Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret (Drozdov) and His Role in the Missionary Policy of the Russian Church (Second Third of the 19th Century)

The article presents a brief overview of the missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 40s and 60s of the XIX century, when in state and church circles the role of Orthodox missionaries was recognized as an important factor in state domestic and foreign policy. Special attention was paid to participate in the development of the Russian missionary of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, the analytical reviews of which contributed to the formation of the concept of the Russian spiritual presence in North America, in the Middle and the Far East, in Central Asia, in the Balkans. There was studied Philaret’s position in relation to such projects as the “Society for the Restoration of Orthodoxy in the Caucasus”, the Missionary Academy and the Missionary Society, the creation of which was offered by high-ranking secular faces as a countermeasure aimed at preventing of anti- Russian and anti- Orthodox influence of Western missionaries. St. Philaret saw the tasks of the Russian Church and the state in the formation of the School of Orthodox Missionary and the activation of missionary activities both in the Russian Empire and beyond.