Life of the Chernigov diocese of the late 19th - early 20th centuries on the pages of governor’s reports

The Church is involved in the socio-political life of the state in any era, and the state, in its turn, through representatives of the central and local administrative authorities assesses actions of church members, both clergy and laity, as well as some events in church life. All these aspects are often reflected in official documents. The same thing happened in late imperial Russia. Using comparative analysis, information about religious life of the Chernigov region has been found out in the reports of representatives of the local provincial administration in the period from 1881 to 1913. Also highlighted are the central topics the governors considered to be worthy of the attention of the central government. The topics were reflected in the reports, regardless of the person who was the head of the province. Based on this list and the evaluative judgments of the reports on the state of the provinces, an attempt is made to determine the nature of the relationship between the church and secular authorities, as well as the attitude of this or that head of the province to the issues of religious life of the population of Chernigov region.