Some features of opening and closure of parishes of Tula diocese in 1943‒1964
Abstract
In the current Russian historiography, there are quite a number of studies dealing with the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in a certain region of the Soviet Union after World War II. They clearly demonstrate that the process of opening and closure of Orthodox churches in various dioceses was to a certain extent diff erent in the period in question. This article studies the process of opening and closure of churches in Tula diocese during the period of 1943‒1964. It highlights signifi cant diff erences between Tula diocese and other regions of the USSR as to the number of parishes opened in the 1940s and later closed. Thus, the number of the opened churches in Tula diocese was on average higher than in adjacent or similar regions. And, conversely, during the period of the closure of churches in the fi rst half of the 1950s, the parishes of Tula diocese remained intact. In the second half of the 1950s, when the closure of churches in the country temporarily ceased, Tula diocese lost a number of parishes, mostly in rural areas. However, all the closed parishes were united by a bad fi nancial situation: due to the remoteness of the church and small population of its environs, the number of churchgoers was low, because of which the church was not able to provide what was necessary for services, to maintain the budget of the parish, and to feed the clergy. The clergymen who were appointed to such parishes prior to their closure typically denied to go there and asked for a transfer to a diff erent place. As can be seen from archival sources, the initiator of the closure of such churches in Tula region was always the diocese authorities, with no attested pressure from the outside, which was rather unusual. This situation can make up a foundation for identifying non-typical cases of implementing church policy of the Soviet Union in the provinces.
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