The formation of the church social protection system in the second half of the XIX century: the merit pension fund of the Kursk diocese

The paper analyzes the history of the emergence and documentary organization of one of the insurance funds of the Kursk diocese at the end of the XIX century. The merit pension fund was a way to improve the financial situation of the clergy and their families. The depositors and then the recipients were all the clergy on a mandatory basis. This was the reason why almost a quarter of a century passed from the moment of the bishop's commission to develop the social project to the official approval of the statutory documents by the Holy Governing Synod. Throughout this period, the project was actively discussed at various diocesan levels. Different opinions, calculations and proposals of the clergy on the merit pension fund, which allowed with certain guarantees to start the implementation of this project, have been investigated