The administrative and canonical status of the Belarusian Metropolis during the periods of German occupation and post-war emigration (1941–1956)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33581/2520-6338-2020-2-40-50

Abstract

The article is devoted to considering the specifics of the administrative and canonical status of the Belarusian Metropolis in the diaspora, during 1946–1956 stayed in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. The conclusion is drawn about what happened from 1950 to 1956 phasing down the status of the metropolis, which led to the cessation of its existence. One of the most important reasons for the liquidation of the Belarusian Metropolis in the diaspora seems to be the fear of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad bishop about the possible occurrence of disturbances in church life caused by the national question. The liquidation of the Belarusian Metropolis led to a deeper integration of Belarusian emigrants into the cultural environment of the Russian diaspora.

Author Biography

Aliaxandr V. Slesarau, Minsk Theological Academy, 27 Zybickaja Street, Minsk 220030, Belarus

PhD (theology), docent; vice-rector for scientific work and head of the department of church history and church-practical disciplines

References

  1. Alekseev VI, Stavru F. [The Russian Orthodox Church in the territory occupied by Germans]. Russkoe Vozrozhdenie. 1981;16:91–121. Russian.
  2. Afanasii (Martos), Archbishop. Belarus’ v istoricheskoi, gosudarstvennoi i tserkovnoi zhizni [Belarus in historical, state and church life]. Buenos Aires: [s. n.]; 1966. 299 p. Russian.
  3. Kasjak I. Z gistoryi pravaslawnaj carkvy belaruskaga narodu [From the history of the Orthodox Church of the Belarusian people]. New York: Belarusian Central Council; 1956. 191 р. Belarusian.
  4. Pospelovskii DV. Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov’ v XX veke [The Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century]. Moscow: Respublika; 1995. 511 p. Russian.
  5. Shkarovskii MV. Natsistskaya Germaniya i pravoslavnaya tserkov’ [Nazi Germany and the Orthodox Church]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Krutitskogo podvor’ya; 2002. 523 p. Russian.
  6. Shkarovskii MV. Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov’ pri Staline i Khrushcheve (Gosudarstvenno-tserkovnye otnosheniya v SSSR v 1939–1964 godakh) [The Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev (State-church relations in the USSR in 1939–1964)]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Krutitskogo podvor’ya; 2005. 423 p. Russian.
  7. Garbinski Ju. Belaruskija rjeligijnyja dzejachy XX stagoddzja. Zhyccjarysy. Martyralogija. Uspaminy [Belarusian religious figures of the 20th century. Cheerleaders. Martyrology. Memories]. Minsk: Belaruski knigazbor; 1999. 752 р. Belarusian.
  8. Garbinski Ju. [Introduction]. In: Lapicki M. U sluzhjen’ni Bogu j Belarusi [In the service of God and Belarus]. New York: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences; 2005. p. ІХ–XLVIII. Co-published by the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences. Belarusian.
  9. Silova SV. Pravoslavnaya tserkov’ v Belorussii v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (1941–1945 gg.) [The Orthodox Church in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)]. Grodno: Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno; 2003. 105 p. Russian.
  10. Jarmusik JeS. Kanfesijnaja gistoryja Belarusi [Confessional history of Belarus]. Minsk: National Institute for Higher Education; 2016. 200 p. Belarusian.
  11. [Interview with the President of the Belarusian Central Council R. Ostrovsky]. Aposhnija vestki: infarmacyjny listok. 1948 January 28. p. 5–7. Belarusian.
  12. Znich M. Zdrada [Betrayal]. [S. l.]: [s. n.]; 1948. 31 р. Belarusian.
  13. Kavalewski V. Who is going there? Adelaide: Belarusian Historical Society in Australia; 2008. 287 р. Belarusian.
  14. Merljak K. Dzejnasc’ Kastusja Merljaka na jemigracyi. Praniklivas’c’ i praktychny padyhod [The activity of Kastus Merlyak in exile. Discernment and practical approach]. New York: [s. n.]; 1992. 476 р. Belarusian.
  15. Krivonos Feodor, priest, Teplova VA, Chakvin IV, Orzhekhovskii IV, Sheikin GV, Silova SV, et al. [Belarus]. In: Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya. Tom 4 [Orthodox encyclopedia. Volume 4]. Moscow: Tserkovno-nauchnyi tsentr «Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya»; 2002. p. 467–497. Russian.
  16. Kinstler AV, Kornilov AA. Activities of the North German Vicariate of Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in time of bishop Afanasy’s (Martos) office (1946–1950). Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svyato-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Istoriya. Istoriya Russkoi pravoslavnoi tserkvi. 2019;87:108–123. Russian.
  17. Kornilov AA. Arch-pastors in Schleissheim camp for displaced persons. Ezhegodnaya bogoslovskaya konferentsiya Pravoslavnogo Svyato-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. 2007;17(1):277–290. Russian.
  18. Kosik OV. [Benedict (Bobkovsky)]. In: Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya. Tom 7 [Orthodox encyclopedia. Volume 7]. Moscow: Tserkovno-nauchnyi tsentr «Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya»; 2004. р. 577–578. Russian.
  19. Kostryukov AA. Russkaya zarubezhnaya tserkov’ v 1939–1964 gg. Administrativnoe ustroistvo i otnosheniya s Tserkov’yu v Otechestve [The Russian Church Abroad in 1939–1964. Administrative structure and relations with the Church in the Fatherland]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo PSTGU; 2015. 488 p. Russian.
  20. Krivonos Feodor, priest, Silova SV, Shlenov Vladimir, archpriest. [Athanasius (Martos)]. In: Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya. Tom 4 [Orthodox encyclopedia. Volume 4]. Moscow: Tserkovno-nauchnyi tsentr «Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya»; 2002. p. 12–13. Russian.
  21. Tsypin Vladislav, archpriest. Istoriya Russkoi tserkvi, 1917–1997 [History of the Russian Church, 1917–1997]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Spaso-Preobrazhenskogo Valaamskogo monastyrya; 1997. 831 p. Russian.
  22. Shkarovsky MV. The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Russian religious emigré community in Yugoslavia after the end of World War Two (1945–1950). Christian reading. 2016;6:218–271. Russian.
  23. Gardzienka A. Belaruskaja cjentral’naja rada (BCR): stvarjenne, dzejnasc’, zanjapad. 1943–1995 [The Belarusian Central Council (BCС): creation, activity, decline. 1943–1995]. Minsk: Knigazbor; 2016. 478 р. Belarusian.
  24. Gardzienka A. Belaruski kangrjesavy kamitjet Amjeryki (BKKA) [The Belarusian Congress Committee of America (BCCA)]. Smоlensk: [s. n.]; 2009. 428 р. Belarusian.
  25. Gardzienka A. [The political schism in Belarusian emigration]. Belaruski gistarychny agljad. 2009;16(2):452–475. Belarusian.
  26. Gardzienka NS. Belarusy w Vjalikabrytanii [Belarusians in the UK]. Minsk: Medysont; 2010. 620 р. Belarusian.
  27. Krivonos Feodor, priest. U Boga mertvykh net. Neizvestnye stranitsy iz istorii Minskoi eparkhii (1917–1939 gody) [God has no dead. Unknown pages from the history of the Minsk diocese (1917–1939)]. Minsk: MFCP; 2007. 240 р. Russian.
  28. Slesarev AV. [The Gomel Orthodox Diocese in the first half of the twentieth century: education, development, liquidation]. Trudy Minskoi dukhovnoi akademii. 2016;13:269–305. Russian.
  29. Kasmovich D. Za vol’nuju i suvjerjennuju Belarus’ [For a free and sovereign Belarus]. Vilno: Gudas; 2006. 224 p. Belarusian.
  30. Apanas, Archbishop. Na nive Hrystovaj: u pjacidzesjatyja wgodki s’vjatarstva, 1928–1978. Uspaminy [In the field of Christ: the fiftieth anniversary of the priesthood, 1928–1978. Memories]. New York: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences; 2005. 192 p. Belarusian.
  31. [Belarusian Orthodox priests in Germany 1944–1945]. Zapisy. Belaruski instytut navuki j mastactva. 2006;30:246–249. Belarusian.
  32. Bird E. Thomas. Orthodoxy in Byelorussia: 1917–1980. Zapisy. Belaruski instytut navuki j mastactva. 1983;17:144–208.
  33. Krylovich M. [The Belarusian liberation movement and the Orthodox Church]. Belaruskae slova. 1950 March 25. p. 12. Belarusian.
  34. Slesarev AV. [Historical circumstances and political background of the church schism of the Belarusian emigration in 1948–1949]. ΧΡΟΝΟΣ. Tserkovno-istoricheskii al’manakh. 2017;5:83–110. Russian.
  35. Slesarev AV. Background of the origin and history of the development of the Belarusian Council of Orthodox Churches in North America in 1950–1976. Christian reading. 2019;4:176–192. Russian.
Published
2020-04-20
Keywords: autocephaly, Belarusian diaspora, Belarusian Metropolis, Belarusian Orthodox Church, emigration, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodoxy, Orthodox Church, Patriarchate of Constantinople, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
Supporting Agencies The author is grateful to N. S. Gordienko, deputy director of the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Arts (Minsk, Belarus), A. V. Kinstler, an employee of the Archdiocese of the German Diocese of ROCOR (Munich, Germany), Yа. Zaprudnik (Somerset, New Jersey, USA) and priest Valery Trukhan (Minsk, Belarus) for their assistance in finding documentary materials on the history of the Belarusian diaspora.
How to Cite
Slesarau A. V. The administrative and canonical status of the Belarusian Metropolis during the periods of German occupation and post-war emigration (1941–1956) // Journal of the Belarusian State University. History. 2020. 2. PP. 40-50.
Issue
No 2 (2020): Journal of the Belarusian State University. History
Section
Belarusian History

Copyright (c) 2020 Journal of the Belarusian State University. History

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)