Orthodox clergy of the Lower Volga and the Don in 1940-1953

The article presents the regional specificity of the formation of the Orthodox clergy in the Lower Volga and Don in the 1940-1950s. The Battle of Stalingrad was the starting point of the Orthodox revival in the region. During the Battle of Stalingrad the opening of Orthodox churches, the restoration of the church structure began. Opened churches paralleled in the occupied territories of the Rostov and Stalingrad regions and border areas of the Stalingrad region, the Saratov region and the Astrakhan region. During 1942-1944 the Rostov region had about 251 Orthodox churches; the Stalingrad region - 17, ithe Astrakhan region - 3, the Saratov region - 4. In 1953, the Rostov region had 219 churches, the Stalingrad region - 31; the Astrakhan region - 16, the Saratov region - 14. The largest diocese in the region was Diocese of Rostov and Novocherkassk. As of Autumn 1945, the clergy consisted of one bishop, 200 priests, 14 deacons, 76 acolytes. Most of them returned to the church service during the occupation. In the Stalingrad region the number of clergy who served in the occupied territories, was minimal. In Rostov and Stalingrad not all parishes have registered clergy. In Astrakhan and Saratov state churches were fully staffed, but lacked the acolytes. Solving the personnel problems in the Church, bishops of the region actively ordained priests of the deacons, acolytes, church asset; invited to the service the priests released from places of exile and imprisonment, were on the rest of the staff, who returned to the bosom of the Orthodox Church of Renovationist split. Most of the clergy belonged to the older generation and took holy orders until 1917. In the 1950s, the region's clergy was replenished by graduates of seminaries, the priests of the Western Belarus and Ukraine. Restrictive government policies prevented the restoration of church life. The lack of priests caused the reduction in the number of registered Orthodox parishes in the Stalingrad area.