Unveiling the renovation coup: Amur Zemsky Sobor 1922 and the seizure of church property

Abstract

This article presents and analyzes, for the first time, the documents from the Amur Zemsky Sobor of 1922, focusing on church-related matters. The materials discussed at the Zemsky Sobor shed light on the Renovations coup in Russia and the campaign to seize church valuables, bringing these topics into scholarly discourse. The catalyst for this exploration was a letter received in Vladivostok from a Siberian priest, which included directives from the new church authorities. Preceding these directives was a call to believers to denounce Patriarch Tikhon and his loyal clergy. These documents also detailed the establishment of the Renovationist Provisional All-Russian Church Administration and, for the Siberian provinces, the Siberian Church Administration headquartered in Tomsk.

The Amur Zemsky Sobor unequivocally opposed the Renovationist coup in Russia and the pillaging of church treasures. Beyond the statements made by the council's chairperson and members, which are recorded in the meeting transcripts, the communal appeals to the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches hold particular significance for contemporary researchers. Additionally, appeals were made to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the United States, urging them to condemn the Soviet government's unlawful actions against the canonical Russian Orthodox Church led by Patriarch Tikhon. These appeals sought to defend the arrested Primate from violence and persecution.