Renovationists and the Soviet government in 1923 in the coverage of the Exarch of Russian Catholics

Abstract

The publication introduces into scientific circulation three documents of 1923, identified in the archive of the head of the Papal Mission to help the hungry in Russia, fr. Edmund Walsh, stored in the library of Georgetown University (USA). The central document of the published collection is a letter from the Catholic priest Leonid Fedorov, who in 1921-1935 was the head of the Apostolic Exarchate of Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Russia. The example of the policy in relation to the Renovationist movement is used in the letter to characterize the policy of the Soviet government in relation to religion. Fedorov emphasizes the falsity of the authorities’ assurances about freedom of conscience in the USSR and concludes that the policy is aimed at eradicating all religion. He backs up his opinion with a letter from one of the leaders of the renovationism Mitr. Antonin (Granovsky) with complaints about the tax policy of the authorities. The documents are published for the first time in the original language and translated into Russian.

Keywords

• история россии (ссср) в хх в.
• история католической церкви
• история православной церкви
• обновленческое движение, политика советской власти в отношении религии
• налогообложение духовенства и верующих
• отец эдмунд уолш
• экзарх леонид федоров
• митр. антонин (грановский)