MISSIONARY AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF ST. VOLODYMYR’S BROTHERHOOD OF KYIV PROVINCE (THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIX - EARLY XX CENTURIES)

Abstract

This article analyzes the charitable and missionary activities of St. Volodymyr’s Brotherhood. These areas were of primary importance in the Brotherhood’s activities and reflected the intentions of the Russian authorities to consolidate the Orthodox religion on the territory of Right-Bank Ukraine and Galicia during World War I. The methodology of the paper is based on the principles of historicism alongside the general scientific and special-historical methods: critical, analytical, synthesis, and generalization. Scientific novelty. On the basis of the little-known archival documents, the missionary activity of the Brotherhood among the Jews was analyzed, the quantitative indicators of the so-called “christenings” were introduced into scientific circulation. The main aspects of philanthropic activities of the Brotherhood during World War I were revealed.
 Conclusions. The new economic conditions associated with the results of the reform in the Russian Empire and the rapid pace of modernization demanded additional investments and the presence of the most loyal population in rather troublesome “neighborhoods”, which included Kyiv as part of Right-Bank Ukraine, from the authorities. The revival of religious institutions, perceived as “foreign” in the first half of the century, was part of the imperial plan to build a new model of loyalty and identity in the “Russian world” in which Orthodoxy had a prominent place. The desire of some Jews to go beyond the traditional constraints associating with Judaism and turning them into “foreigners” proved to be in tune with the tasks assigned to the brotherhoods in the context of their missionary activities.
 The charity of the brotherhoods during World War I had a completely pragmatic basis. In this way, the Russian authorities relied on the loyalty of Galician Greek Catholics (with far-reaching prospects for their conversion to the Orthodox faith).