The Confessional Vector of Russian Foreign Policy: the History of Interaction Between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holy Synod in the 19th Century

The article provides an overview of the interaction between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holy Synod in the extension of the Russian ecclesiastical and political presence in the states bordering Russia in the Near and Far Eastern regions in the 19th century. It is shown that the initiator of such ecclesiastical and diplomatic agencies of Russia abroad as the Russian Ecclesiastical Missions in Jerusalem, Japan and Urmia was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, for which one of the main areas of activity was issues related to confessional and interchurch relations abroad and the promotion of external church activities of the Russian Church. It was revealed that the main motive for the establishment of Russian ecclesiastical missions was the intensification of the missionary activity of representatives of the great powers (Great Britain, France, USA), which served as the most convenient, effective, and universal instrument of their foreign policy. Thus, the competition of the powers in the missionary sphere was a reflection and an important component of their foreign policy confrontation, when Church channels were used in the diplomacy of the powers, and the missionary policy was carried out with the support of diplomatic missions.