5.E.1.5

“Nikola Vaptsarov” Foreign Language High School, Shumen, Bulgaria

 

DIFFERENT WAYS OF EXPRESSING FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION – INTERNATIONAL FACTS

 

After the establishment of the Soviet power in Russia, persecutions started against Russian Orthodox Church.

            In 1925 the Russian Patriarch Tikhon died. It was impossible to convoke the church council to choose a patriarch because of the persecutions. Foreseeing that patriarch Tikhon appointed three substitutes. After Tikhon’s death one of his substitutes must have inherited the patriarch throne and must have kept the unity of the church. One of these three hierarchs is the Russian Metropolitan, Petar who was the only one at liberty after the patriarch’s death. More than 50 Russian metropolitans recognized Petar as the Patriarch of Russia. He also appointed substitutes in case of detention or death.  One of his substitutes was Iosif, the other one was Sergei. A few months later, at the end of 1925 Metropolitan Petar was arrested because of his refusal to sign a “Declaration” handing over the internal freedom of the church in the hand of the Soviet power.

            During the period of 1926 – 27 no one of the candidates took the position for more than 2 months. It was obvious that the Soviet power didn’t calm down until they found or forced somebody to sign the document.

            Such a hierarch they found in the person of Metropolitan Sergei. On 29^th June 1927 after a few months in prison he signed the inglorious declaration. After publishing the declaration in “Izvestia” on 19^th August 1927 he noted that “the far-sighted part of the clergy took the right way.”

            Thus Metropolitan Sergei provoked discontent and angry protest of the superior hierarchs.

            The leading hierarchs who were still at liberty reached the conclusion Metropolitan Sergei incited schism signing the declaration. As a result in 1927- 28 they split from his church.

            In the Soviet Union appeared two churches “sergianska” – the church that existed and “functioned” in harmony with the Soviet atheistic state and the other one – True-Orthodox Church also known as the Catacomb Church which has remained loyal to public worship and hierarchy so far.

            Signing the “Declaration” Metropolitan Sergei started cooperating with the main political government of the Soviet Union and changed the hierarchs remained loyal to the Russian Orthodox.

            The Catacomb Church continued existing but it lost it direct influence on most of Russian population.

            All clerics dared to argue against the Metropolitan’s “Declaration” were arrested by the Soviet power as “counter-revolutionary” and were exiled in concentration camps or shot.

 

←