№ 22. Мнение Преосвященного Филарета о злоупотреблениях по управлению Подольскою епархиею

Adjutant General Gr. On February 22, 1839, Benckendorf forwarded Gr. To N. A. Protasov, a note about abuses in the Podolsk diocese, with the following content: On the occasion of the grumbling of the Greek-Russian Clergy of the Podolsk diocese about the constraint arising from the abuse and illegal actions of the diocesan superior 8, the Rector of the seminary 9 and Archpriest Gogotsky 10, the following was learned: 1) Every person who receives the degree of clergy is not first awarded it until he donates money, under the pretext of decorating the Bishop’s Church and the sacristy; Why does Archpriest Gogotsky keep the book secret? 2) Not only those who accepted the Greek-Russian confession from the Jews, but also people of shameful behavior are allowed to be ordained priests. Thus, Kasherinovsky was ordained a priest in 1837, having been exposed for theft of things left after the death of the deceased Archbishop. Xenophon and Abbot Ambrose; What the case was about has not yet been decided in the Letichevsky district court. 3) Not everyone is awarded archpriestly degrees and awards, depending on the Right Reverend and on his recommendation by the Holy Synod, for merit; before or after receiving, these favors are bought up. Like the archpriest in the Baltic district Podfilinsky, an unlearned man promoted to the priesthood from among the clergy, the priest Veselovsky of the Proskurovsky district received the archpriest rank within one summer and was nominated for the kamilavka award. And since the awarding of archpriestly degrees and other awards depending on the Right Reverend happens without merit and is exorbitant, so that the number of archpriests exceeds the number of deans of the Church: not all of them are shown about their award when the list is presented to the Holy Synod. 4) When the Right Reverend reviews the diocese, he visits with the servants, who are too large and greatly ruin the clergy with their demands. 5) In 1836, as a result of the decree of the spiritual consistory, there was a monetary collection of 50 kopecks. ser. from every parish and provincial church, for the construction of uniforms for choristers. 6) For the purchase of books published by Rev. Kirill does not invite sermons, but annually by decree of the consistory all churches, clergy, clergy, ordainers, and even patrons are forced to pay 3 rubles for the annual publication. silver 7) They do not pay special attention to the actual expenses of the allocated amounts for the construction and repair of churches because they do not carry out formal bidding, do not require reference prices, which is why repairs and construction are always equal to the allocated amount. A clear proof of this may be the correction of the warm Bishops' Church, for which 17 thousand rubles were allocated from the treasury. banknotes and collection of voluntary alms up to 3 thousand rubles. ser., and the establishment of a first-class Trinity Monastery, which, after long lawsuits, was found from private property in cash up to 100 tons of Polish gold. In it, the Holy Synod allowed to build a Church with this money and expand the monastery, so that it corresponded to the title of a first-class monastery. Its rector, Archimandrite Nathanael, caring more about his own benefits, expanded the former monastery building by rebuilding extensive chambers for himself, under which he placed a church, a kitchen and a bathhouse. The construction had already been completed, which was followed by permission from the Holy Synod. 8) Archimandrite Nathanael and the rector of the seminary, as the abbot of the monastery, rents out rooms in it for the placement of the bursa. For renting quarters that are dilapidated, cramped and dirty, he receives 2 thousand rubles, where the students are forced to endure extreme disadvantages. 9) For the most advantageous placement of the seminary and district schools, the beneficent government, wanting to provide all the amenities to the youth being educated, allocates 1,600 rubles for the rental of district schools; With this money, a house is rented on the outskirts, in the most unfavorable place, which was hitherto a postal station, and the little students, walking a considerable distance in inclement and cold times, arouse pity in the viewer; for going to the suburbs while living in the city is not only difficult for them, but is associated with illness. These children are almost all the poorest, not having proper clothing, they can easily catch a cold, and the placement of the classes is so cramped that the rooms, containing no more than 2½ fathoms, contain up to a hundred or more students. It must be said that this order is not disinterested, malicious! Why rent a house for district schools in such a remote place, with such inconveniences, while in the seminary buildings the rooms that were previously occupied by the school now remain empty; and if it were necessary to accommodate more profitably, it would be much better to remove professors and teachers from the seminary buildings, for whom it would be easier to find comfortable apartments close to the seminary. 10) Some of the government-paid students most of the time, being deprived of clothes and shoes, remain in their apartments without listening to lessons in the classrooms. 11) The amount of money for the purchase of firewood for heating classrooms is wasted in vain: classrooms are never heated. 12) The rector especially patronizes the seminary’s economist, Rev. Vigure, a literature teacher, a well-known drunkard in the city of Kamenets, reaching the point of madness, as it happened on July 6, 1838. Vigura was so drunk that he ran down the street in his shirt, they tied him up and locked him in the cellar. For this act, instead of subjecting Vigura to due punishment, the rector managed, a few days after that, to petition the Right Reverend for a reward, Vigura with a kamilavka. After this, one cannot help but believe the rumors that, as a result of Vigura’s special patronage, there is a reprehensible relationship between Archimandrite Nathanael and Vigura’s wife. 13) The rector of the seminary, Archimandrite Nathanael, is also a professor of Theological Sciences. Instead of himself serving as a good example for other mentors, he not only does not show up in class on time, but also allows himself, without the permission of the Supreme Theological School Authority, to be absent from the city of Kamenets in the province during school hours; in such absence it happens for almost a month at a time, as happened in 1837 in May and June, and in the past 1838 in June. These travels were for his sake, to recommend to the Eminence the richest priests in the diocese, to petition them for the rewards of the Eminence, just as in the Letichevsky district of the village of Ignatovets priest Kovalevsky, who received a legguard, which, when Kovalevsky did not think to pay on the spot: then Archimandrite Nathanael, as the leader in the consistory, by decrees summoned Kovalevsky to the city of Kamenets three times, has not yet paid off. 14) Students who have completed a course of science, foreseeing the constraint for themselves to remain in the Spiritual rank, are dismissed from this rank; The diocesan authorities, not paying attention to this, take advantage of new bargaining opportunities, enter the Treasury Chamber with demands for the exclusion from the taxable status of people dismissed by landowners, in order to accept them into the clergy, under the pretext of a noticeable lack of persons of the clergy rank. 15) Salaries in 1837 granted to the clergy of small parishes were not issued; when giving, they are required to sign for receipt at the consistory; Why are those people being called to Kamenets? 16) In 1837, by order of the Holy Synod, it was prescribed that only monasteries and deans should have the seals established for their places; and the consistory ordered that every parish church should have; stamps were made for 1 rub. gray, and sold for 17 Polish zlotys. 17) By order of the consistory, tin and copper crosses were sent to parish churches to be placed on infants at baptism; for these crosses it was ordered to collect 1 zloty, while in the hands of strangers you can buy three or four kopecks in copper. This money is delivered to the consistory. 18) About the parish school of the Novouglitsky district in the village of Privorotye, they say this: that those brought up in it have no shoes or clothes at all times of the year and are in a very pitiful situation. Based on these actions of the Spiritual authorities in the Podolsk province, which are too obvious, one can conclude that the abuses will be much more open if the examination is not entrusted to a clergy person and not subordinate to the spiritual authorities, in the condescension of which His Eminence Kirill is very confident, if he allowed himself to neglect the reports of some persons of the consistory who brought to him about the disorders about which he ordered them to write to the Holy Synod. After considering this note, Metropolitan Philaret gave the following conclusion: According to the secret note about abuses in the Podolsk diocese, so that with respect for the diocesan Right Reverend, whose good intentions are known, and with caution against indecent publicity, to agree on the duty to find out the truth and take sufficient measures against evil, it would be possible to divide the different subjects of the note into different cases, and give each a special movement, depending on the subject. One could appeal to the Eminence so that he would pay attention to whether this kind of abuse is hidden, and notify about what follows. Demand from the Eminence detailed information about Kasherovsky, and the matters relating to him, and whether he has truly been promoted to priest, before the case about him is concluded in a secular court. At the same time, you can demand from the head of the Province information whether there is a court case about Kasherovsky in Letichev. Request through the secretary the service lists of Podfilinsky and Veselovsky and the personal list of all archpriests in the diocese with an indication of when who was promoted. Accordingly, it will be possible to give the Right Reverend the necessary advice. One could warn the Eminence with good advice, unofficially. Demand a secret report from the secretary of the consistory. Warning the Eminence with advice unofficially. This point can be communicated to the Eminence in the form of a separate note, and demand attention and information. Without communicating the contents of these points to anyone, until it is determined whether it is necessary or unnecessary, immediately transfer the Rector of the Podolsk Seminary to Kostroma, and Kostromsky to his place, and give the latter a special instruction so that, when taking over the Seminary from his predecessor, he would delve into all the circumstances of it, and the subordinate schools under it, and make a detailed report on this directly to the Holy Synod. (A similar measure was used in Vyatka, opened the state of the seminary and served to improve it.) Depending on the extent to which the testimony against Rector Nathanael regarding the Seminary turns out to be fair, it will be necessary to pay attention to the testimony about his behavior: and meanwhile, when transferring him to Kostroma, instruct the local Bishop to keep a vigilant watch over him, and pastorally test him in a moral sense, yes the service will be blameless. Find out whether Vigura has been nominated for an award, and what has been written about him. It is not clear what to do would be convenient and useful. These points can be communicated to the Eminence in the form of a separate note, and require consideration and information. Kirill, Archbishop. Podolsky and Bratslavsky. Keykeeper of the Podolsk Cathedral. You might be interested in: