Every citizen separates the church from the state. On the separation of church and state and school from church
On the separation of church and state and school from church
[Decree of the Council of People's Commissars]*(1)
1. The church is separated from the state.
2. Within the Republic, it is prohibited to enact any local laws or regulations that would restrict or restrict freedom of conscience, or establish any advantages or privileges on the basis of the religious affiliation of citizens.
3. Every citizen can profess any religion or not profess any. All legal deprivations associated with the profession of any faith or non-profession of any faith are abolished,
Note. From all official acts, any indication of religious affiliation or non-religious affiliation of citizens is eliminated.
4. The actions of state and other public legal social institutions are not accompanied by any religious rites or ceremonies.
5. The free performance of religious rites is ensured insofar as they do not violate public order and are not accompanied by encroachments on the rights of citizens of the Soviet Republic.
Local authorities have the right to take all necessary measures to ensure public order and security in these cases.
6. No one can, citing their religious views, avoid fulfilling their civil duties. Exceptions from this provision, subject to the condition of replacing one civil duty with another, are allowed in each individual case by decision of the people's court,
7. The religious oath or oath is canceled.
In necessary cases, only a solemn promise is given,
8. Civil status records are maintained exclusively by civil authorities: departments for registering marriages and births,
9. The school is separated from the church.
Teaching religious doctrines in all state and public, as well as private educational institutions where general education subjects are taught, is not permitted.
Citizens may teach and study religion privately.
10. All ecclesiastical and religious societies are subject to the general provisions on private societies and unions and do not enjoy any benefits or subsidies either from the state or from its local autonomous and self-governing institutions.
11. Forced collection of fees and taxes in favor of church and religious societies, as well as measures of coercion or punishment on the part of these societies over their members, are not allowed,
12. No church or religious societies have the right to own property.
They do not have the rights of a legal entity.
13. All property of church and religious societies existing in Russia is declared national property.
The building and objects intended specifically for liturgical purposes are given, according to special regulations of local or central government authorities, for the free use of the respective religious societies.
Until 1917 in Russia, the church walked hand in hand with the state, although it was in a subordinate position to it. Such orders were introduced by Peter I, who abolished the Patriarchate and established the Holy Governing Synod - the highest legislative, administrative and judicial authority of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, personal documents of subjects of the Russian Empire indicated their religion. They did not always reflect people’s real religious beliefs, and it was only possible to change one’s religion without hindrance only when converting from another confession to Orthodoxy. Only in 1905 was the decree “On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance” issued, which somewhat improved the situation.
In July 1917, the Provisional Government issued the Law “On Freedom of Conscience,” which regulated the freedom of religious self-determination of a person upon reaching 14 years of age. This caused protests from the Synod.
Also, with the coming to power of the Provisional Government, the All-Russian Local Council discussed the issue of restoring the patriarchate. Not all of its participants supported this decision. However, after the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks came to power, the disputes ceased and it was decided to restore the patriarchate. Saint Tikhon was elected Patriarch in November 1917.
By that time, clashes between the church and the Soviet government had already begun. In October, the “Decree on Land” was issued, according to which land was no longer private property and was transferred for the use of “all workers on it.” This included all church and monastery lands “with all their living and dead inventory, manor buildings and all accessories.” In December, the Law of God in educational institutions was transferred from compulsory subjects to elective subjects. Funding for religious educational institutions was stopped.
Finally, all educational institutions of the ecclesiastical department, along with all their property, were transferred to the Commissariat.
Family law has also undergone changes. In December 1917, the decrees “On the dissolution of marriage” and “On civil marriage, on children and on maintaining books of deeds” appeared, depriving church marriage of legal force.
In January 1918, the churches of the court department were closed. A decree was issued abolishing the court clergy. The premises and property of the court churches were confiscated, but services were allowed to be held in them. Subsequently, other church property was confiscated, in particular, printing houses and army property.
During this period, Patriarch Tikhon issued an appeal that read:
“Come to your senses, madmen, stop your bloody reprisals. After all, what you are doing is not only a cruel deed, it is truly a satanic deed, for which you are subject to the fire of Gehenna in the future life - the afterlife and the terrible curse of posterity in this earthly life... Persecution has been raised against the truth of Christ by the obvious and secret enemies of this truth and are striving to to destroy the work of Christ, and instead of Christian love, they sow seeds of malice, hatred and fratricidal warfare everywhere.”
On February 2, 1918, the “Decree on the separation of church from state and school from church” was adopted. It came into force on February 5, when it was published in the “Newspaper of the Workers' and Peasants' Government”.
“The Church is separated from the state,” read the first paragraph of the decree.
The rest noted that “every citizen may profess any religion or no religion” and prohibited “the making of any local laws or regulations that would restrict or restrict freedom of conscience, or establish any advantages or privileges on the basis of religious belief.” belonging to citizens."
Religious views were no longer a reason for avoiding civic duties. Religious rituals associated with the actions of “state and other public legal institutions” were abolished.
In addition, the decree prohibited teaching religious doctrines in educational institutions - now this could only be done privately. Extortions in favor of church and religious communities were also prohibited. They were also now deprived of property rights and had no rights of legal personality. All property of church and religious communities was declared public property.
Representatives of the church viewed the ongoing reforms as “a malicious attack on the entire system of life and an act of open persecution against it.”
“The conciliar resolution regarding the decree of the Council of People’s Commissars on the separation of the Church from the state,” issued after the decree came into force, stated: “Any participation both in the publication of this legislation hostile to the Church and in attempts to implement it is incompatible with belonging to the Orthodox Church and brings punishment upon the guilty, up to and including excommunication from the Church.”
Patriarch Tikhon called on the people: “oppose the enemies of the church... with the power of faith of your nation-wide cry, which will stop the madmen.”
Processions of the cross were held in cities. In general, they were quite peaceful, but several times there were clashes with the authorities, accompanied by bloodshed.
The provisions of the decree were systematically supplemented by new orders - for example, on the abolition of the positions of teachers of all religions. Also in February, a decree was issued stating that “teaching religious doctrines in all state and public, as well as private educational institutions run by the People’s Commissariat for Education, and the performance of any religious rites within the walls of the school is not allowed.”
In the summer, it was ordered to close all religious educational institutions, including private ones, and transfer their buildings to local authorities. However, adult citizens had the right to attend theological courses. Thus, the educational sphere was now completely under the control of the state.
The decree laid the foundations for atheistic education in the USSR.
Active confiscation of church property began almost immediately after the decree was adopted. Closer to the fall, the People's Commissariat of Justice issued additional instructions ordering the confiscation of all funds located “in the cash registers of local churches and houses of worship, from church elders, treasurers, parish councils and groups, from rectors of churches, from deans, from diocesan and district supervisors of parochial schools , former spiritual consistories, in the capital of diocesan bishops, in the Synod, in the Supreme Church Council, in the so-called “patriarchal treasury”.
The temples themselves and the props for religious rituals could be transferred for use to religious communities on the basis of a special agreement.
Subsequently, Soviet legislation continued to separate atheists from believers. If in 1918 the Constitution of the RSFSR guaranteed “freedom of religious propaganda,” then later this phrase changed to “freedom of religion,” and then simply to “freedom of religious worship.”
The decree was canceled on October 25, 1990. Current provisions of the legislation of the Russian Federation state that
“The Russian Federation is a secular state. No religion can be established as a state or compulsory” and “Religious associations are separated from the state and are equal before the law.”
Also, modern legislation gives religious organizations the opportunity to create a legal entity and ownership rights.
Requisites
Dating:
Source:
Collection of laws and government orders for 1917-1918. Management of the Affairs of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR M. 1942, pp. 849-858.
Published in No. 186 of the News of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets dated August 30, 1918.
Article No. 685.
Resolution of the People's Commissariat of Justice.
On the procedure for implementing the decree “On the separation of church from state and school from church” (Instructions).
About church and religious societies.
1. The following are subject to the decree “On the separation of church from state and school from church” (Collected Uzak., No. 18, Art. 263):
a) churches: Orthodox, Old Believer, Catholic of all rites, Armenian-Gregorian, Protestant and confessions: Jewish, Mohammedan, Buddhist-Lamaite, b) all other private religious societies formed for the practice of any cult, both before and after publication of the decree “On the separation of church from state and school from church”, as well as c) all societies that limit the circle of their members exclusively to persons of the same religion and, at least under the guise of charitable, educational or other purposes, pursue the goals of providing direct assistance and support any religious cult (in the form of maintaining clergy, any institutions, etc.).
2. All specified in Art. 1, societies are deprived, in accordance with the decree “On the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church,” of the rights of a legal entity. Individual members of these societies are only allowed to organize pools for the acquisition of property for religious purposes and for the satisfaction of other religious needs.
3. Charitable, educational and other similar societies specified in paragraph “c” of Art. 1, as well as those of them who, although they do not hide their religious goals under the guise of charity or education, etc., but spend money on religious purposes are subject to closure, and their property is transferred by the Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies to the relevant Commissariats or Departments.
On property intended for performing religious rites.
4. Property that, at the time of the publication of the decree “On the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church,” was under the jurisdiction of the department of Orthodox confession and other religious institutions and societies, according to the decree, passes into the direct management of local Councils of Workers’ and Peasants’ Deputies on the grounds set out in the following articles.
5. The Local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies obliges representatives of former departments or persons of the corresponding religion, in whose actual possession the temple and other liturgical property is located, to submit in triplicate an inventory of property specifically intended for liturgical and ritual purposes. According to this inventory, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies accepts property from representatives of the corresponding religious cult and, together with the inventory, transfers it for free use to all those local residents of the corresponding religion who wish to take the property for use; The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies keeps the second copy of the inventory with a receipt on it for the recipients, and sends the third copy to the People's Commissariat of Education.
6. The required number of local residents receiving liturgical property for use is determined by the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, but cannot be less than 20 people.
7. In case of refusal by representatives of the former department or those persons in whose actual possession the religious property is located, to submit the inventory specified in Article 5, a representative of the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies in the presence of a group of persons to whom the religious property is transferred for use, or their trustees, with the participation of invited witnesses from among local residents, actually checks religious property according to the inventory and transfers it to a group of people of the corresponding religion who have expressed a desire to receive religious property for use.
8. Those who have accepted the property for use undertake: I) to store and take care of it, as the national wealth entrusted to them, II) to carry out repairs of the said property and expenses associated with the ownership of property, such as: heating, insurance, security, payment of debts, local fees, etc., III) to use this property exclusively to satisfy religious needs, IV) to compensate upon delivery all losses during the use of it, being jointly and severally responsible for the integrity and safety of the property entrusted to them (by mutual responsibility), V) to have an inventory list of all liturgical property, into which to include all newly received (by donations, transfers from other churches, etc.) objects of religious worship that do not represent the private property of individual citizens, VI) to freely allow persons authorized by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies to periodic inspection and inspection of property and vii) if the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies discovers abuses and waste, immediately hand over the property to the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies upon its first request. All these conditions are included in the agreement concluded by the group of the above citizens with the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies (Appendix No. 1).
9. Temples and houses of worship that have historical, artistic and archaeological significance are transferred in compliance with special instructions developed by the Museum Department of the People's Commissariat of Education.
10. All local residents of the respective religion have the right to sign the agreement specified in Art. 5-8, and after the transfer of property, thus acquiring the right to participate in the management of liturgical property on an equal basis with the group of persons who originally received it.
11. If there is no one willing to take charge of the liturgical property under the above conditions, the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies publishes this three times in local newspapers and posts a corresponding announcement on the doors of prayer buildings (temples).
12. If, after a week has passed since the last publication, no statements have been received about the desire to take property on the indicated grounds, the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies informs the People's Commissariat of Education about this. In its message, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies indicates the time of construction of the prayer house, its values in economic, historical and artistic terms, the purposes for which the building is intended to be used, and other considerations in this regard.
13. Upon receipt of a response from the People's Commissariat of Education, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies implements the proposals of the People's Commissariat of Education, and in the absence of such, its assumptions in this regard.
14. The so-called sacred objects located in the above-mentioned buildings not used for religious purposes may be transferred to a group of persons of the corresponding religion on the grounds specified in Art. 5-8, or to the appropriate repositories of the Soviet Republic.
15. The construction of new churches and houses of worship is permitted without hindrance, subject to the general technical and construction rules for the construction of structures. The estimate and plan of the building are approved by the Architectural Commission of the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies. The completion of the construction is guaranteed by the builders by depositing into the deposit of the State Treasury a known amount established by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, which is issued for the construction as needed. The transfer of the constructed temple for use is carried out in accordance with Art. 5-8 of this Instruction.
About other property.
16. Property of church and religious societies, as well as former religious departments, not specifically intended for liturgical purposes, such as: houses, lands, lands, factories, candle and other factories, fisheries, farmsteads, hotels, capital and all generally profitable property , whatever their nature, which have not hitherto been taken under the jurisdiction of Soviet institutions, are immediately taken away from the designated societies and former departments.
17. Local Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies demand that representatives of former religious departments and branches of the People's Bank, savings banks and persons in whose actual possession is property subject to nationalization, report the name, under penalty of criminal liability, within two weeks of information about all belonging to local religious organizations or former property departments.
18. The information received is subject to actual verification by persons authorized by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, and a protocol is drawn up on the results of the verification, which is attached, along with an inventory, to a special file on the property of former religious departments and church or religious societies. All papers and documents related to these assets must be attached to the same file. A copy of the inventory submitted to the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies and actually verified by it, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies forwards to the People's Commissariats of Education and State Control.
19. Discovered cash capital of former religious departments and church or religious societies, whatever the names of these capitals and wherever they are located, must be accepted by the Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies within two weeks. (Appendix No. 2).
Note. The Local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, if necessary, at its discretion, may leave at the disposal of a group of persons who have entered into an agreement specified in Art. 5-8, a certain amount for current expenses for performing religious ritual actions until the end of the current year.
20. The capital of former religious departments and church or religious societies held by private individuals or organizations is subject to demand from them within two weeks. Holders of the above-mentioned capitals who have not fulfilled the requirements for the transfer of the said capitals in their possession on time are subject to criminal and civil liability for their embezzlement.
21. The received capital must be handed over by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies to the local Treasury no later than three days from the date of receipt, for crediting to the income of the Republic, and receipts for the contribution of these capitals must be attached to the subject matter. The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies immediately notifies the People's Commissariats of Education and State Control of the said amounts.
22. If church or religious societies have capital in savings banks, or in branches of the People's Bank, then the savings bank books and corresponding bank documents, upon the first request of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, must be presented by their holders; these documents, upon making a note on them about their cancellation, are attached to the corresponding file, and the relevant savings banks and branches of the People's Bank are informed by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies about the immediate transfer of these capitals to the income of the Treasury. The People's Commissariats of Education and State Control are also notified about this.
23. For any illegal use of property belonging to the Republic, or for intentional damage to it, the persons guilty of it are subject to criminal liability.
24. All actions to confiscate church or religious property must be completed no later than 2 months from the date of publication of this Instruction, and information about its implementation must be submitted to the People's Commissariat of Education and the VIII Department of the People's Commissariat of Justice.
25. Any subsequent dispute about the right of private individuals to the property of former religious departments or religious and church societies, nationalized by virtue of the decree “On the separation of church from state and school from church” and on the basis of this Instruction, is resolved in a general civil action.
About metric books.
26. Parish books of all religions for all years, for some reason not removed to date from ecclesiastical consistories, ecclesiastical administrations, city administrations (Jewish metric books) and other provincial metric repositories, are immediately transferred to the provincial (regional) Departments of Civil Registries .
27. Parish books for all years from city and rural churches of all confessions are subject to immediate withdrawal by the Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, and one (draft) copy is transferred either to the local (city and volost) Departments of Civil Registries, or to the relevant notaries (where notary departments keep records of acts of civil status), and the other (white, laced) is to be sent to the Provincial Department of Civil Records. After the books are confiscated, clergymen are given the right, if they wish, to make the copies they need from the registers of parishes.
28. In accordance with the prohibition of making any marks in passports and other official identification documents indicating that citizens belong to a particular religion, it is prohibited for anyone to note in their passports the performance of any religious rites (baptism, confirmation , circumcision, marriage and burial, etc.), as well as about divorce committed by clergy or institutions of all faiths.
About religious ceremonies and rituals.
29. In state and other public-legal public premises it is certainly not allowed:
a) performing religious rites and ceremonies (prayer services, memorial services, etc.);
b) placing any religious images (icons, paintings, statues of a religious nature, etc.).
30. The local Soviet government is taking all measures to eliminate the phenomena specified in the previous article and contrary to the decree on freedom of conscience.
Note. The removal of religious images of artistic or historical significance and their further purpose is carried out with the knowledge of the People's Commissariat of Education.
31. Religious processions, as well as the performance of any religious rituals on the streets and squares, are permitted only with written permission from the local Soviet authorities, which the organizers must each time receive in advance and in any case no later than 2 days before the public celebration of the religious ceremony. ceremonies. In issuing permits, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies is guided by clause 5 of the decree “On the separation of church from state and school from church.”
32. The local Soviet government shall remove or oblige the relevant persons to remove from churches and other houses of worship that constitute the national property all objects that offend the revolutionary feeling of the working masses, such as: marble or other plaques, inscriptions on walls and on liturgical objects produced in for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of any persons belonging to the members of the dynasty overthrown by the people, and its minions.
On teaching religious doctrines.
33. In view of the separation of the school from the church, the teaching of any religious doctrines can in no case be allowed in state, public and private educational institutions, with the exception of special theological ones.
34. All loans for the teaching of religion in schools should be immediately closed and teachers of religious doctrines deprived of any kind of allowance. Not a single state or other public legal institution has the right to issue any sums of money to religious teachers, either for the present or for the period that has elapsed since January 1918.
35. The buildings of religious educational institutions of all faiths, as well as parochial schools, as national property, are transferred to the disposal of local Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies or the People's Commissariat of Education.
Note. These buildings may be provided for rental or other use by the Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies for special educational institutions of all religions only on a basis common to all citizens and with the consent of the People's Commissariat of Education.
Signed by the People's Commissar of Justice D. Kursky.
Appendix 1 to Art. 685.
Agreement
We, the undersigned citizens ( such and such area or city), having their place of residence there, have entered into this agreement with... ( so and so) the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, represented by its authorized representative ( position, first and last name) is that this is the __ day of ____ month. . . 191__, accepted from the ________ Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies for indefinite, free use of the existing ( there), (such and such a religious building) with liturgical objects according to a special inventory, certified by us with our signatures, on the following conditions:
1. We, the undersigned citizens, undertake to protect the national property transferred to us and use it exclusively in accordance with its purpose, accepting full responsibility for the integrity and safety of the property entrusted to us, as well as for compliance with other obligations incumbent on us under this agreement.
2. We undertake to use churches and the liturgical objects found in them and present them for the use of all our fellow believers exclusively to satisfy religious needs.
3. We undertake to take all measures to ensure that the property handed over to us is not used for purposes inconsistent with Art. 1 and 2 of this agreement.
In particular, in the liturgical premises we have taken over, we undertake not to allow:
a) political meetings of a direction hostile to Soviet power,
b) distribution or sale of books, brochures, leaflets and messages directed against Soviet power or its representatives.
c) delivering sermons and speeches hostile to Soviet power or its individual representatives, and
d) carrying out alarms to convene the population in order to incite them against Soviet power, in view of which we undertake to obey all orders of the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies regarding the use of bell towers.
4. We undertake to pay from our own funds all current expenses for the maintenance of the temple ( or other religious building... and the items contained in it, such as: repairs, heating, insurance, security, payment of debts, taxes, local taxes, etc.
5. We undertake to keep an inventory of all liturgical property, into which all newly received (through donations, transfers from other churches, etc.) objects of religious worship that do not represent the private property of individual citizens must be included.
6. We undertake to freely allow, during non-liturgical times, persons authorized by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies to periodically check and inspect property.
7. For loss or damage to items transferred to us, we are jointly and severally liable, to the extent of the damage caused to the property.
8. We undertake, in the event of delivery of the property accepted by us, to return it in the same form in which it was accepted by us for use and storage.
9. In cemetery churches and cemeteries, we undertake to accompany our fellow believers, if interested persons wish, with religious rites, in the sense of solemnity, the same for everyone, and for the same fee for all citizens without exception, the amount of which must be announced by us annually to the public .
10. For failure to take all measures within our power to fulfill the obligations arising from this agreement, or for direct violation of it, we are subject to criminal liability to the fullest extent of revolutionary laws, and this agreement may be terminated by the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies.
11. If we wish to terminate the agreement, we are obliged to bring this to the attention of the Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Deputies in writing, and within a week from the date of submitting such a statement to the Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, we continue to remain obligated by this agreement and bear full responsibility for its implementation, and also undertake to hand over the property accepted by us during this period of time.
12. Each of us who signed the agreement may withdraw from the number of parties to the agreement by submitting a written application to the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, which, however, does not relieve the person who left from responsibility for all damage caused to the national property during the period of participation of the person who left in use and management property until a corresponding application is submitted to the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies.
13. None of us, and all of us together, have the right to refuse to any of the citizens belonging to our religion and not discredited in court, to sign this agreement later than this date and to take part in the management of the property mentioned in this agreement in common grounds with all its signatories.
This original agreement is kept in the files of... the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, and a duly certified copy of it is issued to a group of citizens who signed it and received, according to the inventory, for use the religious buildings and the objects in them intended for religious purposes.
“...” …………. 191... g.
Appendix 2 to Art. 665.
Approximate list of capital and fees of the former department of Orthodox confession.
Remaining at the disposal of the local Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies |
To be transferred to the People's Commissariat of Education. |
Subject to transfer to the People's Commissariat of Health |
Subject to transfer to the People's Commissariat for Social Security |
Subject to transfer to the People's Commissariat for Insurance and Fire Fighting Affairs |
Subject to transfer to the Supreme Council of the National Economy |
Subject to transfer to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs |
Subject to transfer to the Main Directorate of the Russian Red Cross Society |
May be subject to return with the consent of the People's Commissariat for Social Security |
|
According to the Department of Public Education |
By Department Property of the Republic |
||||||||
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
Capitals |
|
1. Local churches |
1. Theological academies. |
1. Contributions for eternal remembrance. |
1. Medicinal. |
1. Those who are on the accounts of the diocesan guardianship for the poor ecclesiastical rank |
1. Mutual insurance of buildings b. spiritual department. |
20 million schismatics
On April 7, 1905, Nicholas II signed a decree “On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance,” which equalized the rights of representatives of all faiths. Now transition from one religion to another was allowed (previously, “falling away from Orthodoxy” entailed criminal liability), restrictions on the construction of non-Orthodox churches, houses of worship, on the publication of religious literature, etc. were lifted.
This decree placed the Orthodox at an extreme disadvantage. If other confessions received freedom, the life of the Orthodox Church, as established by Peter the Great, remained under the control of the state. This guardianship became an anachronism after the reform of 1861, when the economic sovereignty of a significant part of the empire’s population became a fact of their spiritual life. The shadow of the discredited government lay on the state religion, and the new Russians (free peasants, entrepreneurs, lawyers, cultural figures) preferred to seek answers to questions about the meaning of life not in Orthodox churches, but from the Old Believers or in numerous sects: it was then that movements spread in Russia Doukhobors, Stundists, Runners, Khlysty, Nemolyak, Mennonites, Molokans, Baptists, etc. According to historian Pavel Milyukov, the official church lost about 20 million parishioners in those years.
The clergy and laity, who were acutely experiencing the crisis, were looking for a way out of the situation, which was complicated by the fact that the church performed a number of government functions. Thus, the parishes carried out acts of civil status, and the Synod was in charge of more than 44% of primary schools, financed from the state budget, which was approved by the Duma.
The development of a model of church-state relations became the subject of wide public discussion. It was assumed that new forms of church government would be developed at the Local Council, the convening of which, however, was postponed.
The Council was convened only after the February Revolution. The provisional government supported the church's desire for self-determination. It assigned a special place to the Orthodox Church in the state, based, however, on the principles of freedom of conscience. The resolution of the Provisional Government of June 14, 1917 declared that the political and civil rights of the inhabitants of Russia do not depend on their religion.
The local cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church opened in August 1917. The entire Orthodox population of the country participated in the election of delegates to the cathedral, therefore, after the Bolsheviks came to power and the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the cathedral for some time remained the only public institution whose legality of election was not in doubt. The Council developed a scheme of church government and a model of church-state relations. The synodal government was replaced by the patriarchal government, the church became self-governing. However, it was supposed to preserve all the privileges of Orthodoxy as the dominant confession: the head of state had to be Orthodox, the Law of God remained a compulsory school subject, and church holidays were state holidays.
But the church's reaction was late. Power in the country already belonged to the Bolsheviks.
Galkinsky decree on the separation of the church
It is believed that at the time they came to power, the Bolsheviks already had a program of church-state relations, which involved the separation of church and state. But that's not true. For example, orders issued to units of the Red Army are known, declaring Christmas and Easter as revolutionary holidays: Jesus, according to the commissars, led the uprising of the poor against the power of the rich, which means “ours.” The entire policy of the Bolsheviks at that time boiled down to open interference in church affairs in the worst traditions of the Synodal era. From the provinces to the center there were numerous complaints against the commissars who forced priests to violate church canons. Representatives of the Soviet government, for example, threatened a priest with execution for refusing to re-marry those whose divorce was approved by civil law, but not recognized by the church. The priest's refusal in this case was considered counter-revolutionary activity.
The situation was changing rapidly. Soon the Bolsheviks moved from threats to action. In January 1918, Commissioner of Public Charity Alexandra Kollontai and a detachment of sailors attempted to requisition the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. A crowd of believers gathered at the alarm, and the requisition of the Lavra had to be postponed. After the unsuccessful seizure of the Lavra in Petrograd, which was then still the capital, a grand religious procession took place. The Bolsheviks were frightened by this action. The question of the need for legislative regulation of church-state relations became a priority. Alexandra Kollontai recalled how Lenin, scolding her for arbitrariness, said that it was time to pass a law on the separation of church and state.
In the first post-revolutionary months, priest Mikhail Galkin took up the problem of church-state relations as a private initiative. In November 1917, he offered his services to the Council of People's Commissars, and soon Pravda published an article by Mikhail Galkin “The first steps towards the separation of church and state.”
The program of the revolutionary priest looked like this.
Religion is declared a private matter for each person. Churches and religious communities become private unions, completely freely managing their affairs. Teaching the Law of God in high, middle and lower schools is optional. The metrication of births, marriages and deaths is transferred from the orders of churches to special government bodies. It depends on the free conscience of everyone whether to perform this or that church rite or not. Consequently, the non-confessional state would become the norm. The institution of civil marriages is established. Directorates of cemeteries of all faiths do not have the right to create any obstacles to the organization of civil funerals on the territory of cemeteries. Cremation of corpses was allowed.
In the performance of monetary and natural duties, according to Galkin, clergy of all confessions, as well as monastics, should have been equalized with all citizens of the Russian Republic. These people, depending on their age, can be called upon to perform military service, which they have the right to serve in non-combatant companies (as orderlies, clerks, telephone operators, etc.). All loans for the maintenance of the church and its clergy were supposed to be closed. Metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites and archpriests must immediately hand over gold, silver, diamonds and other valuables “to the people’s treasury, which was empty in a time of greatest upheaval.” Priest Galkin recommended that all clergy wear their cassocks only in churches when performing official duties. On the streets, squares and generally in meetings of citizens of the Russian Republic - appear in civilian dress. Finally, from January 7, 1918, it was proposed to introduce the Gregorian calendar everywhere in the Russian Republic.
Almost the entire Galkin program was implemented. Already at the beginning of December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars discussed the issue of prohibiting the issuance of funds to church institutions. On December 18 and 19, decrees were adopted recognizing legal force only for civil marriage. In January 1918, registry offices were established under local councils. In February, the People's Commissariat for Education published a decree abolishing the position of a religious teacher in schools, and the State Education Commission adopted a decree on a secular school, according to which the state cannot take over the religious education of children. The Gregorian calendar was introduced in February. On July 7/20, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars on conscription into the rear militia was promulgated, recognizing priests and monks as liable for military service. In September, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a circular abolishing the “religion” column in passports.
"The reforms will remain unshakable"
All these decisions, decrees and decrees were given legal force by a document known as Lenin's decree on the separation of church and state. It was published on January 21/February 3, 1918 and was called quite liberally: “Decree on Freedom of Conscience, Church and Religious Societies.”
The main author of this document, as well as the entire concept of the religious policy of the Bolsheviks, is considered to be V.I. Lenin, although it is known that his role in the preparation of this document is not so great. The draft decree was developed by a commission that included A.V. Lunacharsky, P.I. Stuchka, P.A. Krasikov, M.A. Reisner (father of the “woman of the Russian revolution” Larisa Reisner) and priest M. Galkin. V.I. Lenin made several amendments to the document. The most significant of them is the wording of the first paragraph of the decree - on the separation of church and state, literally repeating the formula of a similar decree of the Paris Commune.
The decree (with its supplementary “Instructions on the implementation of the “Decree on the separation of church and state””) became not so much a legislative act of the new government as a manifesto of a new religious policy.
The reaction to the manifesto was sharp and stormy (let's not forget that the attack on the church was carried out against the backdrop of the Local Council, which continued to work). Some saw in it a legal justification for the persecution of the church (deprivation of the church's rights as a legal entity), others hoped that the adoption of the law, albeit imperfect, would allow for civilized polemics with the Bolsheviks, and still others rejoiced at the very fact of the separation of church and state.
A leaflet that appeared on Moscow streets shortly after the publication of the decree (published for the first time)
Russian people!
The Bolsheviks are shedding brotherly blood, giving Russian land to the Germans, ruining cities and villages, destroying industry and trade; The Constituent Assembly was dispersed and the court was destroyed.
But all this is not enough for them. In October and November they destroyed the shrines of the Kremlin, and now they have finally decided to destroy the church in Russia.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's, said the Savior. But the Bolsheviks took away everything that is Caesar’s and are taking away everything that is God’s. They decided to take away churches, church property, even sacred objects.
According to their new decree, neither the cross, nor the chalice with the Holy Gifts, nor the icons, nor the relics of the Holy Saints belong to the church anymore. All this belongs to the Bolshevik commissars, who themselves do not profess any religion and do not recognize any sacraments.
What is Caesar's is to Caesar's, therefore the Bolshevik commissar Mrs. Kollontai can get married as much as she likes without a church, in a civil marriage, with sailors, but what is God's is to God, and therefore Mrs. Kollontai has no right to commit outrages and seize the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, as she did it.
What is Caesar's belongs to Caesar, therefore Lenin-Ulyanov and Trotsky-Bronstein, imagining themselves to be Caesars, can rob banks, but what is God's belongs to God, and therefore they do not dare to rob your shrine, the Russian people! They don’t dare turn the temple into a place for rallies and cinemas, they don’t dare prohibit you from teaching children in schools the Law of God. It is not for Lenin and not for Trotsky-Bronstein to preside over the altar of the temple.
The church has been desecrated. The Lavra was requisitioned. The archpriest was killed. Searches were carried out at the patriarch himself, and believers had already asked him to appoint a successor for himself in the event of a possible martyrdom.
They swear at all the saints. Will you really allow me to do this too? Will you really not intercede here, Russian people?!
From the speech of Metropolitan Arseny (Stadnitsky) at the meeting of the council on August 18/30, 1918
We could not imagine that the general idea of the decree would be carried out with such consistency, but it turned out that the decrees that appeared recently regarding the Church were, as it were, a preparatory step for the decisive order that appeared yesterday... The Church in its earthly manifestation (with the charitable, educational side) is destroyed not only because it loses property, which, of course, is not indifferent to the life of the Church, but here is a blow to the Church as a force of grace. Here we are deprived of everything: the right to detect religious feelings, the right to exert a beneficial influence on the flock - there is now no possibility for such an influence, because the churches are no longer ours. We are deprived of what is our sacred duty, the right to preach, we will be watched so that we do not say anything against the Soviet regime, and we know that everyone sees what he wants... We are experiencing a single moment, not having an example not only in the history of the Russian state, but also in the world.
From an article by V. Desnitsky, editor of the Socialist Revolutionary newspaper "New Life"
By the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, the issue of separation of church and state with all the ensuing consequences has been resolved, and, presumably, resolved irrevocably and finally. Whatever revolutionary-democratic power comes to replace the Council of People's Commissars, it cannot and should not treat all the events of the Bolshevik era as an unconditional and decisive denial. And church reform will have to be part of the revolutionary legacy that the departed Bolshevik government will leave to the new Russia, reborn from the horrors of war and from the “socialist” leapfrog of Smolny. The question may arise about some corrections, additions, or processing of parts. But the main provisions of the reform will remain unshakable.
Ministers with candles
The Socialist Revolutionary journalist turned out to be right: the main provisions of the Bolshevik policy towards the church remained unshakable - they did not change from 1917 until perestroika, when, under the patronage of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the church celebrated the millennium of the baptism of Rus'.
For seventy years, Orthodoxy in the USSR was under strict control of the authorities and the KGB, since it was believed that we should have one religion - communist. Trying to survive in the conditions of this uncontested competition, the Primate of the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), in 1927 published a well-known declaration calling on the clergy and believers to cooperate with the atheistic authorities. In 1943, Stalin, seeking to expand the “patriotic base” in the fight against fascism and to ennoble the Bolshevik image in the eyes of the West, allowed the church to participate in public activities, but at the same time change its previous name - Russian - to the narrower - Russian (which from a religious point of view, it is not harmless: the “nationalization” of Christianity is the sin of apostasy—falling away from Christ). Both Khrushchev and Brezhnev tried to command the church through the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers, created by Stalin.
Problems in the relationship between church and state after 1991 changed, but did not lose their severity. By calling on the state to sharply limit the activities of foreign preachers in Russia and to grant the Orthodox Church a special status, the Moscow Patriarchate, according to critics, is appealing to traditions dating back to the synodal era and depriving the church of autonomous moral authority. The gesture of the patriarch, who preferred a meeting with President Putin and Chancellor Schröder to the Christmas service, caused shock among many believers, and caustic journalists immediately remembered the former absolute subordination of the church to the secular state.
However, state religious policy remains unclear. Ministers in churches with candles in their right hands (which are supposed to be baptized) are more of a carnival with the participation of “those who have received their sight by order” than politics. And the bureaucratic flirtation with Orthodoxy (represented in Russia, by the way, by several registered confessions) in front of 15 million amazed Russian Muslims, whose ancestors prayed to Allah on this land a thousand years ago, looks completely absurd. Against this background, the anti-church policy of the Bolsheviks looks at least consistent.
ALEXANDER MALAKHOV
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From the editor. Unfortunately, there was an error in the caption to the photo published in the previous issue of the magazine on page 61. The people depicted on it together with Yuri Andropov are not related to the KGB “department of murders”. We apologize to their families and friends.
Plan
Introduction
1 Plan
Introduction of the Decree
2 Meaning and effect of the Decree
Bibliography
Introduction
The decree on the separation of church from state and school from church is a legal act adopted by the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on January 20 (February 2), 1918, which had constitutional, fundamental significance in the religious sphere. Established the secular nature of state power, freedom of conscience and religion.
1. Proclamation of the secular nature of the Soviet state - the church is separated from the state.
2. Prohibition of any restriction on freedom of conscience, or the establishment of any advantages or privileges based on the religious affiliation of citizens.
3. The right of everyone to profess any religion or not to profess any.
5. Prohibition of religious rites and ceremonies when performing state or other public legal social actions.
6. Civil status records should be maintained exclusively by civil authorities, marriage and birth registration departments.
7. The school, as a state educational institution, is separated from the church - a ban on teaching religion. Citizens should teach and be taught religion only privately.
8. Prohibition of forced penalties, fees and taxes in favor of church and religious societies, as well as prohibition of coercive measures or punishment by these societies over their members.
9. Prohibition of property rights for church and religious societies. Preventing them from having the rights of a legal entity.
10. All property existing in Russia, church and religious societies are declared national property.
2. The meaning and effect of the Decree
The decree was adopted by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), as well as the People's Commissars: Podvoisky, Algasov, Trutovsky, Shlikhter, Proshyan, Menzhinsky, Shlyapnikov, Petrovsky and the manager of the Council of People's Commissars Vl. Bonch-Bruevich.
This decree clearly defined the attitude of the new government towards the church and religious societies. The principle of secularism was established in the exercise of state power. No religion could be given preference, and indication of religion or lack thereof could not give privileges or advantages when occupying government positions. Atheism was equal in rights to the practice of religion. In the educational process, the teaching of religious subjects (the Law of God) in state general education institutions was not allowed. These formulations for a long time became the basis of the secular policy of the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp.
The abolition of property rights from the church and religious societies led to the nationalization and secularization of lands and properties previously owned by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Civil registration (information about birth, death, marriage) began to be maintained exclusively by state bodies (registry offices).
Since January 1919, the VIII Department of the People's Commissariat of Justice has been planning the release of a new monthly magazine, “Revolution and the Church.” It was planned to contain an overview of orders and explanations regarding the separation of church and state and schools from the church. Bukharin’s work “Church and School in the Soviet Republic” was distributed.
The Code of Laws of the RSFSR (published in the 1980s in 8 volumes) began with the decree. The decree was declared invalid by the Resolution of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR dated October 25, 1990 “On the procedure for enacting the RSFSR Law “On Freedom of Religion”.”
The secular nature of the state, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are also enshrined in the Russian Constitution of 1993.
Bibliography:
2. Balantsev A.V. The process of separating school from church: Initial stage.
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