The Nizhny Novgorod (and Arzamas) Diocese is an ecclesiastical-administrative structure of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Its head is Metropolitan Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Georgy (Danilov).

The cathedral city (the seat of the bishop) is Nizhny Novgorod.

Cathedral churches: since 12 September 2009 — the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky in Nizhny Novgorod and the Church of the Resurrection inArzamas.

Before September 2009, the cathedral church in Nizhny Novgorod was the Transfiguration (Old Fairground) Cathedral; before 1930, it was the Transfiguration Cathedral in the The Kremlin.

Early years of the metropolitan see on Nizhny Novgorod soil

The decision to establish a separate Nizhny Novgorod diocese was made as early as 1589 at the 28th Moscow Council. This decision was hastened by the dangerous spread of Old Believer supporters in the "Lowland" (Nizovskaya) territory, where Moscow Old Believers found refuge in great numbers, as well as followers of Razin — participants in the peasant war (1670–1671).

On 24 March (3 April) 1672, the Nizhny Novgorod diocese was established. Governing the newly opened diocese required an experienced and trustworthy man. The choice fell on Filaret, archimandrite of the Caves Monastery of the Ascension. He served as Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod and Alatyr for more than 9 years, from 2 July 1672 to 7 March 1682.

From its founding in 1672 until the end of the 18th century, the residence of the bishops was in the The Kremlin; under Bishop Damascene the residence was moved to a new building constructed on the grounds of the disestablished St. John Monastery.

The Gorky Diocese

See also: History of the Russian Church after 1941

Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Gorky diocese was close to destruction: nearly all churches were closed or no longer existed, and in The City of Gorky every church was closed.

According to a 1943 count, of the diocese's 1,126 church buildings, 892 were being used as clubs, schools, and warehouses, while 228 stood empty and were falling into ruin. In 1945, 13 churches were reopened; in 1946, 6; in 1947, 3; in 1948, 2 churches.

By 1950 the diocese had 47 registered churches, including 3 in The City of Gorky. In addition, there were about 60 unregistered houses of prayer where services were held by retired priests and laypeople. In particular, in Vorsma the house of prayer of Nikolai Bratanov was designed for 20–25 people, yet according to the plenipotentiary's own data, 200–250 worshippers gathered outside the house for the Easter service. In 1950–1956 the number of parishes in the diocese did not change, while nationwide the number of parishes fell noticeably. In 1956 the Kazan church was opened in Vorsma.

In modern Russia

In 1996 the diocese's website was launched, becoming the first Orthodox website in Russia. In 2003 a modern version of the site appeared. In October 2008 an English version appeared, reproducing the daily news feed of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. By 2010 the site had about 30,000 monthly visitors. On 16 July 2005 an Orthodox helpline began operating. Over five years of work it received 63,000 calls.

By the start of 2007 the diocese had 414 functioning churches.

In 2009 the diocese saw the Feodorovsky Monastery revived, 8 new parishes opened, and 9 churches and 3 chapels consecrated. From 9 to 12 September 2009 Patriarch Kirill visited the Nizhny Novgorod region, during which the Cathedral of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky in Nizhny Novgorod was given cathedral status.

In December 2009 a delegation of 118 people, headed by Archbishop Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and Bishop Veniamin of Lyubertsy, made a five-day pilgrimage to the holy sites of Sinai, Cairo, and Alexandria.[20] At St. Catherine's Monastery an exception was made for the Nizhny Novgorod pilgrims — they were allowed to hold a service.

Bishops

Over 330 years, the Nizhny Novgorod see was governed by 48 hierarchs.

1937–1941 — the see was vacant.

  • Filaret (2 June 1672 — 7 March 1686)
  • Pavel (7 March 1686 — 26 September 1696)
  • Trifiliy (Inikhov) (1696 — 20 July 1699)
  • Isaiya (23 July 1699 — June 1708)
  • Silvestr (Volynsky) (14 September 1708 — 5 March 1719)
  • Pitirim (23 March 1719 — 8 May 1738)
  • Ioann (Dubinsky) (25 February 1739 — 1 September 1742)
  • Dimitriy (Sechenov) (12 September 1742 — 9 August 1748)
  • Veniamin (Putsek-Grigorovich) (14 August 1748 — 28 February 1753)
  • Feofan (Charnutsky) (14 March 1753 — 1 June 1773)
  • Antoniy (Gerasimov-Zybelin) (9 July 1773 — 25 April 1782)
  • Ioasaf (Zabolotsky) (16 May 1782 — 22 September 1783)
  • Damaskin (Rudnev) (22 September 1783 — 12 January 1794)
  • Pavel (Ponomarev) (12 February 1794 — 26 October 1798)
  • Veniamin (Krasnopevkov) (26 October 1798 — 16 March 1811)
  • Moisey (Bliznetsov-Platonov) (28 May 1811 — 10 January 1825)
  • Samuil (Zapolsky-Platonov) (1825—1826), acting
  • Mefodiy (Sokolov) (28 February — 19 October 1826)
  • Afanasiy (Protopopov) (13 October 1826 — 24 January 1832)
  • Amvrosiy (Morev) (1 February 1832 — 19 January 1835)
  • Ioann (Dobrozrakov) (19 January 1835 — 13 January 1847)
  • Iakov (Vecherkov) from 1847 to 1850.
  • Ieremiya (Solovyov) from 1851 to 11 June 1857.)
  • Antoniy (Pavlinsky) (20 July 1857 — 29 September 1860
  • Nektariy (Nadezhdin) (22 September 1860 — 21 January 1869)
  • Filaret (Malyshevsky) (28 February 1869 — 7 February 1873)
  • Ioannikiy (Rudnev) (13 June 1873 — 8 December 1877)
  • Khrisanf (Retivtsev) (8 December 1877 — 23 May 1879)
  • Bishop Makariy (Mirolyubov) of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas (23 May 1879 — 7 June 1885)
  • Modest (Strelbitsky) (7 June 1885 — 25 November 1889)
  • Vladimir (Petrov) (25 November 1889 — 7 May 1892)
  • Vladimir (Nikolsky) (7 May 1892 — 29 December 1900)
  • Nazariy (Kirillov) (20 January 1901 — 13 August 1910)
  • Ioakim (Levitsky) from 1910 to 1918.
  • Lavrentiy (Knyazev)), Bishop of Balakhna, vicar of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, served from 1917 to 1918.
  • Evdokim (Meshchersky) from 1918 to 1924.
  • Sergius (Stragorodsky)) from 31 March 1924 to 27 April 1934.
  • Evgeniy (Zernov) (May 1934 — May 1935)
  • Feofan (Tulyakov) (12 November 1935 — 4 October 1937). On 21 September 1937 Metropolitan Feofan was sentenced to death by the NKVD Special Troika for the Gorky Region. On 4 October of the same year the sentence was carried out.
  • 1937–1941: no bishops were appointed
  • Sergiy (Grishin) (November/December 1941 — 20 May 1942)
  • Andrey (Komarov) (28 May — 13 July 1942)
  • Sergiy (Grishin) (13 July 1942 — 14 October 1943)
  • Zinoviy (Krasovsky) (1944 — 18 November 1948)
  • Korniliy (Popov) (18 November 1948 — 14 August 1961)
  • Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov) of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas
  • Ioann (Alekseev) (14 August 1961 — May 1965)
  • Mstislav (Volonsevich) (25 May 1965 — 14 January 1966)
  • Flavian (Dmitriyuk) (7 July 1966 — 3 March 1977)
  • Nikolai (Kutepov) from 11 June 1977 to 21 June 2001. In memory of Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov), who led the Nizhny Novgorod see from 1977 to 2001, the Nizhny Novgorod regional public foundation "In Memory of Metropolitan Nikolai of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas" was established; the foundation's standing board included six members, among them Archpriest Nikolai Bykov, secretary of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. The memorial foundation organized photo exhibitions dedicated to the metropolitan's archpastoral ministry, engaged in publishing activities, and also helped fund the construction and restoration of churches of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov)'s burial vault is behind the altar of the Transfiguration (Old Fairground) Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod; every year on the anniversary of his death a Divine Liturgy and memorial service are held there.[1]
  • Evgeniy (Zhdan) (acting from 21 June 2001) from March 2002 to 11 October 2002.
  • Georgy (Danilov) (since 26 December 2002)

Interesting facts

  • On 25 July 1937 Metropolitan Feofan (Tulyakov) of Gorky and Arzamas was arrested, held in the special wing of the Nizhny Novgorod prison, and subjected to torture — in particular, he was kept in a basement cell that was flooded with water. His investigation file contains almost no handwritten records (aside from standard questionnaires). The only typewritten record, dated 31 August 1937, bears his signature (though there are also doubts about the signature's authenticity). In it the hierarch confessed to "creating a fascist organization on the territory of the Gorky Region." The indictment also attributed other crimes to the 73-year-old metropolitan — organizing a fire at a tallow-rendering plant, and espionage for England. On 4 October the metropolitan was shot. The place where he was executed and buried remains unknown to this day.[2]
  • On Epiphany Eve, 18 January 2010, pre-revolutionary church vestments that had been used as theatrical props and kept in the costume shop of the Maxim Gorky Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theatre since before the war were donated from the theatre's collection to the Church-Archaeological Museum of the History of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.

Contacts

See also

Sources

  1. nne.ru — In memory of Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov), who led the Nizhny Novgorod see from 1977 to 2001, the Nizhny Novgorod regional public foundation "In Mem (archive)
  2. drevo-info.ru — Feofan (Tulyakov) // Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "Drevo"