An attempt to reconstruct the Stalingrad diocese in 1947

Abstract

This article analyzes the attempt to reconstruct the Stalingrad diocese in 1947, by tearing it away from the Astrakhan and Stalingrad diocese. This action, which was generally useful for the Church and promised better management of the Volga dioceses, had completely opposite goals and was disguised as church unrest among the laity of Stalingrad, since it was carried out under the control of the authorized Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Stalingrad region S.B. Kositsyn and involved the appointment of a former renovationist to the Stalingrad cathedra - priest Nikolai Potapov. The purpose of this attempt was to obtain the maximum possible control over the new diocese, authorized by the Council. The study of this problem was carried out on the basis of the investigation file of Archpriest Potapov, archival documents of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church for 1944-1947. (GA RF), as well as their comparative analysis with the documents of the authorized Council for the Stalingrad region from the archive of the Volgograd region (GA VO). The article shows the chronology of development and the reasons for the emergence of church turmoil, as well as its participants and the degree of their involvement in the events. The role of the bishop in the healing of church disorders that arose as a result of the provocative actions of workers of the Soviet authorities in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church is reflected.