Why does Russia need church reform and what does Ukraine have to do with it?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the 17th century, important foreign policy and objective internal reasons prompted Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to reform the Church. The sovereign wanted to take advantage of the situation when Russia had the opportunity to become a stronghold of world Orthodoxy. Because of the old centuries-old rituals, Russian church traditions were at odds with the canonical Greek ones, which needed to be urgently corrected. However, the radicalism of the reformers and the crude methods of innovation gave rise to a schism unprecedented until then, the echo of which is not silent today.

Consequences of the Troubles and the growth of contradictions

Since 988, when Russia adopted Christianity from Byzantium with its liturgical books and rituals, the Russian Orthodox Church tried to preserve this heritage in its original form. But for a number of reasons, including those associated with the Time of Troubles, a significant stratum of the illiterate population appeared in society, resulting in the dominance of incompetent clergy. By the beginning of the 17th century, many errors and inaccuracies appeared in the handwritten church books in the process of translations and rewriting. And the liturgical rites of Russia were very different from the world ones, going against the fundamental Greek customs.

Attempts to correct the books on the Greek model were made a century earlier. But despite state support, the undertakings did not differ in consistency and mass scale. And the totally growing number of churches in Russia only exacerbated the situation. A tribute to the new era was also the need to centralize church government, optimize the degree of power of the patriarch and, to be honest, an increase in taxes levied on the clergy.

Political vectors

When analyzing the reform that led to the church schism, pragmatic historians emphasize that it was not only the clergy and flock that needed reforms. First of all, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich focused on political goals. In the current realities, the tsar saw an opportunity to strengthen and elevate the position of Russia, which, due to old rituals, was separated from other Christian countries in a religious context. The prospect of Moscow's emergence as the Third Rome has surfaced. Alexei Mikhailovich, apparently, decided to bring Moscow to the level of Constantinople. Russia could well become the successor of the Byzantine Empire, for which it was necessary to improve and bring to the required level the religious side of the life of the Russian people, to correct inconsistencies with the classical way of life of the Greeks.

In parallel, the situation required the strengthening of internal power, for which it was necessary to unify all spheres of public life, to introduce a single set of untouchable requirements. For this reason, the "Cathedral Code" of 1649, approved by the tsar, appeared. Not the last motive for the escalation of reforms was the annexation of the left-bank part of Ukraine to Russia in 1645. For a competent reunification, it was necessary to exclude all possible conflicts, primarily religious ones. After all, until that moment, the Ukrainian Church existed under the subordination of the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, having carried out the necessary reforms. And the ritual rumors of the Russians differed markedly from the Ukrainian ones.

Nikon's incompetence

By the decision of the tsar, Patriarch Nikon was entrusted to lead the clergy. It was he who was responsible for a number of reforms aimed at changing some aspects of church life. Moreover, Nikon himself did not enjoy the authority of the priests, not having sufficient experience for large-scale activities. The main innovations of Nikon's name were the replacement of two fingers with the imposition of the sign of the cross with three fingers, the corrected direction of the procession, the abolition of bows to the ground in favor of the waist bows, a new order of praise during the service, and some others.

Despite the purely external nature of the innovations, which does not affect the essence of Orthodoxy, ordinary pious people rebelled. The reforms were perceived as an encroachment on the faith of their ancestors. Some Old Believers even saw the coming of the Antichrist in the king. The main ideologist of the protest movement was Archpriest Avvakum, who found many followers. The population of Russia in the 17th century was truly religious. There were no atheists at that time. Monarchical power went hand in hand with the Church, which was absolutely natural. At that time, going against the king was the same as rebelling against God. For this reason, opponents of church innovations, with the knowledge of Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon, were considered apostates. Later, speaking about church reform and Nikon, Catherine II confessed that the latter aroused disgust in her. According to the empress, the inept, rude and cruel actions of the patriarch plunged the Fatherland into darkness, and the tsar-father, with the light hand of the high priest, turned into a tyrant.

Good goals and tragic consequences

Nikon not only rejected the age-old traditions of the Russian people, the whole culture turned out to be outraged. At the same time, no explanatory work was carried out with people. The forcibly implanted new rituals led to a split not only in the church environment, but in the whole society. The need for urgent reform of the Orthodox Church in the 17th century is still debated. Moreover, opponents argue their positions with convincing arguments. On the one hand, the innovations undoubtedly had good goals, but they were presented abruptly and illiterately. The results of the unwisely carried out reforms prove that the technique of their implementation was an important unaccounted for aspect.

Nikon's radical methods became disastrous for Russia. The Old Believers, in fact, did not disagree with the Orthodox Church in dogmas. They only for objective reasons did not recognize the abrupt abolition of some age-old rituals initiated by Nikon. The government, meeting widespread resistance to the approved reform, went to repressions against the Old Believers. Those who did not support the innovations were persecuted and forced to abandon the beliefs that were ossified in centuries at one point. The most recalcitrant were tortured, sent into exile, their tongues were torn out and executed. Even a special "inquisition" was formed to deal with the affairs of "apostates." So, the attempt to create a second Byzantium ended for Russia with schism, persecution and violence.