Registration Files of as a Source for the Study of Church Life in the Kalinin Diocese 1943–1958
Keywords:
registration files, Kalinin diocese, parish, believers, clergy, restoration of church life, authorized representative of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox ChurchAbstract
The informative possibilities of the registration files of churches for the study of church life in the Kalinin region in the 1940s – 1950s are revealed. During this period, state-church relations normalized, and parish life gradually recovered after the repressions of the 1930s. The registration files recorded petitions from believers for the opening of churches, certificates of registration of communities, clergy and parish authorities, minutes of general meetings of believers, which resolved administrative, financial and economic issues. Personal data from the list of “twenties” and registration forms of members of parish bodies make it possible to establish the age, social origin, and occupation of religious activists, and to construct an image of believers in the post-war period. It is concluded that these documents are important for the consideration of petition campaigns for the opening of churches and the restoration of parish life.
