Reforming missionary activity among foreigners of Siberia in the decisions of the bishop conference in Irkutsk in 1885

Abstract

The article is devoted to the Irkutsk Bishops Conference of 1885, where they discussed measures for improvement of missionary activity among the non-Russian population of Siberia, especially the Buryat. The meeting was characterized by the consolidated work of Siberian bishops and representatives of local authorities who had the right to vote and sign, as educating of non-Russians was of a church-state nature. Final Irkutsk Bishops Conference resolutions once again demonstrated the high level of responsibility of the Russian episcopate for the fate of Orthodoxy in Russia. These resolutions’ implementation had already borne good fruit during the lifetime of the Conference participants. They did the most important work aimed at raising faith and morality among both the Russian population and the non-Russian, which were still practicing paganism. Among the resolutions were such compromise decisions between the Church and secular authorities as increasing the financing of the Siberian missionary centers, opening of new centers, for example, in the Turukhan region, as well as increasing of the salaries of the missionaries themselves, the lands demarcating used by the non-Russian population, conscripting non-Russians, etc.