RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, SOVIET STATE AND RELATIONS WITH JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE IN THE 1980S

The author of the article analyzes the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the context of the evolution of the church policy in the USSR, as well as changes in Soviet- Israeli SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT relations in the last decade of the Soviet state. The analysis is based on archival documents introduced into scientifi c circulation for the fi rst time. Throughout the 1980s the Russian Orthodox Church has been strengthening its position in the soviet society. The ROC has already been independent enough to resolve many of its issues concerning its international activities on its own. Given the absence of diplomatic relations with Israel contacts between the ROC and the Jerusalem Orthodox Church were important for the Soviet state. This article pays close attention to analyzing the activities of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem as the only institution representing the Soviet country until 1987. The composite work of the Mission’s employees is revealed based on the reports of the heads of the Mission to the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Philaret. The Mission, while maintaining relations with the Jerusalem Patriarchate, essentially performed diplomatic eff orts to strengthen contacts with the state authorities of Israel, religious and public organizations and foreign missions in Jerusalem. The members of the Mission paid great attention to the task of preserving the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Soviet state in Israel. The exacerbation of Jewish fundamentalism, the strengthening of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and the ongoing Arab- Israeli confl ict forced the Jerusalem Patriarchate to actively maintain ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, hoping for its moral support and material assistance. The culmination of relations between the Churches in these years were the celebrations in Moscow and Jerusalem on the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’. They became the guarantee of benevolent relations between the Orthodox Churches in the new historical circumstances.