Russian Orthodox Church

Social Capital of the Russian Orthodox Christianity in the Early 21st Century: Applying Social Network Analysis

Two Types of Religiosity in the Times of the Late Socialism: Eastern Orthodox Believers in Vladimir Region

Using the example of the Vladimir city and surrounding oblast’, the author shows in this paper the real correlation of antireligious policy and lived religiosity in the late Soviet period. There are two opposing modes of such policy: on the one hand, the control over the Church hierarchy and its instrumentalization in promotion of the Russian cultural heritage, and, on the other hand, the persecution of lived spontaneous religiosity, such as the veneration of local “holy places.”

The Princess Olga from Chuvashia: Imposture as a Religious Practice

The purpose of this paper is to introduce new data on the phenomenon of imposture in Chuvashia in 1920s-1930s. The paper draws upon the evidences form the local NKVD archives. Aleksandra Saratova, who claimed to be Olga, a daughter of the last Russian Tsar Nicolas II, was arrested in Chuvashia; later she and a few other people were executed. The investigation proved her close connections with the movement of True Orthodox Christians — istinnopravoslavnykh khristian — an underground religious network strongly opposed to collectivization and the Soviet power in general.

“All Power to the Parish!” An Orthodox Revival in 1920-s

Existing scholarship on Russian Orthodoxy during the Soviet era has tended to focus on high politics, the Church (as an institution), and the clergy (especially the hierarchy). It is important, however, to shift the focus to the parish and laity, to whom the Bolsheviks (through the famous decree of 1918) gave full power over the local church and religious life.

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