Lietuvos Stačiatikių Bažnyčia 1918–1940 m.: kova dėl cerkvių

LTStraipsnyje analizuojami įvairūs Lietuvos stačiatikių vyskupijos 1918–1940 m. istorijos aspektai: apibūdinama vyskupijos struktūra, jos tautinė sudėtis, valdymo institucijos, apžvelgiama Lietuvos valstybės politika stačiatikių mažumos atžvilgiu, o taip pat Katalikų Bažnyčios ir lietuvių visuomenės požiūris į ją, stačiatikių pastangos atgauti po Pirmojo pasaulinio karo katalikų perimtas cerkves ir kt. Pridedama lentelė "Stačiatikių cerkvės Lietuvoje 1918–1940 m.", kurioje trumpai apžvelgiama visų Lietuvos cerkvių ir parapijų istorijos raida, pateikiami statistiniai duomenys apie parapijiečius, nekilnojamojo turto likimą. Daroma išvada, kad nedidelė Lietuvos stačiatikių bendruomenė (1,13% gyventojų) sunkiai adaptavosi prie naujų politinių, socialinių, ekonominių sąlygų nepriklausomoje Lietuvos Respublikoje, kurios absoliuti gyventojų dauguma buvo katalikai. Jie nedelsdami pareikalavo satisfakcijos už caro laikais Katalikų Bažnyčiai padarytas skriaudas. Stačiatikių parapijos neteko nekilnojamojo turto, daugelio cerkvių. Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija leido Stačiatikių Bažnyčiai, kaip ir kitoms religinėms institucijoms, tvarkytis pagal savo kanonus. Valstybė nesikišo į jos vidaus reikalus, toleravo pavaldumą Maskvos patriarchijai. Tačiau ekonominę, socialinę padėtį reguliavę įstatymai stačiatikių bendruomenei nebuvo palankūs. Stačiatikių ir Katalikų Bažnyčių tarpusavio santykius šaldė pastarosios puoselėta unijos idėja. Valstybės politika, Katalikų Bažnyčios sugestijuotas požiūris į stačiatikius skatino šios bendruomenės uždarumą, ribojo jos sociokultūrinę integraciją.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Stačiatikių Bažnyčia Lietuvoje; Maldos namai; Orthodox Church in Lithuania; Prayer houses.

ENIn Lithuanian historiography no great attention has been paid to the Orthodox Church, therefore the related information found in various publications and reference books is based mainly on one source - the article published by the bishop of the Eastern rite Petras Būčys, MIC in 1936. Regrettably, this source is not reliable, and it is responsible for the spread of some inaccurate statistical data and baseless statements. E. g., the numbers of the Orthodox believers are usually exaggerated - in actual fact the Orthodox community in Lithuania was relatively small, consisting of ca. 28,000 local Russians and Belorussians in 1937. The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania guaranteed equal rights to its citizens of all faiths, and all Churches could function according to their canon law. The Orthodox Church, however, found itself in a peculiar situation experiencing the aftermath of its former nineteenth-century privileges as a state religion when the Catholics began to question its heritage endeavouring to compensate their old grievances, while the heads of the Orthodox Church stubbornly defended their rights as the inheritors of the old Church property. The laws, especially those related to land reforms, were not favourable to the Orthodox Church, and it was deprived of its real estate. About a half of all the Orthodox Churches (not counting the former Catholic Churches and those which had serviced only the Russian troops) were taken over by the government institutions and the Catholic Church. The property acquired in tsarist times by Orthodox parishes was considered "state property" and the legality of its expropriation was not doubted.Nearly all the Orthodox communities that existed in the major cities had either to cotent themselves with religious services in the cemetery chapels or to build new houses of prayer in more remote places. Functioning in a Catholic country the Orthodox Church came into contact with Catholics proselytism. This process intensified in the mid-thirties following the arrival of the bishop P. Būčys, MIC and the establishment of the mission for the Catholics of the Eastern rite in Kaunas. The new situation forced the Orthodox to resort to counter-propaganda and increased the tension between the believers of the two faiths. In contrast to other countries which formerly had also been part of the Russian Empire - Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Poland, the Orthodox Church of Lithuania administratively belonged to the Patriarchate of Moscow. In a relatively small and nationally homogeneous Church presided by the metropolitan bishop Elevferii (Bogoiavlenskii), loyal to Moscow, there was no internal movement for autonomy or autocephalous state. The Lithuanian government considered the subordination to the Patriarchate of Moscow 'undersirable', nevertheless, it tolerated that situation. The canonical status quo of the Church secured the continuum of the Lithuanian diocese including Vilnius in denouncing the canonicity of the autocephalous nature of the Church of Poland, part of which were the Orthodox of occupied Vilnius. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Istorija / History