EURASIAN REVIEW, Volume 6, June 2014
• Received: March 10, 2014
• Revised: May 5, 2014
• Accepted: June 1, 2014
Stalin’s Foreign Policy and Russian Orthodox Church in the 1940–50s*
Donghyug Shin
Researcher, Eurasia Institute at Kookmin University
[email protected]
1. Introduction
In February 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Patriarch
Kirill(Gundyayev) on the third anniversary of his inauguration, said, “I deeply appreciate your efforts
to construct the spiritual foundation of our society and its enforcement on other churches. It is a
critical factor to our diplomatic policy, as the relationship with our neighbors above all is very
important in the post-Soviet space.”1 Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church has shown its solidarity
with the former Soviet countries that share it Orthodox beliefs, Russian culture and language, and
common memories. It is definitely present in the concept of ‘Russkii Mir’. Of them, Orthodox beliefs
are the fundamental link between her and neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church has become an important tool of
Russia’s foreign policy in the 20th century is a special feature of modern Russian history. Interestingly,
the Orthodox Church has more influence in the Soviet Union, an atheistic state, than in Czarist Russia
that had Orthodox Church as the state-church. In particular, the World Orthodox Bloc, the MoscowOrthodox Vatican, and Eastern European Orthodox Bloc were all manifestations of the Soviet-styled
Moscow as the third Rome ideology, which came to the fore in Joseph Stalin’s foreign policy of
utilizing the Orthodox Church. This study considers the Orthodox Church’s role as a tool of the
foreign policy of the Stalin’s era, which served as an important background for Stalin’s religious
policy. It is meaningful to apprehend Soviet foreign policy, the essence of Stalin’s religious policy.
This paper first introduces the meetings between Joseph Stalin and Orthodox Church leaders,
the patriarchate’s election of 1943 during World War II, and Russian Orthodox Church’s role as an
instrument of Stalin’s foreign policy. Second, it analyzes the relation between Stalin’s foreign policy
and the Russian Orthodox Church by exploring the preparation of the World Orthodox Council that
was not realized in 1948 and the 500th anniversary council of the Russian Orthodox Church’s
independence. This research also brings a deeper understanding of the essence and the long-term
durability of Stalin’s religious policy.
* This article was support by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government(NRF2009-362-B00014)
1
Владимир Путин: “Под Вашим предстоятельством Русская Православная Церковь значительно расширила
пространство социального служения.” http://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2012/02/02/vladimir_putin_pod_vashim_predstoyate
lstvom_russkaya_pravoslavnaya_cerkov_znachitelno_rasshirila_prostranstvo_socialnogo_sluzhen/(DOI:2013.03.04)
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EURASIAN REVIEW, Volume 6, June 2014
2. The Meeting of Stalin and the Russian Orthodox Church Leaders,
and Stalin’s Religious Policy
Before the Teheran Conference in September 1943, the necessity of showing Soviet
humanism in the religious field was a critical background for the establishment of Council for the
Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church(CAROC).2 It is important to notice that Moscow Patriarchy
was entirely isolated abroad during the 1935-1936s. This fact is verified in the report that G.G.
Karpov, the head of CAROC, sent to All-Union Communist Party(Bolsheviks) Central
Committee3(TsK VKP).4 Only five parishes remained in Western Europe and a few in United States,
but their contact with the Moscow Patriarchy had ceased. The Soviet government did not want to
reveal its plan to remove the Orthodox Church and its clergy as a social institution from the life of the
people; it had cut off the Russian Orthodox Church from the outside world.
However, the situation changed in 1943. Faced with the necessity of forming an anti-Hitler
alliance with United Kingdom and the United States, the Soviet leaders decided to utilize the Moscow
Patriarchy. First, it allowed the Patriarchy to come into contact with and to influence religious
organizations in Western countries. Second, the Patriarchy could influence the anti-fascist fighting of
Eastern European countries that were occupied by Germany. The NKVD5 knew that the Russian
Orthodox Church could help to mobilize Slavic nations in the anti-fascist struggle.6 Stalin made use
of its situation. In September, 1943, before the historical meeting of Stalin and the Orthodox
metropolitans, the government had already decided to use the hierarch in foreign policy. This fact is
verified by the report of the associate director of the MVD7, V.N. Merkulov and Soviet Communist
Party Politburo(Central Committee of Communist Party), A.S. Serbakov: “As the All Slavic
Committee to Struggle against Fascism’s requested, the head of Soviet Orthodox Church,
Sergii(Straorodskii), announced an anti-fascist statement.”8
After the meeting between the head of the Commissariat - Stalin, Metropolitan Sergii, Alexii
(Simanskii), and Nikolai(Yarushevich), the external activities of the Moscow Patriarchy became more
active. The Soviet government mobilized the Russian Orthodox Church as a hub to unite European
Orthodox ethnic groups and national ideological leaders(state ideology’s leaders).9 On September 8,
1943, the Council of Russian Orthodox Church Bishops appealed in a letter to the world’s Christians.
Stalin’s intention was immediately visible. Ten days later, a delegation that included H.
Johnson, the chief priest of the Canterbury Cathedral, one of leader of the Anglican Church, visited
Moscow, where Patriarch Sergii welcomed them. Occurring just before the Teheran Conference, the
Church of England’s visit had been Stalin’s plan and wish. Stalin was in the midst of urging the Allies
to create a Second Front, and he planed to influence the Allies through the representatives of Western
social movement groups.
After the delegation’s visit to the Soviet Union, the leaders of the Anglican Church
supported a quick aid to the Soviet Union. One of them, the Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Gordon
Lang(1864–1945), wrote a special prayer for Red army’s victory. In the United States, over one
thousand priests delivered the following statement to F.D. Roosevelt, the President of United States:
“We support England and the Russian Orthodox Church and request to participate in the
Russian(Soviet) people and the Red Army support.”10
The relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the world were almost recovered through
this process. For instance, Patriarch Alexii sent anti-fascist messages to Orthodox Churches in
2
Совет по деам Русской православной церкви при Совете Министров СССР.
ВКП(б): Всесоюзная коммунистическая партия (большевиков) Bolsheviks was changed name as КПСС in 1952.
4
РГАСПИ, ф.17, оп.125, д.407, л.14.
5
Народный комиссариат внутренних дел(The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs)
6
П. А. Судоплатов. “Остаюсь единственным живым свидетелем...”// Молодая гвардия, М.,1995, №5, с.40.
7
Министерство внутренних дел
8
РГАСПИ, ф.17, оп.125, д.188, л.8.
9
О.Ю. Васильева. Русская Православная Церковь в политике Советского государства в 1943-1948 гг. Москва: ИРИ
РАН, 1999. с.150.
10
Русская Православная церковь 988-1988. Очерки истории 1917-1988 гг. М., 1988, выпуск № 2, с.52.
3