IV. Наши заграничный церкви и миссии

Consecration of the new Russian church in Jerusalem On May 22, 1896, a church built in the Russian House in Jerusalem, near the Church of the Resurrection, was consecrated in prayerful memory of the deceased sovereign Emperor Alexander III. The ceremony of consecration took place with the participation of the late Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Gerasim. On the acceptance by the Holy Synod into its ownership of the church built in the city of Cannes In respect of the petition of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, the august patron of the Cannes Orthodox Brotherhood, for the Holy Synod to accept into his ownership and control the Orthodox Church built in the city of Cannes (in southern France) and all the land attached to it, the Holy Synod, by definition of January 22 - February 4, 1897, allowed me to ask your highest imperial Majesty's permission to strengthen the mentioned church with the land with it behind the Holy Synod. The highest permission for this came on the 28th day of February 1897. Missions and churches of the Aleutian diocese – The Aleutian diocese in 1896-97 was under the control of Bishop Nicholas, with the assistance of the Alaskan Ecclesiastical Board and three deans: a) the New York district, priest John Nedelnitsky, living in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, b) the dean of the Sitka district, Archimandrite Anatoly, living in Sitka and c) the dean Unalaska district, priest A. Kedrovsky. There were 29 of all missions and parishes in the Aleutian diocese and namely: in the United States: 1) in San Francisco, 2) in Jackson-Seattle, 3) in Minneapolis, 4) Chicago-Streator, 5) Pittsburgh-Allegheny, 6) Ooceola-Philippsburg, 7) Shepton, 8) Welkesbarre, 9) Oldforge, 10 and 11) two in New York (Russian and Arabic), 12) in Bridgeport, 13) Anzonia, 14) Cairo (Arabic), 15) Galveston (mixed Slavic-Greek-Arabic); in Alaska: 1) in Juneau, 2) on Kilisku Island, 3) in Sitka, 4) in Kodiak, 5) in Afognak, 6) in Kenai, 7) in Belkovsky, 8) in Unalaska, 9) on the island of St. Paul, 10) on the island of St. George, 11) on the island of Atha, 12) in Nushagak, 13) on Kuskokwim (the seat of the priest in St. Michael's Redoubt) and 14) on Kvikhnakh. There are 38 churches in the Aleutian diocese, and up to 70 chapels. The number of Orthodox Christians living in the Aleutian diocese reaches up to 50,000 people. Among the Orthodox there are representatives of a wide variety of nationalities: this includes Greeks, Syro-Arabs, Russians, Slavs of all kinds (from Turkey and Austria), Aleuts, Koloshes, Eskimos (of various tribes), Creoles (a cross between whites and native Aleuts and Indians), Chinese, Japanese and others. There are several people of the Anglo-Saxon race, and there are also Romanesque ones. The state of piety in the Aleutian diocese is not the same everywhere: “There are areas where the spirit of Orthodoxy still barely noticeably lives, but there are also places where it lives and acts in all its freshness, as if in the time of the apostles.” The Aleuts are the highest in religious and moral terms. Their selflessness, patience, good nature, mutual charity, brotherly love are unparalleled. When the Right Reverend asked one priest in Alaska why they didn’t organize brotherhoods, the latter replied: “We don’t need them, our whole parish has a real brotherhood. We have no beggars, for every Aleut will always share everything he has with the poor. "... Then follow the Rusyns and Arabs. They have a strong religious feeling and fear of God. For both, life and all interests revolve around the church, and the priest is both a teacher, a shepherd, and a judge. The Greeks are all immersed in politics and trade. The Russians and Slavs are the lowest in religious and moral terms. Both of them very soon become depersonalized here both nationally and religiously. The Serbs especially attract attention in these respects. They engage only in drunkenness and politicking, instead of practicing in matters of piety, they go to Freemasonry, where they receive material benefits. Even the most important duty of every Christian - confession and St. They do not perform the sacraments. When asked to come to confession, they usually answer: “What do you want from me?!” What sin? I have no sin; I am a good Serbian,” that’s all! Over the past five years, the clergy of the Aleutian diocese has almost all been replaced by new faces, and mainly from the Russian clergy. Its composition can generally be considered satisfactory. The activities of the clergy mainly consisted of performing divine services, preaching and teaching in schools. A sore point in diocesan life was the frequent change of clergy: visiting priests do not settle in, some are oppressed here by a natural longing for their homeland, others are oppressed by the new conditions of social life, which are completely inconsistent with the tastes and habits of the Russian clergy. It would be desirable to form a clergy from the local population. Nowadays, schools have been opened for this purpose in Sitka, Unalaska and Minneapolis. But these schools prepare proteges for the lower degrees of the priesthood. For higher degrees, it would be necessary to either open your own seminary or send children from here to Russia to complete their theological education. An attempt has already been made in the latter kind: there are currently seven boys studying in Russia. Almost all the churches of the Aleutian diocese have so-called Saturday and Sunday catechetical schools. This is the only type of school convenient for our purposes, because there are public schools here, government ones, where children must go to study. But since it is impossible to teach much on several Saturdays and Sundays, some zealous clergy gather children together in the evenings, especially in winter. There are three properly organized schools. They are maintained at the expense of the Russian Government. This; a) Unalaska missionary - priest Fr. John Veniaminov, b) Sitka missionary of the Most Reverend Innocent, Bishop of Aleutekiy, and c) Minneapolis missionary. Each of these schools has a shelter for children from 12 to 20 people. All these schools and shelters are furnished quite satisfactorily in all respects. In addition to the mentioned schools, there are also schools with shelters on Nucheke Island and Kodiak Island. The programs of all these schools correspond to the programs of Russian one-class and two-class parochial schools. The most important means in strengthening unity in the minds of the diverse children of the Aleutian flock are: a) the Mutual Aid Society, b) the publication of the “American Orthodox Herald” and c) visits to the diocesan bishop and his services in churches and preaching. The Mutual Aid Society currently consists of 26 fraternities and sororities, primarily Pennsylvania. Initially, it included only Slovak-Russian brotherhoods; At present, Croatian brotherhoods, of which there are three in the Allegheny parish, began to join this society. “The organization of the Society” is based on twofold goals: moral and material: a) the dissemination and establishment of the Orthodox faith in America, all possible participation and diligence in the creation of churches and schools, in the establishment of a diocesan printing house, for the publication of an Orthodox newspaper, calendar and religious and moral brochures, useful for enlightening the people and instilling in them feelings of love and devotion to Orthodoxy, the Church and the homeland, and the principles of Christian mutual assistance; b) assistance to widows and orphans after the death of a member of the Society, assistance to a member of the Society in the event of the death of his wife, and assistance to the poor in illness and other misfortunes. The Mutual Aid Society is developing well so far. It has up to 1000 members. The sisterhood first began in Bridgeport. Following this, the same union was established, with the assistance of Archpriest A. Tovt, in Welkesbarre and, finally, in Allegheny. Sister unions, by the way, also have as their task, in addition to any other task, helping sisters, helping during childbirth by inviting a doctor, an obstetrician and personal care of sisters for each other. The Mutual Aid Society also has its own organ - the newspaper "Svet", which is published by priest Gregory Grushka in Oldforge. On September 1, 1896, the Aleutian diocese began publishing its own diocesan organ: the Orthodox American Bulletin. Despite the short time of its existence, the Bulletin has already managed to interest society, both local and European. It is sent to all universities in the United States, in Europe to all our embassies and missions, as well as in Russia - to some hierarchs, in academies, seminaries, etc. Its articles are reprinted both in foreign newspapers and in Russian ones. In Alaska, his every issue causes a sensation. His Eminence's visits to various places in the diocese and conversations with his flock always aroused keen interest. Meetings and farewells were made most solemn. Many turned to him with various questions from their spiritual life; others asked to confess them and so on. In many places in Alaska, people did not go to the fisheries in anticipation of the Eminence, who everywhere met with a warm welcome, love, and attention. One of the bright events in the life of the Aleutian flock was the celebration in 1897 of the centenary anniversary of the birth of the ever-memorable Saint Innocent, the Aleutian enlightener. The name of this saint will always be honored by the Aleutian diocese. The sad aspects of the life of the same flock include the following phenomena: oppression by government agents on the islands and in Alaska, an extremely hostile attitude towards the clergy of the Alaska Trading Company and other companies, because the clergy does not defend the lawless claims of these companies, the unfair attitude of heterodox missionaries and public school teachers towards the population. Despite the extremely difficult conditions under which our clergy in the Aleutian diocese have to live and act, his labors did not remain fruitless: in 1896, 40 people joined the Orthodox Church of the Uniates living in the North American United States in the city of Buffalo, in the parish of the Minneapolis church 13, in the city of Wilkeson 40, in the New York deanery district of the Aleutian diocese, for in the first half of 1896, 176, and in the city of Cleveland 63 people, and in 1897 700 Uniate Russins living in Canada, in British possessions. In 1897, the Holy Synod, taking into account the special conditions in which the Aleutian diocese is located, the Aleutian diocesan authorities were allowed to make final decisions on all cases of divorce that may arise, in which local civil courts had made decisions, in accordance with the circumstances of the case and in compliance with the requirements of existing church laws, without entering the Holy Synod on these matters with special each times representations. Orthodox mission in Japan By January 1, 1898, the Japanese Orthodox Church consisted of: 225 church communities, 23,856 Christians in them; 35 clergy, including: 1 bishop, 1 archimandrite, 1 cathedral hieromonk, 27 priests, 5 deacons; the first three, also 1 priest and 1 deacon, are Russian; all others are Japanese, including 1 priest with an academic background. There are 16 clerics – teachers of church singing, 156 preachers. 937 people were baptized in 1896 and 992 people in 1897. The educational institutions of the mission consisted of: 1) In Tokyo: in the catechist school - 7 students, in the seminary - 58, in the clergy school - 4, in the women's school - 79 students. There were 33 students in these institutions, 7 of them with academic education. 2) In the Hakodat mission camp, in schools for incoming boys and girls, there were 54 students, with 4 teachers, two of whom were local catechists. The Society of Translators of Religious Books consisted of 8 translators and 2 editors of the mission’s periodicals: the two-weekly “Seikeo-Simpo” (Orthodox Messenger), published by the Society of Translators, and the monthly “Uranisiki” (Modesty), published by teachers of a women’s school. The seminary mentors, candidates of Russian theological academies, publish the third spiritual magazine, published monthly: “Shinkai” (Spiritual Sea). In the icon-painting workshop located at the women's school, which supplies Japanese Orthodox churches with icons, two icon painters still worked. The personnel of the Japanese mission in 1897 was significantly replenished: newly appointed by the Holy Synod arrived to serve in the Japanese mission: assistant to the head of the mission, Archimandrite Sergius, and a member of the mission, cathedral hieromonk Andronik. In the upper, so-called intelligent, classes of the Japanese population, complete indifference and indifference towards religious issues prevail, while the lower classes of the population are so suppressed by need and heavy worries about their daily bread that they remain impervious and deaf to all other influences that go beyond material interests. If we add here the nationalist movement that has recently swept the entire country, encouraging us to stick exclusively to our own in all spheres of life, not excluding religious ones, as well as the feverish haste with which the Japanese, in order to strengthen and enrich their state, try to borrow from foreigners the only external fruits of civilization and culture, then it becomes clear that the influx of students in missionary schools has recently become scarce: now there are only 58 students in five classes of the seminary, and in catechetical school, in the senior and junior classes, only 7 people. For the maintenance of the Japanese mission by the Orthodox Missionary Society in 1896–97. up to 50,000 rubles were allocated. Establishment of a spiritual mission in Korea In 1897, an Orthodox spiritual mission was established in Korea, which was to reside in Seoul and consist of a priest and a psalm-reader. 20,000 rubles were allocated for the construction of a church in this city. and for the construction of a house for clergy - 5,000 rubles. 5,000 rubles are allocated for the maintenance of the clergy and mission church. per year, including a salary of 3,000 rubles for the priest, 1,500 rubles for the priest. and 500 rubles for the maintenance of the church. The caretaker of the Biysk Catechetical School, Hieromonk Ambrosy, was appointed to the place of the priest, with his elevation to the rank of archimandrite, and to the place of the psalm-reader, Alexey Krasin, who completed a course at the Oryol Theological Seminary. However, due to political difficulties, this mission had not yet had time to arrive in Seoul and open its activities.