Financial and legal state of the Orthodox Church in Karelia in the second half of the 1940s — 1960s.

Abstract

Based on the study of documents from the Republic of Karelia National Archives previously left out of the scientifi c discourse, the article throws light upon the fi nancial and legal state of the Orthodox Church in Karelia in the post-WWII decades. These topics have not yet been specially explored in the local historical literature. The study shows that the relaxation of the
church policy after the War was succeeded by a new encroachment on the Church in the 1960s. References are given to ordinances of the country’s supreme authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church rulers regulating the legal status of parish communities. An important note is that the clergy in Karelia were endowed with a special role in view of the republic’s borderland location and the authorities’ desire to strengthen the infl uence of the Orthodox Church in Finland. Restrictions on
administration and preaching, performing rites beyond church premises, purchasing buildings for the needs of the church are considered through specifi c examples. Curiously, church income was growing despite the measures taken by authorities. Information is provided on the income sources and expenditure categories for church institutions, and the fi nancial circumstances of clergymen. We see that, despite the measures taken in the 1950s–60s to conserve cultural heritage, many church buildings, representing such heritage, have been lost to ruin. In the conclusions, it is highlighted that the Orthodox Church has persevered through the hardships of the anti-church policy and even managed to increase its income.