KYIV EPARCHY MONASTERIES UNDER THE REALIZATION OF THE SOVIET MODEL OF STATE-CHURCH RELATIONS (THE 1920S – 1930S)

Abstract

The article highlights the role and importance of Orthodox monasteries in shaping the moral health of society. The revival of these institutions in independent Ukraine is seen as the revival of national identity and national values, the sign of moral purification of the society, as well as the antithesis of godlessness and pursuit of material well-being. Modern Orthodox monasteries in Ukraine have become the centres of pilgrimage and tourism. Besides, they attract the attention of modern politicians and cultural figures. In the early 20th century, Kyiv Eparchy monasteries performed a significant economic and socio-cultural function and became powerful religious and cultural centres. The article studies the fate of Kyiv Eparchy monasteries between the 1920s and the 1930s. It shows that they were facing difficult times. Monasteries and church communities were deprived of property rights and legal personality. The closure of monasteries between 1919 and 1921 became especially widespread, and their way of life and the fate of the inhabitants changed dramatically. The activities of monastic communities at that time were aimed at finding possible ways that would ensure their physical existence in the socialist state. The need to establish church life under the new conditions forced the Orthodox Church to seek new forms of existence of its institutions. According to the current legislation until 1922, religious communities were formed in almost all monasteries of the Kyiv Eparchy. In some monasteries, agricultural cooperatives or labour communes began to function. The confiscation of church property, as well as the reorganization and closure of monasteries and temples, reflected the policy of the Soviet state in the field of spiritual culture of the time. The Soviet authorities managed to find ways and methods to close monasteries and eliminate monasticism as a special social group of people in Ukraine.