Zimina Nina; Koroleva Elena

Bishop Nazariy (Andreev) in the modern church history (on the phenomenon of conformism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920s)

Abstract

This article studies life and work of Bishop Nazariy (Andreev, 1865–1940), the prominent representative of the conformist episcopate of the 1920s. The use of a large range of previously unknown documents allowed the authors to compile a complete biography and to clarify the bishop’s church-related and political views, to specify the staff of the dioceses under his control, to reveal some methods of the Joint State Political Directorate (Russ. ОГПУ) in designing church schisms. It is shown that bishop Nazariy publicly defended the church after the February and October revolutions. During the Civil War he denounced the ideology of Bolshevism and, at the same time, criticised the policy of the Siberian White governments in connection with the foreign intervention and the involvement of the church in civil confrontation. After the war, he sought to find a compromise with the Soviet authorities and argued that the main task of the clergy was to christianise society and to dissociate from “political gambling”. In September 1922, by the eff orts of the State Political Directorate, he was removed from Yenisey diocese, lapsed into the Renovationist schism and started to support the methods of bishop of Tomsk Sophroniy (Arefyev) in pushing back the radical Renovationist group Living Church from the administration of Siberian dioceses in favour of the more moderate Union of Church Revival. He became one of the founders of the Renovationist episcopate of Siberia. The article gives data on the activities of Bishop Nazariy at the Renovationist see in Rostov-on-Don, his repentance to patriarch Tikhon and his appointment to Syzran, the new lapse into the Renovationist schism. The article shows the role of the State Political Directorate in the seduction of Bishop Nazariy into the Gregorian schism. It also outlines his return to the Orthodox Church and his activity at Chelyabinsk see in 1928. His fate after the arrest and conviction is also described.

Keywords

conformism, bishop Nazariy (Andreev), Civil War in Siberia, Renovationist schism, Gregorian schism, Joint State Political Directorate, Declaration of Metropolitan Sergiy, bishop Sofroniy (Arefi ev), archbishop Nazariy (Blinov), metropolitan Iosif (Chernov), Alatyr’ vicariate, Krasnoyarsk diocese, Rostov-on-Don diocese, Syzran’ vicariate, Chelyabinsk diocese, Troitsk vicariate

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Information about the author

Zimina Nina

Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences* in Biology;
Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences* in Biology;
Place of work: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for Humanities; 6/1 Likhov Pereulok, 127051 Moscow, Russian Federation;
Post: Senior Researcher, Research Centre for Modern History of Russian Orthodox Church;
ORCID: 0000-0001-7587-1001;
Email: ZiminaNP@mail.ru.

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.

Koroleva Elena

Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences* in History;
Place of work: Troitsk and South Ural diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church; 457100 Troitsk, Chelyabinskaya Oblast’, Russian Federation;
Post: member of the commission for the canonization of saints;
ORCID: 0000-0002-3876-8571;
Email: korel93@mail.ru.

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.