The educational project of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society on the territory of the orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1882-1914: the relationship between the representatives of Russia and the Greek orthodox hierarchs

One of the most serious problems encountered in the Middle East by the Russian charitable organization the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IOPS) was the opposition from Greek church hierarchs. The author of this article traces the history of this problem. The article is based on the study of a number of published documents, as well as some letters from the archives of the IOPS secretary, A. A. Dmitrievsky. Te focus is on the relationship of the founder of the Palestinian Society, V. N. Khitrovo, with the Greek clergy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. In the context of Russian-Greek relations, the activities of some IOPS figures (M. P. Stepanov, N. M. Anichkov, A. A. Dmitrievsky) and the Russian diplomat A. G. Yakovlev is also considered. At the end of the article, opposing views of two contemporary publicists are cited in order to illustrate the relevance of this problem Исторические науки 229 today. The article concludes with implications for the prospects of relations between the representatives of Russia and the Greek clergy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate