Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии (Dec 2022)
Chief Procurator S. M. Lukyanov and His Proposals on Improving the Control and Auditing Activities of the Educational Committee under the Holy Synod
Abstract
The article analyzes the activities of Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod Sergei Mikhailovich Lukyanov to improve the work of the Educational Committee under the Holy Synod in general and its control and auditing activities in particular. Serving as Chief Procurator for only a short time (1909–1911), S. M. Lukyanov was able to carry out a number of transformations during this period, both in the theological and educational departments. The main sources of the study are office materials, which belong to the fund of the Educational Committee from the Russian State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (RGIA, Stock 802). The author used Most Submissive Reports of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod concerning issues of the Orthodox Confession Department, and personal papers as additional sources for the research. The use of a fairly wide range of available sources allows one getting closer to the most objective view and to the solution of the question posed in the study. The author attempts to evaluate S. M. Lukyanov’s contribution to the reform of the higher management of theological and educational institutions, namely the control and audit functions of the Educational Committee in the context of development of the theological and educational department. Following a critical approach in studying the available historical sources, the author used fundamental principles of the historical science, objectivity and historicism, when writing the article. He also adhered to a comparative historical method in order to present both a description of the events that took place, and an explanation of the facts under consideration. Basing on the results of the study, the article has concluded that S. M. Lukyanov, like his predecessors in the position of Chief Procurator, made an attempt to stabilize the position of theological schools in the early 20th century and pointed out the importance of revisions at theological and educational institutions. The Chief Procurator admitted that auditors’ reports were the most valuable and objective materials, which reflected all aspects of the theological and educational institutions’ life.
Keywords
