The Synod of Polotsk was a local synod held on February 12, 1839 by the clergy of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the city of

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

for

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

with the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. Polotsk was the center of the Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Polotsk-Vitebsk, the metropolitan seat of all Greek Catholics after the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Synod of Polotsk was the culmination of the plans for reunification with the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

starting from to-be Metropolitan Joseph (Semashko), a Russophile Greek Catholic

protopresbyter A ''protoiereus'' (from grc, πρωτοϊερεύς, "first priest", Modern Greek: πρωθιερέας) or protopriest in the Eastern Orthodox Church is a priest usually coordinating the activity of other subordinate priests in a bigger church. T ...

, who presented a document to Emperor

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

with a draft ("About the situation of the

Uniate The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

Church in Russia and the means to return it to the bosom of the Orthodox Church") outlining the gradual rejoining of the Greek Catholic Church within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

to the Russian Orthodox Church on January 17, 1828. The resolution of the Synod of Polotsk led to the Russian Orthodox Church immediately gaining 1607 formerly Greek Catholic parishes and 1.2 million new faithful under its jurisdiction. The exception to the Polotsk Synod was the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Chełm, which was not terminated until 1875 by the Russians.

History

Background

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

officials always viewed the

churches to be of a great threat to internal stability in the newly-conquered lands from the weakening Poland-Lithuania due to fears of it being a nest for

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...

and

anti-Russian Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...

activity, actively suppressing it. During the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

, Russian troops occupied the area of

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

and converted all the Greek Catholic parishes they occupied to

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

, converting back to Greek Catholicism once the occupation ended. Suppression did not truly begin until the

partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. The Greek Catholic

Metropolitan of Kiev Metropolitan of Kyiv is an episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the metropolitan city — Kiev. The title takes its name from the city ...

's was terminated, and the

eparchies Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

were cut down from six to four. However, after these actions, active suppression of the Greek Catholic Church was not pursued until Emperor Nicholas I's 1828 decree on the gradual dismantlement of the Greek Catholic churches within the

, based on

Joseph (Semashko)'s proposal earlier in the year. The results from this decree led to the separation of the Greek Catholic's from the , of which Father Joseph (Semashko) was appointed to, with a Russian-appointed Greek Catholic

as its head, Metropolitan Josaphat (Bulhak). Further results from the decree were the eparchies being cut down again from four to two, and the establishment of Orthodox-led seminaries to teach new Greek Catholic priests, swaying the next generation to Orthodoxy and eventual reunification. The establishment of the Greek Catholic Ecclesiastical College, under direction from Joseph (Semashko), led to the removal of instruments from the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ...

, enforcement of services according to

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...

service books, and the erection of

iconostases In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...

. It was noted that Joseph (Semashko) would visit Greek Catholic parishes and engage into fierce debates on the union with Rome with the local priests. Furthermore, a prohibition was established for Greek Catholics attempting to convert to Roman Catholicism in advance for the future unrest that would be caused. In 1833, Joseph (Semashko) requested to convert himself into the Russian Orthodox Church, but the Most Holy Synod refused, stating he was too valuable to the reunification process.

Further measures

In 1835, measures were taken to further weaken the Greek Catholic Church. The Russian government established a new 'Secret Committee for the Uniate Confession', including now, among others, Greek Catholic Bishop of Lithuania Joseph (Semashko), Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret (Drozdov), Greek Catholic

Josaphat (Bulhak), Chief Prosecutor of the Most Holy Synod Stepan Nechayev, and the

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

, Count

Dmitry Bludov Count Dmitry Nikolayevich Bludov (Russian: Граф Дмитрий Николаевич Блудов; 1785–1864) was an Imperial Russian official who filled a variety of posts under Nicholas I - Deputy Education Minister (1826–28), Minister o ...

. This committee devised a plan to formalize reunification of the Greek Catholic Church to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

, most notably taking Joseph's (Semashko) previously established Greek Catholic Ecclesiastical College from the Russian Department of Foreign Confessions and placing it under direct authority of the Orthodox Most Holy Synod. The four

were also cut down once more, into two, one White Russian ( Belorussian) and the other being a Lithuanian eparchy. In 1838, the two main opponents to the reunification process, the Greek Catholic

Josephat (Bulgak) and his vicar, Bishop Josephat (Zharskiy) both died. Naturally, Bishop Joseph (Semashko) took over as head of the Greek Catholic Ecclesiastical College and the leadership of the committee. This opportune sequence of events allowed for the Secret Committee to launch the final step of the reunification process, the Synod itself. Coincided with this, the Greek Catholic Collegium prepared the collection of 1,305 letters of Greek Catholic clergy expressing their desires to union with the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

between 1837-1838.

The Synod

On February 24, 1839 O.S._February_12.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._February_12">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._February_12_at_the_Saint_Sophia_Cathedral_in_Polotsk.html" ;"title="Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. February 12">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>

O.S._February_12_at_the_Saint_Sophia_Cathedral_in_Polotsk">Cathedral_of_Holy_Wisdom_in_Polotsk,_during_the_week_of_the_Feast_of_Orthodoxy.html" "title="Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. February 12 at the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk">Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Polotsk, during the week of the Feast of Orthodoxy">Triumph of Orthodoxy The Feast of Orthodoxy (or Sunday of Orthodoxy or Triumph of Orthodoxy) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and other churches using the Byzantine Rite to commemorate, originally, only the final defeat o ...

(First Sunday of Lent), the Synod was opened after

that day. The 29th

Don Cossack Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...

Regiment was sent to keep guard during the synod in case of agitation from the predetermined events that were to unfold. At the synod were Greek Catholic Bishop of Lithuania Joseph (Semashko), Greek Catholic Bishop of

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

, and the

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Bishop of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, alongside many other clergy and representatives of the laity. The synod concluded on March 25, 1839 O.S._March_13.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._March_13">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._March_13for_the_request_of_annexation_of_the_Ruthenian_Greek_Catholic_Church's_land_to_the_Russian_Orthodox_Church_ ,__native_name_lang___=_ru ,__image_______________=_Moscow_July_2011-7a.jpg_ ,__imagewidth__________= ,__alt_________________= ,__caption_____________=__Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour_in_Moscow,_Russia ,__abbreviation________=_ROC ,__type________...

History

Background

Further measures

The Synod

See also

References