Personality and ministry of archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin) in the perspective of church-state relations of the Soviet period (late 1960s - 1970s)

The purpose of the article is to identify personality traits of Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin) and circumstances of his church ministry during his administration of the Astrakhan Diocese. The topic is discussed against the background of relationship specifics between the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and representatives of the body of commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs. The relevance of the research is explained by the need to fill in historical and biographical gaps in the biography of Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin). Despite the high interest in his personality and theological heritage, there are no works specifically describing the period of episcopal ministry at the Astrakhan see in the field of domestic scientific circulation. System analysis and synthesis of historical and ecclesiastical information were chosen as the main methods of research. The empirical basis consisted of previously unpublished documents stored in the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Current Archive of the Astrakhan Diocesan Administration. The results of the study confirm high personal qualities of Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin) who was able to maintain a firm commitment to Christian principles and courage in expressing his church and civic stance even during the period of persecutions of the Church. The scientific novelty of the article can be seen in the introduction of previously unpublished documents illustrating specifics of Church-state relations in the late 1960s and 1970s and the circumstances of the episcopal ministry of Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin) into scientific circulation.