Book
Приход и приходское духовенство в России в XVI–XVII веках
In this book the author explores the social, economic and legal status of the Russian lower clergy (priests, deacons and sacristans), its role in the parish life and the institutional history of the Russian parish in the 16-17th centuries. The institution of proprietary or private churches (German Eigenkirchenwesen) is analysed and compared with the analogous phenomena in Byzantium and Western and Central Europe. Special attention is given to state legislation and policy, which influenced the status of the lower clergy, and the formation of the clerical estate (dukhovnoe soslovie). Various sources have been examined: the tsar’s immunity charters, cadastres, private contracts, letters, literary works, materials from the archives of the bishop’s chancelleries etc.
The paper explores the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) parish-based social work specifics. The Russian government call for Church participation in welfare provision on the one hand and the emphasize on the social work in church life, made by Patriarchy, on the other, are followed by the attempts of the parish-based social practices formalization. Analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data on parish-based social work in Russia, authors make the evaluation of the ROC’s social work scope in the country and characterize this’ activity specific features in comparison with the professional social work. The article comes to the conclusion, that the bigger part of the parish-based social work in Russia is performed as informal practices of daily mutual aid by non-professionals and it doesn’t fit narrow frame of the professional aid to the needy. The authors suggest, that the attempts of the church social work professionalization, such as formal reports and quantitative indicators may push parishes towards the minimization of their informal social activity, so significant for general population.
The article was devoted the analysis adaptation strategies of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches to the new social and political conditions in the last decades. The author comes to the conclusion that Russian Orthodox Church chooses strategy of conservation to the new social and political conditions and Roman Catholic Church makes decision to follow democratic adaptation strategies.
The chapter focuses on one of the ways to communicate with the sacred popular among contemporary Russian Orthodox believers – written appealing to the saints (letters and notes). Although not happy at all about this habit, the Church managers allow to publish these letters in the parish newspapers and web-sites and in other church mass-media. Analysis of publications of the letters addressed to Saint Xenia of Petersburg proves that the Church publishes them as a part of its advertising campaign targeted on those people who prefer irregular religiosity (pilgrimages, letters to the saint, etc) to traditional regular parish life. The chapter develops Peter Berger’s metaphor of religious market.