The problem of vacations and business trip of the Orthodox clergies of the active Russian army during the World War I
Abstract
During the World War I, the department of the military and naval clergy faced the problem of vacations and business trips of priests from the active Russian army. The department of the protopresbyter understood that a long stay at the front was a test of the physical and moral strength of the priests and recognised their right to rest: during the war, it was clarified under what conditions the temporary departure of the pastor would not be harmful to the religious and educational work. It was determined who should give permission for vacation, what periods of absence were allowed, how many priests could leave the division at a time. Also, the importance of business trips for the acquisition of literature and the necessary for the performance of worship was not denied. However, an analysis of official documents and correspondence in the department of the military and naval clergy showed that during the war some orthodox military priests allowed themselves vacations and business trips in violation of the established order. This, in turn, exposed one of the imperfections of the military clergy management system – the lack of rights of the deans in matters of allowing holidays for priests, the frequent disregard of their authority rights by commanders and chief doctors. After the February Revolution, for some time, a ban on holidays was introduced in the office of the protopresbyter. However, despite the measures taken, the problem has not disappeared. It’s preservation led to a discussion of the phenomenon at the 2nd All-Russian congress of the military and naval clergy in Mogilev in 1917 July. The author concludes that the abuse of absenteeism persisted throughout the war and took place on different fronts of the Russian army. The military spiritual authorities were aware of the problem and tried to resolve it by available means. The situation, despite the orders of the protopresbyter and chief priests, decisions of meetings and congresses, was not resolved during the war and affected the decrease in the efficiency of the orthodox military clergy in the army. The stated topic has not previously become the subject of separate studies.
References
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