The activities of the holy martyr Kirill (Smirnov) to preserve and develop religious education at the Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church in 1917-1918

Hieromortyr Kirill (Smirnov) is one of the key figures in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the first half of the twentieth century. The biography of the archpastor has attracted attention of numerous researchers, but there are still little-studied episodes in it. This article is devoted to one of such significant stories - management of the Department for Teaching the Law of God at the Local Council of 1917-1918. Archbishop (later Metropolitan) Kirill played a key role in the work of the 15th Department of the Council, actively participating in discussions, directing the course of discussions, proposing solutions to complex issues, and making speeches at Council sessions. However, Bishop Kirill’s work in defending the Church’s view on the religious education of children went beyond the activities of the 15th Department. He headed the cathedral delegation to the chairman of the provisional government A. F. Kerensky to defend the activities of parish schools, organized a meeting with religious teachers in the cathedral chamber to discuss opposition to the decree “On the Separation of Church from State and School from Church”, and headed the work of a joint meeting of departments, where the issue of governing bodies for religious education was discussed. One of the last activities of the 15th Department, initiated by Bishop Kirill, was the development of the issue of the possibility, under the conditions of the ban by the Bolsheviks on the activities of the Church in schools, of church upbringing and education of children and adults at the church, which aroused great interest among the council members. The results of the study show that the holy martyr Kirill, from the beginning of his priestly activity, took an active part in the religious education of children through the school teaching of the Law of God, and then, as the Tambov archpastor, contributed to the development of church parish schools in the diocese. When, as a result of revolutionary events, the existence of these forms of education was under threat, Archbishop Kirill became one of the most active and energetic defenders of the Church’s right to the upbringing and education of children and youth at the Local Council of 1917-1918. Unable to reverse political decisions, he proposed new forms of religious education.