Noncanonical conduct" of clergy of migrants' parishes: causes and specifics

Many researchers of the history of everyday life are interested in the topic of deviation of the parochial clergy. However, in the Siberian historiography, reasons for the formation of conduct strategies of the clergy that do not meet generally accepted standards did not become a separate theme. In the framework of general research, scholars focus their attention on the study of the reconstruction of the socio-cultural image of the Siberian priest, on the description of the Tomsk diocese and the Church's participation in the organization of the parochial life of the resettlers. It is worth noting that at present the issues of the specificity of clergy service in the Siberian region, the impact of the resettlement process and the general socio-cultural changes in society reflected in the activities of the clergy and their social position are well documented, but the connection of these complex questions with the causes of deviant behavior is still not adequately studied. This paper attempts to fill this gap with the help of materials on the history of Siberian parochial migrants and will attempt to study whether the specificity of service influenced the noncanonical behavior of priests in the context of migrants' resettlement. The question of deviation among the rural clergy is quite complicated, controversial and requires an examination of the whole complex of causes and events, the accuracy of which on the basis of available sources of information is often difficult to establish. At the same time, there are undeniable objective factors that influence the behavior of clergymen at the beginning of service. In this sense, when considering the causes of deviant behavior among the rural clergy of the Tomsk diocese and resettled villages in particular, some features can be allocated: a) the specificity of the profession with a bilateral control: total by the diocese authorities and social from the congregation; b) the change in the status of the clergy in the eyes of believers who began to perceive the priest not as the priest of the parish, but as a necessary attribute to meet their spiritual needs; c) the degradation of educational qualifications among the clergy and the low-quality training; d) the lack of financial resources for adequate material support of the rural clergy. Tomsk diocesan authorities had high hopes for the parochial clergy as a mediator in influencing the Orthodox and non-Orthodox resettled population. In addition, the temporal power hoped to solve some problems and manage the newly established settlements with the help of the priest. In this situation, one can speak of the "versatility" and "multifunctionality" of rural priests in migrants' parishes, which increased their physical and psychological burden and their need in special support from the state and the supreme ecclesiastical authority that was very negligible in reality.

Keywords

Authors

References