Personnel Issues in the Omsk Diocese in the Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries and Mechanisms of Its Solution by the Diocesan Authorities

Abstract

This article analyzes the reasons for the shortage of clergy in the Omsk diocese and the mechanisms for resolving this problem by the diocesan authorities from its formation in 1895 to 1917. It is noted that as a result of the annexation of the territory of South Kazakhstan and Northern Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Empire, the formation was completed administrative-territorial structure of the Steppe territory. The Steppe Governorate-General was formed in 1882, established by decree of Emperor Alexander III. On the basis of the decree, the Akmola, Semipalatan and Semirechensk districts were included in the composition of the Steppe Governorate-General. The Russian Orthodox Church, which was one of the main political institutions of the state, was given an important place in the system of spiritual management of the region and the implementation of the policy of Russification. Therefore, by the end of the 19th century, the formation of the institutional system of the Omsk diocese began there. One of the important aspects of the formation of the Omsk diocese was the solution of the personnel issue. The author explains the lack of personnel in the parishes and deaneries of the Omsk diocese by a number of factors — the territorial remoteness of the Steppe Territory from the European center of the country, the lack of educational institutions in Western Siberia that trained clergy, ethnoreligious heterogeneity of the Steppe Territory and the need for work among the Old Believers, sectarian and Muslim populations. Nevertheless, the diocesan authorities managed, although not to the full extent, to solve the personnel issue using various mechanisms: administrative appointment, transfers from other dioceses, and recruiting priests from other social sectors of Russian society.