Post-war orthodoxy: episcopate, clergy, and state regulation of church life in the USSR (1943 - 1953)

The article offers a complex analysis of diocesan administration and organization of parish life in central Russia after liberation from the German-fascist occupation in 1943. A radical change in the state policy in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church is seen as the key factor of affecting the administration of the Church institutions and clerical life. This change took place in 1943 after J. Stalin’s meeting with the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Bishop’s Council which elected the Patriarch and the following legalization of institutions of Church administration. This was followed by the actual reconstruction of clerical institutions of the highest as well as diocesan level which was manifested by the restoration of the diocesan administration institutions, nominations of bishops and parish clergy. The post-occupation reality was characterized by the “clean-up” of the clergy collaborating with the German-fascist authorities, which led to the intake of new staff. This process had a generational change character, with the new generation of top clerics widely differing from the pre-war priesthood by their religious experience, education and outlook, which was reflected in the biographical data of the bishops and priests in the period of 1943-1953. Starting from 1943 the diocesan administration was put under the administrative control of the Council for the affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the USSR Council of Ministers. The article examines the main spectrum of administrative activities and practices undertaken by the new commissioners in dealing with different issues of the church life, the style and character of their influence on the administration of the Church, and the commissioners’ professional qualifications. The relations within the Orthodox community is also analyzed. In general, the post-war church life is marked by controversy and some painful influence distorting the traditional values of the Orthodox community and the pre-revolutionary practices of church administration. These intrusions into the church’s everyday life were due to the state control over church administration in exchange for the legalization of church administration.