particularlynoticeable in modern religious tendencies. It isevident, for instance, in the attraction which . laymen

x Startchestvo : the institution or custom of turning forspiritual guidance to aged and particularly venerated monks,

popularly known as " startzy," famous for saintliness and spiritual

g i f t s ,

9a




find in the ascetic literature of the early Church .

However, this tendency is not the only, perhaps not

the dominating one, for along with it there is active,

practical Christianity, finding various forms . Occa=

sionally it bears the character of Orthodox "evange-

l i s m , " giving primacy to active love . Under present

conditions such evangelic love is closely related to the

regeneration of the apostolic ideal-preaching the

Gospel . You meet many people, touchingly selfless,

who give themselves entirely over to the, task of

saving their brothers, sowing the Word of Life, and

laying up nothing for the morrow .

And, finally, among the Christian intelligentzia,

there is particularly strong the demand for the incarna-

tion of Christianity in practice, not in personal life

so . much as in general cultural work . There arise

questions, certainly not new, concerned with the

Christianizingg of culture, with the possibility or

practicability of this endeavour, regarding the future

of the Church and the fate of theocracy . , Here wefind the continual development of subjects presented

by Vladimir Solovieff, and growing out of h i s theo-

logical school. Various answers are,' of course, given,

just as the attitudes towards these questions are

various-from the apocalyptic view, expecting a

cataclysmic .end of the world and paradoxically reject-

ing all problems of culture, up to the optimistic

acceptance of the new life (in Russia, that created by

the revolution) as the foundation on which to build

a new Christian . s o c i e t y .

I f , on the one hand, there is a lively interest in

questions of social and national life, on the other,

for the mystically inclined intelligentizia the more91




characteristic questions are those of dogmatic theology

(for example, the, dogma of redemption), problems

connected with "imyaslavchestvo,j l which thoughnot disturbing the Church, and not affecting themasses, has yet attracted many followers in theo-logically authoritative circles . But interests are inter-

woven. Even the mystics are necessarily obliged todetermine for themselves-even though negatively-

their attitude towards culture, and among the socially

active there is a great attraction in ascetic problems .

Christian thought suffers more than Christian life

from severe oppression. The Word is in fetters,intercourse between individuals very limited . We,know that many write without any hope that they

will see their books published . This gives an exclu-

sive importance to oral teaching . The pulpit, alsobound by official fetters, cannot satisfy the great

thirst, though it has given birth to many remarkable

preachers . Among them we witness the tendencies of

which we have already spoken as existing in the whole

Church-ethical questions and questions regarding

apologetics are the prevalent ones . The vacancy that

cannot be filled by public speech is often satisfied by

private intercourse . At the present moment it has

reached in Russia a very high degree of intensity . It

often manifests itself in corporate prayers ; the absence

of scientific organization is supplemented by the in-

tensity of religious fervour . In such an atmosphereeven abstract differences of opinion and theoretical

disputes-very hot sometimes-do not generally pro-

1 That is, mystical realism, renewing the theological move-

ment (St. Gregory Palama) of the fourteenth century in theByzantine Church, in which the name of God was worshipped.

9a




duce any ill-feelin , any inner separation ; do not

stand in the way ofa brotherly communion between

people of very different points of view . Life in the

midst of a Church that is persecuted, life in the midst

of Christ's enemies, face to face with schism, constant

communion in the same divine service and in thesacraments-all, this produces a feeling of t unity

even among thse following different ten encies and

possessing different religious opinions .

With this voice from Russia we conclude ourscattered notes. The time for objective history has

not yet come. The most important material i s s t i l l

kept in archives . No one of our contemporaries has

yet shared his personal recollections . Herein lies the

excuse for the numerous gaps and inaccuracies of the

present work, which can only pretend to serve as an

outline f o r future investigations .

93



APPENDIX

THESE pa es had already been written when, in the

summer of 1927, there took place events which may

mark the beginning of a new era in the life of the

Church in Russia . The Metropolitan Sergius, tempo-

rary locum tenens, being released from prison on

July 29, addressed an encyclical to the Church, from

which it is evident that, as a result of his negotiations

with the Soviet Government, the latter has agreed to

register a new «Tikhon " Synod attached to the

locum tenens, thereby giving recognition to a central

organization for the Tikhon Church. Furthermore,it became known that the Metropolitan Sergius isendeavouring to secure legalization for the diocesan

administrations, the Church schools, a Church Press,

and permission to proceed with the election of a new

Patriarch at an All-Russian Sobor . In a word, somesort of a concordat seems to be in formation between

the Church and the Soviet Government .

The Metropolitan Sergius in the above-mentionedencyclical, which is countersigned by seven bishops,

members of the new Patriarchal (Tikhon) Synod, calls

upon the faithful, especially the clergy, to showloyalty in their attitude towards the U

.S .S.R. and its

Government, and condemns the terroristic acts ofcounter-revolutionaries . Referring particularly to the

representatives of the Church in emigration, the .

Metropolitan Sergius proposes that they certify to

9+



APPENDIX

their political loyalty (to . the Soviet Government) or

drop their adherence to the Moscow Patriarchate .

- Certain expressions in this epistle have created con-

fusion and provided occasion for saying, especially

abroad, that the Tikhon Church has broken up, in the

sense of capitulation before the Bolsheviks . At pre-

sent it is impossible to estimate the significance and

the consequences of this important action . But from

what we already know, it is clear that to speak of

capitulation is not in order. The Metropolitan

Sergius more than aa year ago conducted negotiations

with the authorities regarding the legalization of the

Church, following out the testament of the deceased

Patriarch. In the course of these negotiations he pre-

sented the authorities with various projected declara-

tions, of which the best known was the so-called

"Appeal of the Orthodox bishops from the Solo-vetzk Islands to the Government of the US.S.R ."

In this appeal, in the name of the exiles, the un-

deserved persecution of the Church was denouncedand the nature of its present position was painted in

clear outline : complete loyalty in political and social

questions, and an uncompromising attitude towards

the materialistic spirit of Communism . It is beyond

question that this declaration best of all expresses the

real attitude of the Russian Church towards the

Government. The unduly sharp political expressionsin the final redaction of the encyclical of the Metro-

politan Sergius evidently represent insertions similar

to the same kind of expressions found in the last

proclamation of the Patriarch Tikhon .

The Russian Church is making great sacrifices in

questions o f personal and political dignity, but this

95




does not make it the servant of the authorities . Agreat gulf separates the "loyalty " of the Patriarch

Tikhon and the Metropolitan Sergius from theservility of the Renovated .

It istanother question as to how far this step, taken

by the Metropolitan Sergius, will be crowned with

success-i . e ., is the Government willing to cease the

r6gime of persecution and to give the Church a peace

ful existence? The future will show this . But evenin case of failure attending the step taken by the

Metropolitan Sergius, it will retain its significance . ,

one of the stages on the way to a concordat between

the Church and the State .

Naturally the Russian emigration was unable to

present a united answer to the appeal for "loyalty"

proceeding from the Metropolitan Sergius . It divided

on this question. The Metropolitan Eulogius (Paris),

appointed by the Patriarch Tikhon as the head of the,

Churches in Western Europe, gave for himself, as

well as in the name of his clergy, the signature de-

manded regarding loyalty, in the sense of not par-

ticipating in political affairs . The Balkan bishops,grouping themselves around the Metropolitan

Anthony and the so-called Karlovtzy Synod (Jugo-

slavia) with equal decisiveness cut themselves off

from Metropolitan Sergius . Incidentally, this only

widened the schism in the emigration which for a

long time has separated the Metropolitan Eulogius

and the Metropolitan Anthony on this very funda-mental question : the non-participation in politics on

the part of the Church, and the recognition of inner

unity between the Church in the emigration and the

Church in Russia .



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The Russian Church Since the Revolution-GP Fedotoff-1928-98pgs-REL