The book is organized in nine chapters outlining the major stages and changes in canonical jurisdiction and administrative authority of the Russian Orthodox Church in the period 1917-1948. More specifically, it reveals the metamorphoses through which the Russian Orthodox Church passed in the first part of the twentieth century, as well as the attempts of its Moscow leadership to save the church’s imperial legacy despite the political changes in Russia and the world. It also pays attention to such external factors as the Soviet government and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which played decisive roles in this process. In this way, the book points to the interplay of politics and ecclesiology in shaping the contemporary vision of the Russian Orthodox Church of its rights to exercise supreme authority over the communities of believers not only within the former Soviet territories but also in other parts of the world. The size of each chapter varies in accordance with the state of research in this field and the accessibility of archival sources.
ThE first chapter Outlines the dissolution of the Russian Orthodox Church between the two world wars, a process that affected its structures not only in the Soviet Union but also abroad. It pays special attention to the establishment of successor churches in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, most of which left the bosom of the Russian mother church and moved under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It also traces the attempts of Russian hierarchs-in-exile to create a Church Abroad, beneath which all the Russian Orthodox Church’s structures outside the interwar Soviet borders could be united, and which would take pastoral care of these structures until the collapse of the Soviet regime and the restoration of normal relations with the mother church in Moscow. In this regard, the book reflects on the harmful effects of the decrees of the Moscow church leadership over the Russian Church’s diaspora. More specifically, it sheds light on the conflicts that these documents have provoked between Metropolitan Antonii (Khrapovitskii), the chairman of the Karlovci Synod in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians; Metropolitan Evlogii (Georgievskii) in Paris, who initiated the establishment of the Western European Russian Orthodox Exarchate; and Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvenskii), who headed the North American Metropolia.
The next chapter explores the activities of the church administration of the Moscow locum tenens Metropolitan Sergii (Starogorodskii) in the western borderlands (Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Baltic States) during their first Soviet occupation (September 1939-June 1941). Having been part of the Russian Empire for centuries, they were also regarded as the inheritance of its Orthodox Church. Moreover, the latter preserved its jurisdiction over the Orthodox believers who had remained outside the interwar Soviet borders; that is, the establishment of new sovereign states on the former Russian imperial territory was not followed by similar changes in the ecclesiastical sphere. The main modification was the granting of internal autonomy to those communities whose citizenship was changed between 1918 and 1921. At the same time, the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate refused to recognize the later move of the Finnish, Estonian, and Latvian Orthodox churches under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It also rejected the autocephaly that Constantinople granted to the Polish Orthodox Church. On these grounds, the Sergian church administration restored its authority over the western borderlands after their annexation to the Soviet Union in 1939-1940. In this regard, the chapter discusses in detail the procedures that the Moscow Patriarchate used in this endeavor.
ThE third chapter examines the “Holy War” of the Sergian Church in the period from the Nazi invasion in the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941) to the election of Sergii as Patriarch of Moscow (September 8, 1943). During these most arduous months of the war, Moscow locum tenens Sergii and his supporters created an image of their organization as a patriotic church that defended its native people and fought for its own territorial and canonical integrity. The chapter presents a detailed analysis of the proclamations issued by the Sergian Church. It reveals the ways in which the Holy War theme was elaborated by church hierarchs in their epistles and sermons. It also outlines the transformations in the ecclesiastical organization of the Orthodox communities in Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States, and Transnistria under German and Romanian occupation (1941-1944). Finally, the chapter discusses the appeals of Metropolitan Sergii to the Orthodox Christians in the Balkans and to the Christians abroad who also suffered the same Nazi evil.
The fourth chapter Sheds light on the relations between the Sergian Church and Western Christianity during World War II. It is based on previously unexplored archival materials about the wartime relations between the Sergian church administration and the leadership of the Church of England. Their analysis sheds light on the initial phase of the diplomacy of the Moscow Patriarchate (1942-1943), particularly on the efforts of its leaders to gain international recognition. The chapter also points to specific ecclesiastical motives of the locum tenens Sergii (Starogorodskii) that justified his collaboration with Stalin on the international scene.
The fifth chapter Analyzes the election of Sergii (Starogorodskii) as Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ and his short tenure. It pays particular attention to the CAROC, which was established as an instrument of control over the patriarchal administration. In this regard, the analysis highlights those areas in which the Russian Orthodox Church’s domestic and international interests were in harmony with those of the Soviet state. With the Kremlin’s assistance, Patriarch Sergii brought to an end the Renovationist, Georgian, and Estonian schisms and consolidated the Orthodox Church in the Soviet territories. In parallel, he gained international recognition not only fTom the Church of England and various Russian emigre church organizations but also fTom the most ancient Orthodox patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. After Sergii’s death in May 1944, his policy was continued by Metropolitan Alexii (Simanskii), who was elected as Patriarch of Moscow on February 2, 1945.
The sixth chapter Deals with the growth of Moscow’s jurisdiction in the first postwar years. It traces the expansion of the administrative and canonical authority of the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Alexii. Within the Soviet territories, this policy was aimed at getting rid of the Greek rite Catholics, known as “Uniates” in Soviet historiography. The chapter points to the specific methods of reunion of the Uniates used by the Soviet state and church authorities in the cases of Western Ukraine (1946) and Transcarpathia (1949). It also reveals the way in which Patriarch Alexii spread his authority over Russian and non-Russian Orthodox communities situated outside the postwar Soviet borders, namely, in Czechoslovakia and Central Europe. Finally, the chapter discusses the failure of the Moscow Patriarchate to restore its jurisdiction over the Orthodox community in Finland, which remained under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The seventh chapter Explores postwar developments connected with the Russian emigre churches beyond the territories under the Red Army’s control. It traces the attempts of Patriarch Alexii to place the Russian emigre churches there under his jurisdiction. Its analysis begins with the Karlovci Synod, the Russian church center abroad that had demonstrated firm and systematic opposition to the Soviet regime and the Sergian Orthodox Church since 1927. The chapter also discusses the negotiations of the Moscow Patriarchate with the other two major Russian church bodies abroad: the Western European Orthodox Russian Exarchate in Paris and the Russian Metropolia in North America. During the war, under the wartime alliance of Stalin with Roosevelt and Churchill, they established contact with the Sergian church administration and even started negotiating their return under Moscow’s jurisdiction. Although Patriarch Alexii failed to achieve this goal, he succeeded in establishing several exarchates abroad, thus expanding the influence of his church outside the Soviet camp.
Entitled “The Moscow Patriarchate and the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches outside the Soviet Union (1944-1947),” the eighth chapter Analyzes one of the most canonically sensitive aspects of the foreign policy of the Moscow Patriarchate, namely, its relations with the autocephalous Orthodox churches, those bodies that enjoyed equal rights and independence in their ecclesiastical affairs. This analysis reveals the religious and political mechanisms used to redirect the development of the Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Albanian Orthodox churches in conformity with postwar Soviet geopolitics. It also discusses the attempts to establish a unified Orthodox Church in Hungary, where most Balkan churches had had their own religious parishes for centuries. In the end, the chapter presents a review of the negotiations of the Moscow Patriarchate with the ancient Orthodox patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, which were expected to assist in Stalin’s plan to transform the Moscow Patriarchate into an “Orthodox Vatican.”
The last chapter Explores the postwar Soviet attempts to organize an “Eighth Ecumenical Council.” It traces the adaptation of Stalin’s Orthodox Vatican project to postwar geopolitical realities. It points to the factors that induced the Kremlin to give up its ambitious plan for a World Congress of Churches embracing all branches of Christianity under the aegis of the Moscow Patriarchate. It also reveals the failure of the idea of the Soviet church hierarchy to convoke an Eighth Ecumenical Council with the participation of all Orthodox churches. In this regard, the chapter discusses the canonical framework in which such enterprises can take place. Finally, it analyzes the organization of the so-called Pan-Orthodox Conference (1948), which was attended only by Orthodox churches fTom the so-called people’s democracies. It reveals how this forum was used by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Soviet government to strengthen their positions in those Eastern European countries where communist parties came to power.
World History
