The role of high priests in the institutional development of the Omsk eparchy and the main results of high priest's administration

Abstract

In the presented article, the author analyzes the main results of the bishopric administration of the Omsk diocese, from the time the diocese was formed in 1895 until the start of the revolution in 1917. The Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire was the main political institution of the state, it was given the main role in the system of spiritual governance of the region and implementation of the Russification policy. In this regard, it becomes relevant to study the main activities of the Omsk diocese and its ruling elite — the bishops.

The article presents the main results of the work of the ruling eight bishops of the Omsk diocese in the context of the institutional formation of the diocese. Two periods of the development of the diocese were distinguished. The first period is determined by the formation of the diocesan structure, due to which the main diocesan authorities were formed. The second period was the streamlining of the church life of the diocese, in which all the organs of the diocese were finally formed and staffed. Both periods are characterized by the complexity of the socio-economic and political processes in the region, caused by the crisis of autocracy and insufficient funding of the diocese, unresolved personnel issues, as well as a difficult ethno-confessional situation. The purpose of this article is an attempt to analyze the activities of the ruling bishops and determine their role in the conduct of state-confessional policy, the formation and development of the Omsk diocese.