The Church and the state in the Russian Tsardom acted in unison, – participants of the open meeting at the Trinity-Sergius Lavratranslated

The inseparability and the joint action characterize the relationship between the Church and the state during the era of the Russian Tsardom.

This conclusion was reached by the participants of the second open dialogue in the cycle "The Spiritual Meaning of Russian Autocracy: From Saint Prince Andrei Bogolubsky to Emperor Nicholas II," which took place on October 18, 2026, at the Moscow Theological Academy in the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, reported the organizers to the magazine "Foma."

The meeting was dedicated to the tsarist period – the era from Ivan IV the Terrible to Peter I. The cycle is being held in anticipation of the 145th anniversary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which will be celebrated in June 2027.

The choice of the location was not accidental, as it was to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra that Russian tsars would travel for blessings on their reign, and during the Time of Troubles, the monastery endured a 16-month siege and became a cornerstone for the country's reunification.

Opening the discussion, the general director of the "Saviour" television channel Boris Korchevnikov addressed the figure of Saint Prince Andrei Bogolubsky, the gatherer of Russian lands. His speech was dedicated to the role of the prince in the formation of Russian statehood and the transition from the princely period to the tsardom.

In turn, the Patriarchal Vicar...