The article is devoted to the analysis of the participation of the Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov) in the development of government policy measures during the period of the Great Reforms. Saint Philaret (Drozdov), the most authoritative hierarch of the Russian Church, by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander II, had considerable experience in ecclesiastical and political activity. He had been familiar with the monarch who had ascended the throne for a long time, their relationship was not only official, but also personal. The emperor's wife, Maria Alexandrovna, respected the spiritual gifts of the Moscow Metropolitan. Faced with the problem of writing the text of the manifesto on the abolition of serfdom, the government turned to Metropolitan Philaret. The Moscow saint formulated his own, different from the original, concept of the content of the document, which was accepted. Less well known is his involvement in the preparation of the budget reform. The article reveals the role of the metropolitan in the legislative recognition of a special status for church finances, different from both state and public funds. Some reform initiatives of the government were not implemented due to the opposition of the metropolitan. The active position of St. Philaret prevented the liberalization of the policy towards the Old Believer schism. By rejecting the idea of including a hierarchy in the Council of State, he contributed to the emperor's abandonment of constitutional undertakings. Thus, Metropolitan Filaret (Drozov) should be regarded not only as a prominent church hierarch, but also as a prominent participant in government activities during the era of the Great Reforms.
Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov), Orthodox state, church-state relations, modernization, Great Reforms, government, conservatism
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Bezhanidze Georgy
Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences
* in Theology;
Place of work: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov pereulok, Moscow 127051, Russian Federation;
Post: Assistant professor of the Depatment of the History of Church and Canonical Law;
ORCID: 0000-0002-9628-9528;
Email: georgy.bezhanidze@gmail.com.
*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.
Firsov Andrey
Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences
* in History;
Academic Rank: Associate Professor;
ORCID: 0000-0001-6876-5972;
Email: agfirsov@mail.ru.
*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.
This study was funded by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research as part of the project no. 21-011-44119\21 “Theological thought in the context of modernisation: Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) and imperal institutions of his time”.