Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964

In the current Russian historiography, there are quite a number of studies dealing with the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in a certain region of the Soviet Union after World War II. They clearly demonstrate that the process of opening and closure of Orthodox churches in various dioceses was...

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Main Author: Pavel Efimushkin
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2018-12-01
Series:Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
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Online Access:http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/6720
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author Pavel Efimushkin
author_facet Pavel Efimushkin
author_sort Pavel Efimushkin
collection DOAJ
description In the current Russian historiography, there are quite a number of studies dealing with the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in a certain region of the Soviet Union after World War II. They clearly demonstrate that the process of opening and closure of Orthodox churches in various dioceses was to a certain extent diff erent in the period in question. This article studies the process of opening and closure of churches in Tula diocese during the period of 1943‒1964. It highlights signifi cant diff erences between Tula diocese and other regions of the USSR as to the number of parishes opened in the 1940s and later closed. Thus, the number of the opened churches in Tula diocese was on average higher than in adjacent or similar regions. And, conversely, during the period of the closure of churches in the fi rst half of the 1950s, the parishes of Tula diocese remained intact. In the second half of the 1950s, when the closure of churches in the country temporarily ceased, Tula diocese lost a number of parishes, mostly in rural areas. However, all the closed parishes were united by a bad fi nancial situation: due to the remoteness of the church and small population of its environs, the number of churchgoers was low, because of which the church was not able to provide what was necessary for services, to maintain the budget of the parish, and to feed the clergy. The clergymen who were appointed to such parishes prior to their closure typically denied to go there and asked for a transfer to a diff erent place. As can be seen from archival sources, the initiator of the closure of such churches in Tula region was always the diocese authorities, with no attested pressure from the outside, which was rather unusual. This situation can make up a foundation for identifying non-typical cases of implementing church policy of the Soviet Union in the provinces.
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publisher St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
record_format Article
series Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
spelling doaj-art-70f6aa1396024c3bb5a656bca4ea9ffd2025-08-20T03:10:36ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви1991-64342409-48112018-12-018585111120http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturII201885.111-1201Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964Pavel Efimushkin0St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov pereulok, Moscow 127051, Russian FederationIn the current Russian historiography, there are quite a number of studies dealing with the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in a certain region of the Soviet Union after World War II. They clearly demonstrate that the process of opening and closure of Orthodox churches in various dioceses was to a certain extent diff erent in the period in question. This article studies the process of opening and closure of churches in Tula diocese during the period of 1943‒1964. It highlights signifi cant diff erences between Tula diocese and other regions of the USSR as to the number of parishes opened in the 1940s and later closed. Thus, the number of the opened churches in Tula diocese was on average higher than in adjacent or similar regions. And, conversely, during the period of the closure of churches in the fi rst half of the 1950s, the parishes of Tula diocese remained intact. In the second half of the 1950s, when the closure of churches in the country temporarily ceased, Tula diocese lost a number of parishes, mostly in rural areas. However, all the closed parishes were united by a bad fi nancial situation: due to the remoteness of the church and small population of its environs, the number of churchgoers was low, because of which the church was not able to provide what was necessary for services, to maintain the budget of the parish, and to feed the clergy. The clergymen who were appointed to such parishes prior to their closure typically denied to go there and asked for a transfer to a diff erent place. As can be seen from archival sources, the initiator of the closure of such churches in Tula region was always the diocese authorities, with no attested pressure from the outside, which was rather unusual. This situation can make up a foundation for identifying non-typical cases of implementing church policy of the Soviet Union in the provinces.http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/6720Тульская епархия Русская Православная Церковь в XX веке церковно-государственные отношения открытие церквей хрущевская антирелигиозная кампания гонения на Церковь закрытие церквей православный приход
spellingShingle Pavel Efimushkin
Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
Тульская епархия
Русская Православная Церковь в XX веке
церковно-государственные отношения
открытие церквей
хрущевская антирелигиозная кампания
гонения на Церковь
закрытие церквей
православный приход
title Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
title_full Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
title_fullStr Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
title_full_unstemmed Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
title_short Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
title_sort some features of opening and closure of parishes of tula diocese in 1943 1964
topic Тульская епархия
Русская Православная Церковь в XX веке
церковно-государственные отношения
открытие церквей
хрущевская антирелигиозная кампания
гонения на Церковь
закрытие церквей
православный приход
url http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/6720
work_keys_str_mv AT pavelefimushkin somefeaturesofopeningandclosureofparishesoftuladiocesein19431964