“In the Church of Christ, no self-will can be tolerated and should not be tolerated...” Patriarch Tikhon’s documents on Ukrainian Church affairs 1918–1919
Abstract
Documents from the fund of the Office of the Synod of the Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA. F. 796) characterizing the position of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council of the Orthodox Russian Church on a number of issues of Church life in Ukraine in 1917-1918 are introduced into scientific circulation. Among the documents: letters from Patriarch Tikhon to the Ukrainian Ministers of Confessions in 1918 on the issue of episcopal supervision in some border Belarusian counties; reports to the Patriarch of the temporarily managing the Kiev diocese, Bishop Nazariy (Blinov) of Cherkasy on the Church affairs in Ukraine and especially in Kiev from late 1918 to mid-1919 with proposals for the organization of a new temporary Supreme Administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and on measures to calm down local nationalist activists; decisions of the Supreme Church Administration of the Orthodox Russian Church headed by the Patriarch on these proposals. The documents characterize St. Tikhon, on the one hand, as an Archpastor who cares about the spiritual well-being of his multinational flock, and on the other hand, as an adherent of the Canonical order, a supporter of Conciliar solutions to complex problems of Church life and an opponent of arbitrary actions (in particular, for nationalist reasons).
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