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Catacomb Church
The Catacomb Church (Russian: Катакомбная церковь, romanized: Katakombnaya tserkov') as a collective name labels those representatives of the Russian Orthodox clergy, laity, communities, monasteries, brotherhoods, etc., who for various reasons, moved to an illegal position from the 1920s onwards. In a narrow sense, the term "catacomb church" means not just illegal communities, but communities that rejected subordination to the acting patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) after 1927, and that adopted anti-Soviet positions. During the Cold War of 1947-1991 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (the ROCOR) popularized the term in the latter sense, first within the Russian diaspora, and then in the USSR (by sending illegal literature there). The expression "True Orthodox church" (Russian: истинно-православная церковь, romanized: istinno-pravoslavnaya tserkov) is synonymous with this latter, narrower sense of "catacomb church".
The historian Mikhail Shkarovsky argues that "the catacombness of the Church does not necessarily mean its intransigence. This term covers all unofficial and therefore not state-controlled church activities".
Organizationally, the Catacomb Church communities were usually not interconnected.
Unofficial Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Judaic and Uniate groups in the Soviet Union also engaged in similar Catacomb-like activity.
From the 1990s some (though not all) Catacomb Church groups began emerge from the "underground" and to affiliate with various more-mainstream Orthodox bodies.
The death of Patriarch Tikhon, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in April 1925 led to unrest among the followers of the church. Tikhon's designated successors were arrested by the civil authorities. Metropolitan Sergius became the Acting patriarchal locum tenens of the Moscow Patriarchate. Sergius issued a declaration in 1927 calling all members of the Russian Orthodox Church to profess loyalty towards the Soviet government. The declaration sparked division among the hierarchy, clergy, and laity, which led to the formation of the Russian True Orthodox Church, or Catacomb Church, a group of which was the Josephite movement.[citation needed]
Opposition to Sergius' declaration was based not only on his political concessions, but also on canonical and theological disagreements.[citation needed]
The earliest documented use of the word "catacombs" to describe the Russian realities of the 20th century is found in the letters of abbess Athanasia (Gromeko) to Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), written in 1923 from Petrograd. After the nuns were expelled from their church building by the Renovationists, the community did not disband, but continued its existence as a convent in a private home. In two of the four surviving letters, abbess Athanasia uses the expressions "my catacombs" and "my secret catacomb church" several times. It can be seen from the context that this is how she designates her house church, contrasting her "catacombs" with the officially functioning church of the Renovationists.
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Catacomb Church
The Catacomb Church (Russian: Катакомбная церковь, romanized: Katakombnaya tserkov') as a collective name labels those representatives of the Russian Orthodox clergy, laity, communities, monasteries, brotherhoods, etc., who for various reasons, moved to an illegal position from the 1920s onwards. In a narrow sense, the term "catacomb church" means not just illegal communities, but communities that rejected subordination to the acting patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) after 1927, and that adopted anti-Soviet positions. During the Cold War of 1947-1991 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (the ROCOR) popularized the term in the latter sense, first within the Russian diaspora, and then in the USSR (by sending illegal literature there). The expression "True Orthodox church" (Russian: истинно-православная церковь, romanized: istinno-pravoslavnaya tserkov) is synonymous with this latter, narrower sense of "catacomb church".
The historian Mikhail Shkarovsky argues that "the catacombness of the Church does not necessarily mean its intransigence. This term covers all unofficial and therefore not state-controlled church activities".
Organizationally, the Catacomb Church communities were usually not interconnected.
Unofficial Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Judaic and Uniate groups in the Soviet Union also engaged in similar Catacomb-like activity.
From the 1990s some (though not all) Catacomb Church groups began emerge from the "underground" and to affiliate with various more-mainstream Orthodox bodies.
The death of Patriarch Tikhon, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in April 1925 led to unrest among the followers of the church. Tikhon's designated successors were arrested by the civil authorities. Metropolitan Sergius became the Acting patriarchal locum tenens of the Moscow Patriarchate. Sergius issued a declaration in 1927 calling all members of the Russian Orthodox Church to profess loyalty towards the Soviet government. The declaration sparked division among the hierarchy, clergy, and laity, which led to the formation of the Russian True Orthodox Church, or Catacomb Church, a group of which was the Josephite movement.[citation needed]
Opposition to Sergius' declaration was based not only on his political concessions, but also on canonical and theological disagreements.[citation needed]
The earliest documented use of the word "catacombs" to describe the Russian realities of the 20th century is found in the letters of abbess Athanasia (Gromeko) to Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), written in 1923 from Petrograd. After the nuns were expelled from their church building by the Renovationists, the community did not disband, but continued its existence as a convent in a private home. In two of the four surviving letters, abbess Athanasia uses the expressions "my catacombs" and "my secret catacomb church" several times. It can be seen from the context that this is how she designates her house church, contrasting her "catacombs" with the officially functioning church of the Renovationists.