The activities of archimandrite Vladimir (Finkovsky) in organizing church life in the occupied territory of Belarus and in the Belarusian diaspora (1941-1962)

The article is devoted to the consideration of the religious activities of one of the most controversially evaluated Belarusian Orthodox clergymen during the Second World War and the first two post-war decades of the Belarusian Diaspora. Not having sufficient educational qualifications for moving up the church hierarchy in peacetime, Hieromonk Vladimir (Finkovsky), with the beginning of the German occupation, turned out to be the de facto leader of church life in central Belarus. Thanks to the support of the SD security service, he not only usurped church authority, but also actively opposed the Synod of the Belarusian Metropolitan, led by Metropolitan Panteleimon (Rozhnovsky). Overcoming the confrontation became possible after the intervention of representatives of the Belarusian national asset in the situation. Ejected from holy orders by the Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Vladimir continued his ministry in the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in the Governor General (Orthodox Church in Poland), where he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. In the post-war period, he settled in Paris, becoming the confessor of the First Hierarch of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Polycarp (Sikorsky). In the mid 1950s Archimandrite Vladimir began serving in the Belarusian parishes that were part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Four years later, he formed and led the second non-canonical Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, accepting an ordination to the episcopate from the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Sobornopravna). After a series of scandals and trials, Archbishop Vladimir (Finkovsky) forever abandoned his attempts to leadership of the church life of the Belarusian Diaspora and ended his days in complete obscurity.