Missionary Movement in the Second Half of the 19th Century in the Russian Empire and the First Stage of Its Formation in the Don Cossack Host Region

Abstract

The study is devoted to the missionary movement of the second half of the 19th century. in the Russian Empire and its formation in the Don Army Region. Based on the study of a complex of sources, it is shown that until 1868 the mission was carried out mainly in relation to the “foreigners” of the Volga region and Siberia. Since 1870, the Council of the Missionary Society was moved to Moscow, the charter of the society was approved, according to which the mission was to develop mainly as an internal one. After the opening of the Missionary Society in Moscow, its committees began to open in various dioceses of the Orthodox Russian Church. One of the first committees was opened in the Don and Novocherkassk diocese. Its activities were regulated by the Archbishop of the Don and Novocherkassk Platon (Gorodetsky), who proposed a fundamental approach to conducting a mission in the Don region. On the initiative of the hierarch, two directions of the mission were determined - among the Old Believers and among the Don Kalmyks. The first stage of the mission, initiated by the bishop, was the training of missionaries at the Don Theological Seminary, for which an intensive study of the “schism” and the Kalmyk language was introduced into the curriculum. The second stage was connected with the study of the history of the Old Believers on the Don and the culture and religion of the Kalmyks. The platform for the publication of research, which became a kind of platform for missionary activity, was the journal “Don Diocesan Gazette”, published by the Don Theological Seminary throughout its existence.