Church and state activities of metropolitan Gabriel (Gregory Benulescu-Bodoni)

The article is devoted to the life path of Metropolitan Gabriel (BenulescuBodoni), who was the first to head the Chisinau diocese after the accession of Bessarabia to the Russian Empire. Most of his life turned out to be connected with the Russian Orthodox Church, thanks to which he received a spiritual education, later leading two departments, Yekaterinoslav and Kiev. After a short time in Odessa, Benulescu-Bodoni managed to support local parishioners by laying one of the most visited churches in the city - Transfiguration Cathedral. Having become exarch in 1808 in Moldova, Wallachia and Bessarabia, Metropolitan Gabriel made a significant contribution to protecting the interests of the peasant population and the clergy of the Danube principalities from the arbitrariness of civilian and military authorities during the RussoTurkish war of 1806-1812. His merits in reforming the metropolises in the Moldavian and Wallachian principalities are doubtless. Through his efforts and troubles, the Chisinau diocese was arranged, and the Theological Seminary and printing house were opened. A lot of effort was spent by Benulescu-Bodone to return to the control of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Bessarabian monasteries. His merits are highly appreciated by our contemporaries. By the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on July 15, 2016, Metropolitan Gabriel was canonized for local veneration in Moldova. This work is written on the documentary materials of the Russian State Historical Archive. It was based on cases from the Office of the Holy Synod (fund 796), which most fully reflect its church activity.