Yakut diocese in 1917 (based on materials from the regional press)
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to trace the process of reorganising church life in Yakutia in the context of the Russian revolution of 1917. The main source of the study is the regional periodicals Vestnik Iakutskogo komiteta obshchestvennoi bezopasnosti (“Bulletin of Yakut public security committee”) and Iakutskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti (“Yakut diocesan gazette”). These acted not only as mass media, but also took active part in forming public opinion about the ongoing events in the country and in the region. The article demonstrates the ambiguous response of the Yakut clergy to the overthrow of monarchy and discusses diffi cult relations between diocesan authorities and the revolutionary organs of state authorities in the region. In the spring, these organs persistently advocated the separation of the church from the state and from the school, initiated a comprehensive check of diocesan aff airs and approved the confi scation of church lands. However, the diocese managed to defend the right to independently resolve their internal aff airs. The main attention is paid in the article to the process of democratisation of diocesan administration, the leading institutions of which were the pastoral meeting, the diocesan congress and the Church Diocesan Council, while the importance of episcopal authority was rapidly decreasing. For a deep reorganisation of church life, the arrangement of parishes on the gospel basis was also required, which implied their transformation into active self-governing communities. The Union of Orthodox Christians of Yakutia actively tried to promote this process. The low morale and psychological state of the clergy and church-goers of Yakut diocese by the end of 1917 clearly testifi es to the low effi ciency of these transformations in the context of a deepening revolution.
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