Catacomb Church

Clandestine Sunday meeting of Fedorov catacombs

Catacomb Church- a collective name (usually as a self-identification) of those representatives of the Russian clergy and communities who, starting in the 1920s, rejected submission to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate (initially led by Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky)), accusing it of collaborating with the communist authorities, and switched to illegal situation. The name used as a synonym is the True Orthodox Church (TOC).

Founders of the Catacomb Church

Among the founders of the Catacomb Church, Metropolitan Joseph (Petrov) and Archbishops Theodore (Pozdeevsky) and Andrey (Ukhtomsky) are traditionally distinguished. Around them, respectively, the movements of “Josephites”, “Danilovites” and “Andreevites” were formed, consisting of part of the bishops, clergy and laity who did not recognize the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius of 1927 on the loyalty of the church to the Soviet regime. Moscow True Orthodox are often called “non-rememberers” for their refusal to remember Met. Sergius. Also, members of the movement called themselves True Orthodox Christians or “Tikhonites”, named after Patriarch Tikhon.

Until the 1970s, the phrase “Catacomb Church” was not widespread in the movement, but existed only among the clergy and intelligentsia, mainly in Leningrad, as well as in the foreign press.

Movement in the 1920s-1940s

In the 1920s-1950s, the movement of “true Orthodox Christians” was very widespread and apparently numbered tens of thousands of people. Its social basis was the clergy, monasticism and individual peasants who refused to join collective farms and, as a rule, were subject to dispossession and exile to Siberia. The overwhelming majority of individual peasants professed the views of the “true Orthodox” and were influenced by the catacomb priesthood and preachers.

Until the late 1950s, the number of underground Orthodox communities in the USSR apparently numbered in the thousands. They were not connected organizationally (the organizations existed only on paper, in the affairs of the NKVD). Therefore, it is difficult to talk about the general ideology of the movement. In the underground there were both communities that were quite loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate, but did not have the opportunity to register and gather legally, and those who believed that the power of the Antichrist had come, in spirit and with official church there can be no contact. Despite the lack of a common ideology and any organization, the underground existed - as a social network, a religious community and a characteristic subculture.

What was common in the views of radical True Orthodox groups was the desire to have as little contact as possible with Soviet society and the state. In this regard, some “true Orthodox” refused to take Soviet passports, officially get a job, send their children to school, serve in the army, touch money, talk to officials (“silent people”), and even use public transport. During the Great Patriotic War, some True Orthodox Christians perceived the German army as liberators.

Priests who did not recognize the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius were repressed; they could not legally perform church services. As a result, the meetings were held underground, in conditions of strict secrecy. The nature of the “catacomb” groups greatly depended on the political situation in the region. Thus, in the northern regions, communities were formed mainly around priests, and in the Black Earth Region, where almost all the clergy were destroyed in the 1920s, and in order to remain faithful to the spirit of Christ, the laity united themselves, and some became ideological non-priests.

The brutal persecution of the “true Orthodox” continued with varying intensity throughout the years of Soviet power - primarily during the years of collectivization, Stalinism, and then in the early 60s.

"IN " Komsomolskaya Pravda“(September 18, 1954) in the article “Vestiges of Religion” it is said that “the city committee workers, shrugging their shoulders in bewilderment, say: “There is not a single church in the city.” But some somewhere manage to baptize children and get married, indeed,” the correspondent continues, “there is not a single church in Donskoy, but there are frequent cases of youth and even Komsomol members performing religious rites.”

The foreign emigrant press also contains valuable descriptions of the secret church. Prot. M. Donetsky (Orthodox Word, No. 18, 1952. Monks in the USSR), describing the monastic exploits of serving the Church in the world, tells the following fact. In the foothills of the Caucasus, not far from Sochi, there was a dairy state farm. He was exemplary. A lot was said and written about the state farm in local newspapers, as one of the best state farms in the country. But in 1937, at the beginning of Yezhov’s terror, the management of the state farm and all the workers were arrested. Some of them, including the director of the state farm, were shot, and some were exiled to the north. It turned out that the director of the state farm was a bishop, and all the workers were priests and monks. They were accused of hiding their social status"and in secret religious service to nearby villages and hamlets.

Another witness, V.K., in a long article “Catacomb Church in the USSR” (New. R. Sl.. April 5, 1951) talks about the secret life of believers, those who “did not make a deal with the NKVD-MVD following the Moscow Patriarch and his entourage, but chose to go underground, to the “catacombs,” often risking not only their pitiful sub-Soviet freedom, but also their lives.” “Once my investigator, we read in this article, told me: “Do you know that we, the security officers, are like your God - omnipotent, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent?.. and in the words of your God we declare to you: where are two or three gather in His name, there we are among you!” However, despite the terrible persecution, the “Catacomb Church” existed and continues to exist in different places of the vast Soviet Union . Particularly favorable places for it are large cities, where mass concentrations of the population serve as a suitable screen for religious conspiracy, the mountains of the Caucasus and Altai, the impenetrable corners of the Siberian taiga and the Central Asian steppes... The NKVD-MVD authorities have already uncovered dozens and hundreds of similar underground religious organizations in different places in the country, but do not hide the fact that such groups exist to this day. In the thirties, several underground groups of “Tikhonovites” were uncovered near Moscow. In one of the cities of the Caucasus there was a firmly hidden Orthodox Church (Tikhonovsky). It numbered hundreds of people of both sexes, starting with ordinary workers from local enterprises and ending with people with secondary and higher education. The head of the church was the former abbot of one of the monasteries of Crimea and miraculously survived the terror. For about twenty years he hid from the Bolshevik bloodhounds and for almost the same number of years he led this group of fearless confessors of Christ... There were two shelters in this city. One was located in the yard of the cemetery watchman and through several passages went into the cemetery graves. The second shelter was set up in the barn under the floor. An ordinary collective farm cow stood and peacefully chewed the cud, and under the floor in a damp and gloomy basement there was a church with all the accessories necessary for worship. In the four corners of the block in which the catacombs were located, four old women sold seeds and observed the behavior of the public passing by. Suspicious persons were immediately reported to the catacombs. The teenagers were good couriers and delivered their grandmothers’ orders in a timely manner. At critical moments, when the worshipers were in danger, the leader was moved to another place, and the rest of the community members dispersed in different directions through the passage yards. And only a few years later, already under the Germans, Fr. came out of these refuges into the light of God. D. and sighed with relief. It turned out that b. The abbot had been in an illegal position since 1927. This Orthodox group had an extremely negative attitude towards the Bolshevik religious “NEP”, calling Metropolitan Sergius and his minions servants of the Antichrist. Later we had the opportunity to find out that the attitude towards Patriarch Alexy was even more negative. His flirting with the Kremlin caused such disgust among everyone that even the so-called “Sergievites,” that is, b. adherents of the late Metropolitan. Sergius, - even these faint-hearted ones turned away from the patriarch as from an apostate.” (Protopresbyter Fr. Mikhail Polsky, “New Russian Martyrs”, vol. 2, chapter “On the truth of Christ”).

Repression in the 1960s

The last wave of repressions against the Catacomb Church began in 1959 - and especially intensified after Khrushchev's 1961 decree on the fight against parasitism. According to it, thousands of “true Orthodox” were exiled and imprisoned, who refused to officially get a job (and, as a rule, worked under contracts).

In 1961, the persecution of the True Orthodox was officially legalized. The “Instructions for the Application of Legislation on Cults,” approved by the resolution of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults dated March 16, 1961, stated: “Religious societies and groups of believers belonging to sects whose creed and nature of activity are not subject to registration are not subject to registration.” anti-state and fanatical character: Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, True Orthodox Christians, True Orthodox Church, Adventist reformists, Murashkovites, etc.”

In 1961-1962, almost all active members of the “catacomb” communities were arrested. In exile, some “true Orthodox” continued to refuse official employment, which led to trial and sending to a camp. There, refusal to work, as a rule, led to virtually indefinite imprisonment in a punishment cell - which led to death. By the early 1970s, most of the surviving True Orthodox were released - but the movement was drained of blood.

In the 60-70s, simultaneously with the rapid extinction of the village, the true Orthodox underground lost its mass character, partially merging into the official Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The fate of the remains of the Catacomb Church

In 1982, by decision of the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, the secret consecration of Bishop Lazar (Zhurbenko) took place in Moscow for the care of the catacomb flock in the USSR.

In the 1990s, many catacomb communities finally came out of hiding and officially turned to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and various jurisdictions of the TOC of Greece for care. However, some of the catacomb communities are still not connected with each other and with any registered churches, uniting only around their mentors. The total number of “catacombs” in 2009 apparently amounts to several hundred (hardly more than 1000) people.

CPI in other countries

In the 1920s, splits also occurred in the Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian Christian churches, the reason for which was the transition to the New Julian calendar, which was perceived by the most radical part of believers as an apostasy from Christianity. Believers who have separated from those who have converted to the new style in these countries also often call themselves True Orthodox Christians.

Notes

Literature

• Shumilo S.V. IN THE CATACOMBS. Orthodox underground in the USSR. Abstract on the history of the True Orthodox Church in the USSR [ed. Doctor of History, Prof. V.V. Tkachenko]. Lutsk: Teren, 2011
• Shumilo Sergey TPI AFTER STALIN - Report at the international conference “Church Underground in the USSR” (transcript of speech)
• Shumilo S.V. The Soviet regime and the “Soviet church” in the 40s - 50s of the twentieth century (chapters from the book) St. Petersburg, 2006
• Notes on the Catacomb Church in the USSR. - Andreevsky Ivan. 1947
• Russian Church Abroad and the Catacomb Church in Soviet Russia. - Andreevsky Ivan // Panteleimon, archimandrite. A ray of light. Part 2. Jordanville, 1970.
• New Russian martyrs, vol.1. - Ed. Jordanville, 1949
• New Russian Martyrs, vol.2. - Ed. Jordanville, 1957
• John, Archbishop Church in the catacombs. TOC (True Orthodox Church) during the times of persecution: 1917-1996. M., New Holy Rus', 1997
• Osipova Irina. Through the fire of torment and the water of tears... The fate of the “True Orthodox Church” movement. M.: Silver threads, 1998.
• Shkarovsky M.V. Josephism: a movement in the Russian Orthodox Church. St. Petersburg, 1999
• Moss Vladimir. The Orthodox Church at a crossroads (1917-1999). St. Petersburg, 2001.
• Epiphanius (Chernov), schemamon. Catacomb church on Russian soil. M., 2004
• Shkarovsky Mikhail. The fate of the Josephite shepherds. St. Petersburg, 2006.
• L. Regelson. The tragedy of the Russian Church. 1917-1953. Extended edition
• Brief history of the Russian True Orthodox Church: 1927-2007.
• Archival documents on the restoration by the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR in 1981 of the canonical hierarchy and church administration in the Russian True Orthodox Church
• CHRONOLOGY, DOCUMENTS, PHOTOS: Russian Church and Soviet State 1917-1953. 700 ill.
• Bishop Peter (Ladygin). The unshakable pillar of the Catacomb Church.
• Berman Andrey, priest. Materials on the history of the Michaelmas Christian movement. Cheboksary, 2007.
• Osipova Irina “O Most Merciful... Be with us continually...” Memoirs of believers of the Christian (Catacomb) Church. Late 1920s - early 1970s. M. Bratonezh, M. 2008
• Beglov Alexey. In search of "sinless catacombs". Church underground in the USSR. M. Publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate, 2008.
• "A zealot of the Secret Church." Bishop Gury of Kazan and his prayer followers. Biographies and documents. M., Bratonezh, 2008.

Until now, for many, the history of the Catacomb or True Orthodox Church within the borders of the former Russian Empire, especially in the post-war period, represented one of the most unsolved mysteries. As a rule, for the majority of those interested, all knowledge about it was based on some kind of speculation and assumptions based on little or completely unreliable sources, and practically no one could really understand and intelligibly explain what it is - the Catacomb Church, where it is located how does he live and what does he profess?

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE CATACOMBS

For many decades of Soviet captivity, the TOC was forced, like the ancient Christians, to hide in deep underground - that “desert” of the Apocalypse into which, according to the holy prophecy, the Woman-Church will flee from the face of the beast-Antichrist (Rev. 12, 14). With the accession of the Russian Bolshevik power on earth, this immediate forerunner of the “man of lawlessness” and the “son of destruction”, truly came last times, the time of the dress rehearsal for the last decisive battle of Christ with Belial, the Church of Christ with the harlot anti-church. That is why the confessional path of the Catacomb Church of the IPC, for which the blessing of the holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia was given, serves for us as a true example of the feat of faith and beauty of spirit.

Such a long “silence” of the Catacomb Church gave rise, on the one hand, to all sorts of rumors about it, on the other hand, it was the soil on which the enemy of human salvation was not slow to sow his tares of self-proclaimed false catacombs, whose representatives now dare to call themselves “True Orthodox” Church."

The name of the True Orthodox Church in Russia “catacomb” in its meaning goes back to the Roman dungeons in which the first Christians gathered to pray.

“That Christian catacombs could have existed in the 1st and 2nd centuries of the spread Christian faith and serve as places of worship at the tombs of martyrs, history testifies to this. Clement of Rome, on behalf of the Apostles, says to Christians: “Go, gather in the catacombs to listen to prayers and sing in honor of the martyrs.” The existence of Christian catacombs as places of burial of the dead and worship is confirmed by Roman laws, according to which in Rome at that time nothing was respected as much as cemeteries... and any place where anyone was buried was recognized as sacred.

Although the Roman government under Nero and Domitian persecuted Christians, it did not touch their tombs. Therefore, Christians, along with other cults, enjoyed the right of Roman laws and owned cemeteries without fear... Receiving, on an equal basis with other religions, the right to the surface of the earth, Christian society thereby acquired the only guarantee of the inviolability of underground tombs” - writes the church historian Archimandrite Gabriel (Manual of Liturgics. Tver. 1886, pp. 317-318).

In other words, such a right was the only refuge for Christians from religious persecution by atheistic authorities. It was the ancient Christian catacombs that served as a prototype of the conditions in which the Church found itself in recent times; they actually symbolized the phenomenon of illegal Orthodoxy in the godless state of the USSR.

However, history knows many similar analogies: these are the times of the dominance of Arianism, and the Monothelite heresy, and the era of iconoclasm. The closest example in time can be the persecution of the Russian Old Believers, which had providential significance in the sorrowful destinies of the Russian Catacomb Church. Yet it is not easy to draw direct parallels with our lately difficult when “All who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”(2 Tim. 3:12). Truly, never before has the Church of Christ found itself in such terrible circumstances that occurred in the 20th century, when with such clarity we saw the fulfillment of the words of the seer: “Woe to those who live on earth and sea, for the devil has come to you, having great wrath, knowing that time is short.”(Rev. 12, 12).

THE APPEARANCE OF THE RUSSIAN CATACOMBS

When did the Catacomb Church arise in Russia? The time of its appearance is indicated differently by different researchers. Some of them compare its occurrence with the new wave of Red Terror in 1922-23. in connection with the confiscation of church values ​​and the formation of the so-called. "Living Church". Others name another date - 1927, which became the beginning of the Soviet government's personnel policy in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church, the intervention of authorities in its internal affairs, that is, the deprivation of its freedom. Still others point to the formation of the Catacomb Church in the 1930s, again caused by another intensification of repression.

Partly, they are all right in their own way, but only in identifying stages its formation. More correct, however, seems to us the opinion of the famous confessor of the Catacomb Church, monk Anthony Chernov (in the schema of Epiphanius), who wrote this: “When did she, this Church of Christ, persecuted and destroyed, and hence - secret, hidden - appear on Russian soil? It appeared from the moment persecution began. And it began simultaneously with the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, when Christians were forced in one way or another to hide, hide their faith, hide and hide from the enemies of Christ... It appeared when crosses began to be torn off churches, icons were blasphemed, desecrated, closed, destroy temples... When the priests deprived of churches did not know where to go... When the first bishops and priests were subjected to all sorts of bullying and torment, and then executed or shot... That's when the Catacomb Church appeared! And not at all then, as they think and write, attributing this event almost to the thirties of our century”(Epiphany (Chernov), schemamonk. Catacomb Church on Russian Land. Typescript. 1981, p. 8).

It seems obvious that the formation of the Catacomb Church was a process gradual and it could not happen at the same time and everywhere. From this it is still impossible to draw the erroneous conclusion, recently established in historical literature, that by the term “True Orthodox Church” it is necessary to mean exclusively a movement that tried to stay within the framework of legality, and by the term “True Orthodox Christians” and “Catacomb Church” - the direction is actually illegal.

In fact, the TOC, IPC and the Catacomb Church are different synonymous names the same phenomenon. We should not forget that the founding fathers of all movements of the Catacomb Church, such as Archbishop. Andrei Ufimsky, Metropolitan Joseph of Petrograd, archbishop. Dimitry Gdovsky, bishop. Victor Vyatsky, archbishop. Theodore of Volokolamsk and others - all were legal bishops or, at least, served openly. However, they actively carried out ordinations secret bishops and priests, calling for departure to the “catacombs”. The latter, however, was not an end in itself for the CPI, but rather a forced measure.

True Orthodox Christians took advantage of the opportunity for legal service provided by the authorities due to the inadmissibility voluntary transferring the temples of God and the shrines that they owned into the hands of heretics or atheists, but they did not go further than this. When this possibility disappeared with the forcible confiscation of church buildings, they moved their activities underground - some earlier, some later - which practically ended only by the end of the 1930s.

Unlike the Renovationists and Sergians, all True Orthodox, despite some internal disagreements on issues of no fundamental importance, were guided by the same principle that united them: to prevent the internal enslavement of the Church by the Bolsheviks and, in general, any control by godless authorities over her shepherds and flock. Thus, the unity of all branches of the TOC lay not so much in the manner of their ministry (open or secret) or even the principles of organization (centralized or decentralized), but rather 1) in the complete identity of ideology in all key positions, and 2) in the prayerful and Eucharistic communication between myself.

It is also completely incorrect from an ecclesiological point of view that the terms IPC (True Orthodox Christians) and TOC (True Orthodox Church) are used: the first in relation to those catacomb communities that do not have a priesthood, the second - to those that have some kind of priesthood. or have hierarchical leadership. If we accept this interpretation, then one might think that those IPCs who have temporarily lost contact with legitimate True Orthodox pastors have ceased to be members of the True Orthodox Church. But this is absurd. Such an opinion should be rejected as untenable, because it is impossible to agree that the IPC, which is in an acephalous position, is not an organic part of the IPC. By the way, it is interesting to note that the terms “CPI” and “IPC” first came into use among the Old Believers, and from there they were already borrowed by the fathers of the Catacomb Church.

“OUR CATACOMBS” ARE NOT OURS AT ALL

In 1992, the “Vestnik RHD” published an essay by the Sergian hierodeacon Jonah (Roman Yashunsky) “Our Catacombs,” which became a kind of first and only work on the current state of various catacomb movements in Russia. Unfortunately, despite all the obvious shortcomings of the essay, it remains so to this day. Almost all the sources that R. Yashunsky used to write his article are known to me. They are not very extensive, given the traditional hostility of the catacombs towards various kinds of “experts” from the MP.

Therefore, we cannot agree with the editorial preface of “Vestnik RKhD”, which states that the young author (born in 1966) "It has great experience communication with the catacomb clergy of different directions existing on the territory of Russia.” R. Yashunsky had a direct relationship with only one such direction: in the past he himself was a cleric of the so-called. “Isaacian” schism of the “Seraphim-Gennadian” catacomb branch. It is about the “Isaakians” and “Gennadievites” that R. Yashunsky presents the most detailed material, which, however, is not without errors in facts and dates.

Despite the errors in Yashunsky’s essay, we still have to admit that some of the information he provided is of a certain value and even uniqueness. The main conclusion of R. Yashunsky: except for the non-canonical “Seraphim-Gennadievsky” branch, not a single current in the “catacombs” is currently “is not directly connected by an unbroken chain of episcopal consecrations with the Founding Fathers of the Catacomb Church, Sts. New Martyrs Joseph of Petrograd, Kirill of Kazan, Andrei of Ufa (Prince Ukhtomsky) and others”.

One way or another, we have to admit that not available today more or less objective, systematic and documented research on the state of the most famous currents in the Catacomb Church that exist today. Attempts made in this area earlier are of no interest, since they are mostly based on data from atheistic propaganda, or on the testimony of the same R. Yashunsky, which is far from complete and inaccurate. In addition, due to ideological predilections, the main goal of such works was to discredit the TOC, an attempt to present it in the most unsightly light, to pass it off as some kind of sectarian gathering.

But what is most surprising is the complete silence on this issue of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which considers itself part of the True Orthodox Church in Russia or even its direct heir. The ROCOR archives now contain a colossal amount of documents and materials about various branches of the Catacomb Church in the USSR from 1945 to 1990. But due to selfish, party interests, the ROCOR is forced to hush up any information about the TOC, since this would greatly damage the self-affirmation of the “foreigners” in Russia, where they consider only themselves canonical, pouring all sorts of slop on the catacombs and discrediting them in the eyes of their own flock.

One can hope that research in this direction will be continued in the future, supplemented by other authors and corrected if any inaccuracies are found in it.

Anti-orthodox

Saints of St. Petersburg. Saints who performed their exploits within the modern and historical territory St. Petersburg diocese Almazov Boris Alexandrovich

Catacomb Church

Catacomb Church

1. History

The Russian Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians (abbreviated as RCC IPC) is a small non-canonical unregistered religious group that declares its succession (in terms of the “St. Andrew’s” hierarchy) from Archbishop Andrei of Ufa. The Russian Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians states that it also includes groups of Old Believers - “Klimentovtsy” (in Siberia), “Belovodtsy”, “Josephites”, “Danilovtsy”, although there is no factual evidence of this. True Orthodox Christians carry out active missionary work among communities of “alternative Orthodoxy.” Some researchers define it as pseudo-Orthodox.

The first documented appearance of the term “true Orthodox” dates back to 1923 and is associated with the reaction of believers to the emergence of renovationism. In letters in defense of the Patriarch St. Tikhon, who were sent to the Commission for Religious Affairs under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR from Orthodox parishes The North Caucasus, Central Asia and the Central Black Earth Region, believers called themselves “true Orthodox”, thus contrasting their communities that remained faithful to the Patriarch with the renovationist ones. However, then “true Orthodox” began to be called primarily religious groups that did not recognize the canonical highest church authority and advocated the transition to secret (catacomb) forms of religions. life.

Bishop Andrei (Ukhtomsky) was the first to use the term “true Orthodox Christians” in this meaning. Having become one of the founders of the catacomb movement, from the beginning. 20s XX century he practiced secret consecrations of suffragan bishops for various dioceses. After the death of St. Tikhon (Ɨ 1925) bishop. Andrei did not agree with the transfer of control of the Church to the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan. sschmch. Peter (Polyansky) and subsequently did not recognize the canonical rights of the Deputy Locum Tenens Metropolitan. Sergius (Stragorodsky), accusing both of compromising with the Soviet authorities. According to some information, Bishop. Andrei, having broken with the Patriarchal Church, converted to the Old Believers (according to other sources, it was about an attempt to unite the Old Believers to Orthodoxy). It was from the Old Believers, according to modern researchers, ep. Andrei also borrowed the term “true Orthodox Christians,” which was found in Old Believer literature. So, one of the self-names that has existed since the 18th century. the priestless consent of the runners are true Orthodox Christian wanderers (IPHS; see Art. Wanderers).

Bishop's followers Andrey (Ukhtomsky), so-called St. Andrew's movement, as part of the True Orthodox Christians, were most active in the Urals and the Middle Volga region. Initially, the St. Andrew's communities did not differ from the Orthodox in ritual terms. parishes, they were cared for by a significant episcopate, leading the succession from the bishop. Andrey (Ukhtomsky); A peculiarity of the Andreevsky bishops was their refusal to commemorate the Locum Tenens Met. Peter, who was recognized as the head of the Church by another opposition Metropolitan. Sergius church currents. In the end 20s Almost all Andreevsky bishops were repressed. In 1931, the last bishop of Staroufa remaining at large was arrested. Avvakum (Borovkov), leader of the Avvakum movement in Chuvashia (“Union of the Orthodox Church of Chuvashia”). In 1937, the Andreevsky episcopate was almost completely destroyed during mass repressions. The last known bishops of the Andreevites were Simon (Andreev; Ɨ 1942) and Peter (Ladygin; Ɨ 1957). Dr. persons who ascribed to themselves episcopal succession from bishop. Andrei (Ukhtomsky), apparently, were impostors, such as, for example, the “Bishop of Tomsk” Kliment Loginov, who died in 1938, and is considered the founder of the “Ancient Orthodox Church of True Orthodox Christians-Clementists.”

At the turn of the 20s and 30s. the term “True Orthodox Church” appears (in the documents of the Orthodox Church), which was used in relation to Josephiteness. Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh), who led this movement, opposed what was set out in the “Declaration” of 1927 by Metropolitan. Sergius (Stragorodsky) course towards the legalization of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. In Feb. 1928 Met. Joseph wrote to Archimandrite. sschmch. Lev (Egorov) that he and his supporters did not, do not, and will never emerge “from the bowels of the true Orthodox Church.” Consequently, Met. By “true Orthodox Church,” Joseph meant the entire Orthodox Church, and not some new church structure alternative to the Moscow Patriarchate. Supporters of Metropolitan Joseph was not recognized by the Temporary Patriarchal Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan. Sergius, but unlike the Andreevites they continued to commemorate the Locum Tenens Met. Petra. Thus, the Josephites did not consider themselves to be a separate “True Orthodox Church,” although during interrogations during arrests they confirmed that they were truly Orthodox Christians.

The ROCOR treated groups of true Orthodox Christians completely differently, perceiving secret “true Orthodox” communities as some kind of serious force, alternative to the Moscow Patriarchate. In the messages of the Bishops' Councils of the ROCOR in the 50-60s. XX century there were assurances of “spiritual unity with the Catacomb Church in the homeland.” The Council of Bishops of the ROCOR in 1971, in the definition “On the Catacomb Church,” stated that “the free part of the Russian Church, located abroad of the USSR, is in soul and heart with the confessors of the faith, who in anti-religious manuals are called “true Orthodox Christians,” and in the community are often called “Catacomb Church,” because they have to hide from civil authorities, just as in the first centuries of Christianity believers hid in the catacombs.” The naive faith of representatives of the ROCOR in the number and influence of true Orthodox Christians was shaken by the writer A. I. Solzhenitsyn, who was expelled from the USSR in 1974. He addressed a letter to the members of the 3rd All-Diaspora Council of the ROCOR, where he actually called the supposedly secretly existing True Orthodox Church in the USSR a myth, a pious dream of “a catacomb that is both sinless and incorporeal.” In response to this statement, publicist A. Levitin-Krasnov in mid. 70s distributed articles about a numerous, united True Orthodox Church, supposedly existing in a number of regions of the USSR, headed by the catacomb “bishop” Theodosius (it is unclear which of the leaders of True Orthodox Christians of that time with that name was meant - Bakhmetyev or Gumennikov).

In 1976, the “true Orthodox” community from the Luga district of the Leningrad region. under the leadership of priest. Mikhail Rozhdestvensky, sent a letter abroad with a request to join the ROCOR. The letter was reviewed by the Primate of the ROCOR, Metropolitan. Philaret (Voznesensky), after which the community of M. Rozhdestvensky was officially accepted into the ROCOR. In the same year, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR issued a “Message to the Russian people,” which said: “We revere your feat, shepherds of the modern Russian catacombs, shepherds who did not seek legalization, who carry out their ministry in secret from the prince of this world, with the blessing of your courageous hierarchs." In 1978, the “true Orthodox” monk, who arrived from the USSR to France. Anthony (A. A. Chernov) was received into the ROCOR by Archbishop. Anthony (Bartoshevich). However, already in 1980 Chernov left the ROCOR and moved to one of the Greek-Old Calendar jurisdictions. He opposed the ROCOR with articles in which he accused its hierarchs of connections with the CIA and Freemasonry. Chernov also wrote that the catacomb figures Lazar (Zhurbenko) and Antony Golynsky-Mikhailovsky, well-known in the USSR, were specially introduced into the “truly Orthodox movement"KGB agents. In turn, the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR in 1981 brought forward a similar accusation against Chernov.

After the collapse of the USSR and the actual loss of control over the activities of destructive sects in the states formed on the territory of the USSR, there was a rapid growth of schismatic pseudo-Orthodox communities. The tendency to identify oneself with various directions of the Catacomb movement of True Orthodox Christians. in particular with the Josephites, Andreevites, Sekachevoites, etc., was common to them. They identified themselves with these movements even if the new groups were not, by their origin, connected with the catacomb communities. The use of the terms True Orthodox Christians and True Orthodox Church in the name gave the leaders of these groups the opportunity to declare continuity and connections with authoritative figures of church resistance to the Soviet regime. Unlike their predecessors, who united for the sake of secret church service, groups of True Orthodox Christians of the new formation did not hide their activities and registered communities in the official. order, actively participated in political actions. As a rule, such groups were founded by former clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, who went into schism due to conflicts with the hierarchy. These neo-catacomb communities began to be united in the reports of the Ministry of Justice of Russia under the general code name “True Orthodox Church”.

2. Basic dogmatic provisions

The Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians recognizes itself as part of the Ecumenical Orthodox Eastern Church. Since the time of Apostle Andrew, it existed as the Scythian Church, from the 3rd century as the Gothic Church (meaning Crimean Gothia, where Christianity was recorded from the 4th century), from the 9th century as the Russian Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, from 1448 autocephalous, from 1593 - the Moscow Patriarchate . Further, all Russian church councils are recognized with the exception of the Great Moscow Council. Since 1928 in a catacomb position. The “secret” councils of 1948 (Chirchik) and 1961 (Nikolsky) are recognized. Sergianism is categorically rejected. True Orthodox Christians celebrate the same holidays as the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the Catacomb Church, the highest hierarch is the bishop, elected by the flock. In conditions of persecution, the institution of “wandering priests” was introduced, who could travel in secular clothing. The rank of deaconesses is being revived. The head of the community can be a lay mentor (lay abbot).

Due to the lack of priests, true Orthodox Christians have abandoned most of the sacraments, and the sacraments of baptism, communion and repentance that they retained are performed in a simplified form. They are often performed by older women called nuns or blueberries.

True Orthodox Christians preach celibacy and asceticism. For them, to an even greater extent than for other groups, Truly Orthodox Church, characterized by eschatological moods.

True Orthodox Christians are categorically prohibited from being members of the Communist Party, Komsomol, pioneer, Islamic, Jewish organizations and participating in government elections, studying and being teachers, engaging in sports sections or art studios, going to the theater, serving in the army, smoking. It is also forbidden for men to shave their beards and for women to cut their hair. Divine services can be performed at a minimum, that is, reduced to prayer and reading the Psalter. To celebrate the Eucharist you need red grape wine and leavened bread. Entry into the community is accomplished through a ritual of announcement and renunciation of previous errors. Baptism is carried out through three times immersion or complete dousing.

Regarding marriage, the age of those getting married in the IPH is reduced to 13 (for men) and 11 (for women) years, however, marriages with non-racial elements (Jews and Hamites of the Negroid type) are prohibited.

Subsequently, Ambrose Sievers rejected the veneration of icons and the authority of the Ecumenical Councils:

The IPH has an ambiguous attitude towards paganism; on the one hand, there is disgusting superstition, and on the other, “the ancient, primitive religion of the forefather Noah.”

The RCC IPC rejects the doctrine of the Trinity.

Worship. In addition to the traditional worship service, it includes prayer services with lit crosses. June 22 is especially revered as the day of the Council of Russian Saints and the beginning of the Crusade against Bolshevism and the Second Civil War. January 8 is the day of the death of Konstantin Voskoboynik and August 19 is the day of the death of Bronislav Kaminsky (holy new martyr Boris Stratelates).

This branch doesn't come from anywhere. This is one of the largest catacomb falsifications.

The fact of succession of the RCC IPH Avrosius Sivers from the “Andreevsky” hierarchs is questioned by representatives of many jurisdictions. Sievers was repeatedly accused of self-sanctification and falsification of documents of his community.

It is known that in 1994, at a certain “Consecrated” council of the “Russian Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians of the old and new rites”, the Gothic diocese, abolished in 1779, was restored, and “Bishop” Ambrose was installed “Archbishop of Goth and all Northern Lands” Catacomb Church." Defiantly refusing state registration, “Archbishop” Ambrose conducts active informational, doctrinal and ideological activities on the Internet.

Sievers, in his research on history, relies on information from the so-called 3rd “Novoselovsky Archive” - as a source of information on the history of the Catacomb Church (the reliability of this collection has been repeatedly questioned, both by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and by the catacombists - opponents of Ambrose, who they called the archive a fake). He has repeatedly published scientific and journalistic articles in the newspapers “Russian Orthodoxy” and “Worldview”.

A. Sivers, on behalf of his “church,” rejected the holiness of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Dmitry Donskoy, teacher. Paisius Velichkovsky, St. Philaret Drozdov, anathematized “six-fingered, scaly, homunculi” (3)

On April 20, 1981, Ambrose Sievers participated in a National Socialist rally on Pushkin Square in Moscow. He is an ally of the so-called. “The Oprichnina Brotherhood in the name of St. St. Joseph Volotsky." Since 2001 the initiator of the creation and “spiritual father” of the “Russian Orthodox National Socialist Movement” (RPNSD), whose members greet each other with the words “Sieg Heil!” Simultaneously since 2006 “spiritual father” of the Party for the Defense of the Russian Constitution “Rus” (PZRK “Rus”). On April 7, 2007, I held a prayer service on Red Square, where I read the so-called “ Incantatory prayer"against the "demon VIL" (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin). Immediately after this action, Ambrose (Sievers) was detained and spent some time in the police station.

Sievers became famous for his “Consecrated Councils,” at which he excommunicated first one and then the other. The current activity of Sivers has already crossed all boundaries, for he preaches polygamy, and the possibility of exterminating the heterodox and other heresies. According to some data, in 2003. Sievers announced that he was not ordained and went abroad, but he soon returned again and is now “serving” in Russia.