Standing of Parish Priest and Minor Orders in Russia in 1917 — the 1930th

This article is devoted to analysis and tries to describe the situation of the parish (white) clergy in Russia in the period from 1917 to 1930-ies of XX century. The aim of the work is based on the study of documents, legal sources, theses, and sources of periodicals to trace the change of position of the clergy, not only in cities but also in rural areas, one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. For the writing of this article the author used the following methods: system (analysis of the situation of clergy and the development of relations between the clergy and the state in the specified chronological period), the historical-genetic (the desire to identify regularities of change of the social status of the priests and members of clergy in accordance with the constantly changing conditions of life in the country). The result of this work was that the position of the parish clergy, from 1917 until 1941, has undergone drastic changes not only in economic but also in social and ethical terms. The main factors of these changes (and not in a good way) were: a decrease in the number of parishioners and conduct a service, deprivation of state assistance in providing material support to the clergy, restriction of rights, the constant waves of anti-religious campaign and repression. However, despite the tightening of conditions of life, the clergy continued to perform their duty and remained faithful to his Homeland that could not go unnoticed and further leads to the change of relations between the Soviet government and representatives of the clergy, but still with a predominance of anticlerical sentiment in the society until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The results allow drawing attention to one of less studied issues in the history of the life and work of the parish clergy with the possibility of a further examination with the involvement of the instruments of the clergy in exile in Europe and America.