Issues of Canonization of Locally Venerated New Martyrs in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

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Hegymen Damaskin (Orlovsky),

Moscow, Russian Federation

Issues of Canonization of Locally Venerated New Martyrs in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of canonization of new martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church, specifically canonization of locally venerated saints canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. In 1990s the canonization of new martyrs and confessors was not only church-wide, but also local, and both were interlinked with political processes of the time. As new martyrs and confessors, both clergy and laity, were victims of the repressions, materials on them have become available only after 1991. This is the major factor in canonization of the suffered clergy and laity. After signing the Act of Canonical Communion in 2007 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia became a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church and there emerged a need to study the canonizations enacted abroad. The study shows that the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia did not practice canonization on stand alone basis, and its Menologion contained names of new martyrs canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as well as those of uncanonized victims. Drawing on representative data the author concludes by pointing out the moral aspect of the issue and warns that the Menologion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia may list sufferers of unknown life circumstances hindering their canonization.

Keywords

Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, canonization, new martyrs, repressions, clergy, Orthodox calendar.

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References

1. Golubinskij E. Istorija kanonizacii svjatyh v Russkoj Cerkvi. [History of canonization in the Russian Church]. Moscow, 1998.

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3. Svjashhennyj Sobor Pravoslavnoj Rossijskoj Cerkvi. Sobranie opredelenij i postanovlenij. Vyp. 4 [Sacred Cathedral of the Orthodox Russian Church: Codex of definitions and resolutions. Vol.4]. Мoscow, 1918, pp. 25-26.

4. Shmeman Aleksandr, protoierej. Dnevniki. 1973-1983. [Diaries: 1973-1983.]. Moscow, 2005.

About the authors

Hegumen Damaskin (Orlovskiy Vladimir Aleksandrovich), PhD in History, cleric of the Moscow Patriarchate, executive secretary of the Church and Civic Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia on Glorification of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, Moscow, Russian Federation, +7-916-902-79-57, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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