The financial situation of the Orthodox clergy of the Penza diocese during the First World War

Abstract

Background. In the scientific literature, there are many studies on the financial situation of the Orthodox clergy, but there are no works on the financial situation of the clergy of the Penza diocese and its changes in wartime. The purpose of the article is to study the financial situation of the Orthodox clergy of the Penza diocese during the First World War, to note the main income sources of the Orthodox clergy of the Penza diocese and their changes in wartime conditions. Materials and methods. The implementation of the research tasks was achieved based on the analysis of State Archive documents of Penza region, the Russian state historical archive, as well as data from the local periodical press – Bulletin of Penza diocese. The author relies on the methods of source studies and comparative historical analysis. Results. The article notes the main sources of income of the Orthodox clergy during the First World War and their changes in wartime conditions. Attention is drawn to the solution of problem of clergy security on the part of the state. Conclusions. The problem of the clergy provision became particularly relevant with the beginning of the First World War, since many sources of clergy maintenance during the war were unstable and showed a General downward trend. An analysis of articles published in the Bulletin of Penza diocese allows us to conclude that the clergy paid attention to the need to improve their financial situation and get rid of the humiliating way of providing.

Keywords

• the first world war
• penza diocese
• orthodox clergy
• sources of income
• financial situation
• measures to ensure the clergy