The "Living Church" () was a Renovationist organization that emerged in May 1922 with the active support of the State Political Directorate (GPU) under the NKVD of the RSFSR. Throughout its existence, the leader of the "Living Church" was the protopresbyter Vladimir Krasnitsky. Although the "Living Church," at its founding in May 1922, declared its intention to enact sweeping reforms in church life—including revisions of doctrine—in practice, its activities largely revolved around the promotion of privileges for the married ("white") clergy and the suppression of "counterrevolution" within the Church. Initially, it even sought to become a part of the Soviet punitive system. The "Living Church" also rejected any liturgical reforms.
In its early months, the Living Church unified nearly all Renovationist elements, which is why its name became the unofficial designation for the entire schism. However, after the "All-Russian Congress of White Clergy and Laity of the 'Living Church'" held in August 1922, irreconcilable disagreements emerged among its leaders. As a result, many members broke away and formed other Renovationist organizations such as the "Union for Church Revival" (UCR) and the "Union of the Communities of the Ancient Apostolic Church" (SODATs). During October 1922 - August 1923 Living Church, UCR and SODATs were three ruling groups within Renovationist schism.
After being released from house arrest, Patriarch Tikhon condemned the "Living Church" and the Renovationist schism as a whole, which significantly weakened the position of all such groups. In September 1923, Vladimir Krasnitsky announced the break of the "Living Church" from the newly established All-Russian Renovationist Synod (formed a month earlier). However, most members did not follow Krasnitsky, remaining loyal to the Synod. Without state support, the "Living Church" quickly devolved into a small local faction of Krasnitsky's followers, whose numbers steadily declined. With Krasnitsky's death in 1936 and the beginning of the Great Purge in 1937, the "Living Church" ceased to exist altogether.
History Background On March 30, 1922, Leon Trotsky wrote a program note stating the need to promote "reformation" in the Church "under the Soviet banner" in order to "overthrow the counterrevolutionary part of the churchmen" with the help of the "Smenovekhovtsy clergy", and then, "preventing the Smenovekhovtsy leaders from coming to their senses," turn their undertaking into a "miscarriage." The plan of struggle against the Church proposed by Trotsky at that time was approved by the Politburo and began to be implemented, primarily by the GPU organs.Требование заполнения анкеты сексота необязательно. Инструкция ГПУ Украины по организации групп «Живая Церковь» // Вестник ПСТГУ. Серия II. 2011. — № 5 (42). — С. 111.
On May 6, Patriarch Tikhon, who was involved in the Moscow trial against the clergy and laity for resisting the seizure of church valuables, was placed under house arrest at his residence on the Trinity Metochion.
On May 9, members of the Petrograd Group of "Progressive Clergy", archpriest Alexander Vvedensky, priest Evgeny Belkov and palm reader Stefan Stadnik, arrived to Moscow. The purpose of the trip was to agitate for the seizure of church valuables and establish closer contacts with the Moscow opposition in connection with the publication of the first issue of the Living Church magazine Together with Vladimir Krasnitsky, who had arrived earlier, they established contacts with like—minded Moscow priests Sergi Kalinovsky, Ivan Borisov, Vladimir Bykov and Saratov archpriests Nikolai Rusanov and Sergi Ledovsky, who were in Moscow. By that time, Kalinovsky had prepared for publication No. 1 of the Living Church magazine. It was decided to give the future organization the same name.
On May 12, late in the evening, priests Alexander Vvedensky, Vladimir Krasnitsky, Evgeny Belkov, Sergi Kalinovsky and the psalmist Matvei Stadnik arrived by car at the Trinity Metochion on Samotyoka, where the head of the convoy was already waiting for them. Kalinovsky got cold feet and stayed in the front hall, while the rest of the GPU employees were escorted up the stairs to the Patriarch's reception room and were present at the meeting. On May 16, the Renovationists met with the Patriarch, received a letter from him to Metropolitan Agathangelus (Preobrazhensky) of Yaroslavl, and on May 17, Krasnitsky left in a government car for Yaroslavl.
On May 18, Vvedensky, Belkov, and Kalinovsky appeared to the Patriarch again and demanded ("filially, we ask for the blessing of Your Holiness") that the patriarchal office be handed over to them. The demand was presented in the form of a document called the Memorandum of the Initiative Group of the Progressive Clergy of the Living Church and with the signature "Your Holiness's most unworthy servants: Vvedensky, Belkov, Kalinovsky"; On this document, the Patriarch imposed a resolution in which he instructed "the persons named below to accept and transfer ... synod affairs." ... [and matters] for the Moscow Diocese" to the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Agathangelus (Preobrazhensky) and Bishop Innocent (Letyaev) of Klin, and before his arrival, Bishop Leonid (Skobeyev) of Verny.
The Renovationists interpreted the decision to transfer the chancellery as a transfer of church authority to them. On the evening of May 18, the first organizational meeting of the new Supreme Church Administration took place in one of the Moscow hotels where Alexander Vvedensky lived. Bishop Leonid (Skobeyev) arrived at the meeting and immediately agreed to head the department.
On May 19, in the afternoon, in the late afternoon, Patriarch Tikhon moved to the Donskoy Monastery and was imprisoned for a year "under the strictest protection, in complete isolation from the outside world, in an apartment above the monastery gates, in which retired bishops used to live." On May 20, members of the new Administration arrived at the Trinity compound in order to begin the planned work to eliminate the "Tikhonite" clergy.
Formation into a centralized organization On May 29, 1922 a "Constituent Assembly" was held at the Trinity Metokhion, at which the Living Church movement took organizational shape: a program document entitled "The Main provisions of the Living Church group of Orthodox Clergy and Laity" was adopted, and a "Central Committee" and the Presidium of the Living Church were formed, headed by the priest Vladimir Krasnitsky. In the book "Essays on the history of the Russian Church troubles" it was noted that the newly formed "Central Committee" was the "headquarters of the priest Vladimir Krasnitsky, who immediately set out to create a coherent centralized organization consisting of specially selected people, like a political party." According to Evgeny Belkov, who joined the Central Committee of the Living Church, the relationship between the Supreme Church Administration and the Central Committee of the Living Church group was similar to the relationship between the Central Executive Committee and the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks). That is, the "Living Church" was supposed to become a kind of analogue of the Bolshevik party for the entire Renovationist movement, the Supreme Church Administration, headed by Antonin (Granovsky), found themselves in a subordinate position in relation to the Central Committee of the "Living Church" and Krasnitsky. In general, the Living Church group, according to its organizers, was supposed to play the role of the vanguard of the renovationist movement.
Priest Vladimir Krasnitsky developed a Charter, the main slogans of which were the married episcopate, the presbyterian administration and the unified box office. The goals of the "Living Church" were proclaimed:
Nevertheless, as indicated in the book "Essays on the History of the Russian Church Troubles," Krasnitsky's real task was "to explain to the white clergy their class interests and rally them to fight the hierarchs. Krasnitsky's entire program essentially boiled down to this: talking about any broader reforms caused him, as he himself said, a headache". "While maintaining his episcopal authority for appearances, Krasnitsky did everything to turn it into a fiction. In his opinion, the absolute majority of the bishops of the old administration should have lost their power.; It would be nice to deprive them of their lives and freedom as well; but, as Krasnitsky hoped, his friend E. A. Tuchkov would take care of this. Instead of these old bishops, it was planned to ordain new, married bishops who owed their sees exclusively to him, Krasnitsky. The bishop's marriage was a sure guarantee that he would forever remain faithful to the "Living Church" (after all, no one except the living clergy recognizes his bishopric). However, even this bishop's power should be limited to the diocesan administration, which consists of priests who are proteges of the "Living Church." The bishop had only the right to preside over the diocesan administration. Without the approval of the office, the bishop could not even transfer a priest from one church to another or appoint a psalmist. If we consider that in each diocese there was also a special "spiritual official" — an authorized SCA (something like a commissioner from the "Living Church"), who could reverse any decision of the diocesan administration and essentially dismiss the bishop by sending a corresponding recommendation to the SCA, then it should be recognized that the bishop-living Church played a pathetic role. It was just a decorative figure for solemn ceremonies." Rejecting the authority of bishops in the Church, Krasnitsky "equally resolutely rejected the influence of laity on church affairs <...> The Living Church program recognized the right of laity to play a role in church affairs only if they were members of the Living Church group; at the same time, it was emphasized that a lay person must unconditionally obey the parish he does not dare to do anything without the sanction of his priest".
At the zenith of influence This 1922 was the time of the greatest strengthening of the "Living Church." Through deception and threats, its representatives sought to seize power in the dioceses, demanding recognition of the Renovationist Central Orthodox Church by the highest ecclesiastical authority. The SCA commissioners maintained contact with local authorities and compiled reports on local church life for them. If the Living Church members were rebuffed by the ruling bishops, they were subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities. The book "Essays on the History of the Russian Church Troubles" describes how this was achieved: "Everywhere and everywhere in the field, under the leadership of Krasnitsky's commissars, diocesan administrations were organized from priests who recognized the "Living Church." In some dioceses, this department was headed by a bishop; in those dioceses where the bishop proved intractable, he usually immediately "disappeared" behind the heavy gates of the local prison. This, of course, as the Living churchmen explained, was always a completely random coincidence. Then the SCA dismissed him. <...> The diocesan administration of the turnout order took power into its own hands". At the same time, the Soviet state press "until September 1922 also covered the events of church life in an exceptionally benevolent spirit for the "Living Church."