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The Russian Orthodox Church and the Provisional Government

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2018

Extract

The close ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government of the Tsar are well known, and need not be treated here. These bonds remained intact down to the Revolution of February (Old Style), 1917. Strangely enough, however, in spite of the ties between them, the central organization of the Church did nothing to help the government when its hour was come. Indeed, the Synod was very careful not to commit itself too far, for on February 27 it rejected the proposal of Raev, the Over Procurator, to condemn the “liberation movement.” According to a leading Church periodical, the Synod told Raev that “it is a moot question whether the treason comes from above or from below.”

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 1948

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References

1 Titlinov, B. B., Cerkov' vo vremja revoljucii (Petrograd, 1924), p. 55.Google Scholar The author was a liberal professor at the Petrograd Theological Academy.

2 Kandidov, B., Cerkov' i fevral'skaja revoljucija (Moscow, 1934), p. 18.Google Scholar While Kandidov is a leading Soviet antireligious writer, his work is carefully documented. In a number of instances where it has been possible to verify his citations, they have proven entirely correct, so that the evidence he presents appears to be reliable.

3 Ibid., p. 19.

4 A. Pešekhonov, Pervye nedeli, printed in Alekseev, S. A., comp., Fevral'skaja revoljucija (Moscow, Leningrad), 1925, p. 451.Google Scholar

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10 Kandidov, , op. cit., pp. 2425.Google Scholar Archbishop Sergij was one of the liberal churchmen; he had been a foe of Rasputin. After the death of Patriarch Tikhon he became Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and in 1943 was named Patriarch.

11 Šavel'skij, , op. cit., pp. 108-9Google Scholar; Titlinov, , op. cit., pp. 7478 Google Scholar; Reč , March 7 and 8, 1917; Birževaja vedomosti, Petrograd, March 11, 1917.

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17 Vvedenskij, A., Cerkov' i gosudarstvo (Moscow, 1923), pp. 3233.Google Scholar Vvedenskij had been a liberal for some time, and in 1922 he was one of the leaders in the Renovationist movement in the Church that caused a split enduring until 1944. His statements of fact regarding 1917 appear to agree with the other evidence on this period.

18 Ibid., pp. 33-35, 38.

19 šavel'skij, op. cit., p. 108.

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28 Ibid., pp. 13-14.

28 Ibid., pp. 61-62.

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35 Ibid., pp. 91-92.

37 Vvedenskij, , op. cit., p. 34.Google Scholar

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40 Ibid., pp. 34-36; Titlinov, , op. cit., pp. 6768.Google Scholar

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44 Ibid., p. 73.

45 Ibid., pp. 80-84

46 Ibid., pp. 74-75.

47 Ibid., pp. 43-45.

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49 Ibid.