Conversations of the Chairman of the Council for ROC Affairs with representatives of the episcopate: content analysis (1947)

Abstract

In 1943, on September 4, I. Stalin, at a meeting with L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov and G.G. Karpov, decide on the creation and status of a new body for the relationship between the Church and the state - the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church. On the same day, the meeting of the three metropolitans Sergius (Stragorodsky), Alexy (Simansky) and Nikolai (Yarushevich) with Joseph Stalin takes place. From that moment on, the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet state changed radically. Studying the period of activity of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church is an important part of studying the history of not only the Church in the 20th century, but also the Soviet state. The conversations of the Chairman of the SDRPTS are an important historical source that reflects the central moments of church-state relations of that period. These documents reflect the meetings of the Chairman of the Council with the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, where the main issues of church life are discussed, religious events are planned, personnel issues are resolved, and much more. This paper will present an analysis of the Conversations for 1947. It is important to look at this historical source comprehensively, with a detailed study of the context and scientific criticism of the information that is given there. All this will help to understand the meaning of such documents, reveal the details of historical facts, and also see the complex process of the relationship between the Russian Church and the Soviet government.