Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) and the “Undesirable Stagnation” in the Scholarly Work of Instructors at the Leningrad Theological Academy in the 1960s

This article, using archival materials introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time, examines the situation in theological scholarship at the Leningrad Theological Academy by the mid‑1960s. In 1964, the Academic Committee noted the “stagnation” in scholarship, which manifested itself in the fact that several Academy instructors — Archpriest Vasily Stoikov, Archpriest John Belevtsev, V. A. Nekrasov, I. I. Zelenetsky, P. P. Ignatov, and A. M. Matfeyev — despite more than 10 years of service, had not written or submitted master’s theses. As a result, several instructors were forced to write explanatory notes, which essentially served as reports on their teaching and scholarly work. The contents of these notes provide insight into the numerous questions and diverse tasks that the Academy’s mentors had to address during this period. Based on an analysis of the notes, it is concluded that the assessment given by the Educational Committee is biased, and the demand for a prompt defense is unfounded.