§ 28. The Church in the Russian Empire

The special sources by which the Orthodox Church in the Russian empire is governed today date from the time of Peter the Great, when the Holy Synod was established in St. Petersburg (1721) in place of the patriarchal administration that had existed until then.[1] To these sources belong:

1. The Spiritual Regulation of Peter the Great, issued in the year 1721. This “Regulation,” or statute, was composed by the Archbishop of Pskov, Feofan Prokopovich, who thereby enabled Peter to carry through, in church affairs as well, the same root-and-branch reform he had already carried through in the administration of the state. This statute was already complete in 1719; Peter himself first examined and corrected it, and then handed it over to the State Senate, that it might give its opinion on it and, for its part, correct and perhaps supplement it. After that, the same statute was sent to the higher Russian clergy, that they too might give their opinion—and when all had received and approved it, the tsar then confirmed it and proclaimed it on 25 January 1721.[2] This statute chiefly concerns the “Spiritual College,” that is, the Holy Synod, and determines its organization and competence as the supreme central church-administrative institution of the Russian Church, and only after that speaks of eparchial arrangement and of the clergy. Formally it is quite different from the manner in which various statutes are issued today, since it contains the reasons why something is prescribed, which is not found in other statutes, especially more recent ones. The statute itself is divided into three parts. In the first part, under the title “What the Spiritual College is, and what are the important reasons for such an administration,” the superiority of collegial church administration over administration by a single person is set forth. The second part sets out what matters are “subject to this administration,” namely first the general matters concerning the preservation of the purity of the faith and the spreading of the faith, then matters concerning the bishops and the rest of the clergy, the theological institutions, and the laity in their relation to the Church, and concerning marriage. The third part prescribes the organization of the Holy Synod, or “Spiritual College,” and the conduct of business within it. This is the content of the statute itself. In the year following the issuing of the statute, that is, 1722, there was compiled and printed together with the statute an extensive “Addition concerning the rules for the church clergy and the monastic order,” in which there is discussion first “of presbyters, deacons, and the other clergy,” then “of monks—who and how one is received into monkhood, of the life of monks, of nuns, of monasteries, and of monastic superiors.” In the printed editions of this statute there are, further, two supplements, one concerning mixed marriages,[3] and the other the instruction for the “Ober-Prokuror,” that is, the tsar’s deputy in the Holy Synod. On the basis of this fundamental statute, and by the express provision expressed in the tsar Peter I’s confirming letter of 25 January 1721, the Holy Synod further developed its legislative power by issuing relevant statutory prescriptions on various questions of the administration of the Russian Church, of course always with the corresponding consent of the tsar.[4] Among these statutory prescriptions we shall mention here those which Russian canonists regard as sources of the present-day law of the Russian Church, namely:

The Statute of the Spiritual Consistories. The eparchial administration was not set forth in detail in the “Regulation”; rather the Holy Synod, in the course of time, issued various ukases concerning that administration. Out of these various synodal ukases it was decided in 1837 to compile a special statute that would once and for all establish that eparchial administration. This statute was drawn up in 1838 and sent to the eparchies, so that the administration might be tried according to it for a year, and the bishops then submit it, with their remarks, to the Holy Synod for final redaction. After a thorough review of this statute in the synod, it was confirmed by the tsar on 27 March 1841 and proclaimed as law. But afterward, many articles of this same statute, owing to various newer statutory prescriptions, underwent changes and additions, so that in 1883 the statute was again reviewed and brought into accord with the newer laws. In its new, revised form, the consistorial statute was approved by imperial ukase on 9 April 1883, and from that time began to hold in place of the earlier one.[5] This statute has four parts: in the first, the general foundations are set forth as to what a consistory is and according to what principles the eparchial administration and court are to be carried out; the second part speaks in particular of the eparchial administration, namely: of the preservation and spreading of the Orthodox faith, of divine worship, of church buildings, of the clergy, of the parishes, and of church economy; the third part speaks of the eparchial court, namely: of the competence of the eparchial court, of offenses of the clergy against their duties, of disputes among the clergy arising from church revenues, of complaints against the clergy, of unlawful marriages, of divorce, of the lawfulness of marriage, and of the imposition of church penalties; the fourth part sets forth the organization of the consistory, namely: of the members of the consistory, of its external organization and the time of the consistory’s activity, of the conduct of business in the consistory, and of the consistory’s correspondence with the relevant authorities. To the statute are further appended detailed forms, by which everything falling within the competence of the consistory is to be kept in clear record.

Instruction for the Deans of Parish Churches.[6] This is a guide for the district overseer-priests entrusted with the care of a certain number (10 to 30) of parishes. This instruction was composed as early as 1775 by the Metropolitan of Moscow, Platon, for his own eparchy, and afterward, reviewed and supplemented, was issued on 10 September 1857 for all the eparchies in Russia.

Instruction for the Deans of Men’s and Women’s Monasteries.[7] For the administration of the district overseer-hieromonks (usually the better-known monastic superiors) entrusted with oversight over several monasteries of one eparchy, a special instruction, still valid today, was issued on 28 May 1828. The chief objects of the oversight of these “deans” are: 1. how the divine service is conducted in the monasteries; 2. how the monks and nuns conduct themselves in their monasteries and outside them; and 3. how the monastic economy is managed.

The Statute concerning Parish Trusteeships at the Orthodox Churches,[8] confirmed and issued on 2 August 1864, prescribes the rights and duties of the parish committees which look after the maintenance of the parish churches and parish clergy, and also of the elementary schools in the parish and of local charitable institutions.

Instruction for the Church Wardens,[9] confirmed and issued on 17 April 1808, prescribes the rights and duties of the epitropos of the parish church, whose task is to keep and care for church property.[10]