Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии (Dec 2022)
Confrontation Between the Bishop of Kalinin and Kashin Theodosius (Pogorsky) and V. I. Khevronov, Authorized Official of the Governmental Council for the Russian Orthodox Church Affairs under the USSR Council of Ministers (1958–1960)
Abstract
This article describes church-state relations and church life in the USSR during the Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign of 1958–1964. Based on the documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation the author studies relations between the religious leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and regional representatives of the governmental Council for the Affairs of Russian Orthodox Church under the USSR Council of Ministers. The study analyzes church-state relations and church life in the Kalinin region at the initial phase of the Khrushchev’s persecution, when in 1958–1960 the Kalinin and Kashin diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was governed by Bishop Theodosius (Pogorsky). The author focuses on both the bishop’s active work to strengthen church life in the region (such as preserving the existing and opening new churches, supporting weak village church communities) and V. I. Khevronov’s destructive policy to weaken the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kalinin region. The target of Khevronov as a Regional Chair of Governmental Council for the Russian Orthodox Church Affairs under USSR Council of Ministers was to compromise and limit the activity of local clergy. The study reveals that Bishop Theodosius (Pogorsky) of Kalinin and Kashin and Representative of the Council of the ROC Affairs had been in a situation of impasse which escalated into an open conflict. V. I. Khevronov abused his rights and violated the state legislation. It was a typical example of that period regarding how canonical episcopal authority was discredited by regional representatives of the Council for the Affairs of the ROC in many regions of the Soviet Union during the “Khrushchev Thaw”.
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