The Archive of Smolensk Diocesan Administration in Regional Historical Researches of Spiritual Training and Education

Abstract

Over the past decades history researchers of church-state relations have
 been doing active work with archival sources. Newly opened documents are
 regularly published, shedding light on certain problems. However, for various
 reasons, a huge layer of historical data is stored in the archives of diocesan administration
 of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author considers this research
 as an opportunity to significantly enrich knowledge of the religious policy
 of the state in the XX century, the life of society, social institutions and the
 formation of religious educational institutions.
 From the researcher’s point of view, the development of religious education in post-Soviet Russia, the Archive of Smolensk diocesan administration is of particular interest, since it was the Diocese of Smolensk where a complete system of upbringing and education was formed in a fairly short time, from kindergarten
 to a higher educational institution such as a seminary. The sources under the research are considered in the process of the origin and development of educational
 institutions. The method of structural analysis makes it possible to analyze
 the data contained in the reports of religious educational institutions.
 As a result, the author concludes that, despite the presence of certain difficulties, which are usually not typical of state archives, the archive of Smolensk diocesan administration is an important source of documents on the activities of religious institutions in Russia at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries.