Lipetsk metropolia has a long and fulldramatic history. It is known that on the territory belonging to her now the population took Christianity even in the pre-Mongol period, but, in view of the frequent raids of nomads at the end of the fourteenth century, she had to leave it. For almost two centuries the Upper Don region remained a "wild field", and only at the end of the 16th century the inhabitants returned. During this period, Orthodox churches and monasteries are beginning to be actively constructed.
History of the Lipetsk Diocese
Вплоть до начала XX века Липецкая область входила in the Ryazan and part of the Voronezh diocese. Throughout the pre-revolutionary period, religious life here developed in its entirety. To see this, it is enough to turn to statistical data of the nineties of the XIX century.
From them it is clear that the territory where thethe present Lipetsk metropolia, included more than five hundred existing temples and about a dozen monasteries, in which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims came from all over Russia every year. In addition, these regions showed the world an innumerable host of holy saints of God, and in the 20th century, when the persecution of the church began and the new martyrs.
Post-revolutionary and pre-war years
The natural course of church history waswas interrupted by the Bolshevik coup that took place in 1917 and sentenced many Orthodox shrines, representatives of the clergy and just believers to death. However, religious life in this region did not die, but only entered its new phase. Before the Lipetsk Metropolia was created, that is, the territorial unit subordinated to the metropolitan, a somewhat smaller structure - the diocese - was formed in its place.
It was under the authority of Bishop Uar(Shmarin), who headed it until, in 1935, he was arrested, and then shot. Two years later, his newly appointed bishop Alexander (Toropov) shared his fate, as did his predecessor, who accepted the martyr's crown. Since that time, Lipetsk, having lost the importance of the diocesan center, has become part of the Voronezh department.
Partial revival of the diocese during the war years
After a terrible period of persecution for the church, whichmarked the thirties, by the beginning of the war in the territory of the Lipetsk region there was not a single functioning church, and representatives of the clergy were either shot or exiled to the camps. Only when the difficult situation at the fronts forced the authorities to seek ways to strengthen national unity, they decided to return some churches to believers.
The first of these was the Christ-Christmas temple inthe village of Studenki, which opened its doors in 1943. In the postwar years he was joined by the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the city of Lipetsk, but during the Khrushchev persecution of the church many of the temples that were opened earlier were closed again.
The creation of the Metropolia on the Lipetsk land
As in the whole country, the attitude of local authorities towardsThe church changed only with the onset of perestroika, which triggered the process of democratization in society. During these years, many churches, previously selected from the church, were reopened and used for household needs. At the same time, a wide construction of new ones began.
К 2003 году религиозная жизнь в городе и области has reached such a large scale that the decision of the Holy Synod was again established an independent diocese, on the basis of which in ten years the Lipetsk metropolia was created. It was headed by Archbishop Nikon, who was soon elevated to the rank of Metropolitan.
Today, the Lipetsk Metropolitanate is one of thelargest in the country. On its territory there are more than two hundred parishes, as well as the construction of several dozen new temples in towns and villages of the region. A powerful impulse was received by the monastic ministry, which began in the 16th century. Today in the territory of the Lipetsk Metropolitanate there are four monasteries and six women's monasteries.
Church Life in Vologda Region
The process of broad administrative reforms,aimed at improving the pastoral ministry and the nurturing of parishioners, has developed in recent years throughout the territory of Russia. In 2014, the Holy Synod, by a decree of October 23, brought to life a new major church structure, which became the Vologda Metropolitanate. To head it was entrusted to Metropolitan Vologda and Kirillov Ignaty (Deputatov).
The new administrative educationincluded three dioceses: the Vologda and Kirillov, Veliky Ustyug and the Totem, as well as Cherepovets and Belozersk. The Vologda Metropolis is one of the largest in its area, since it includes all the territory of the Vologda region, which makes up almost one hundred and fifty thousand square kilometers.
The creation of the metropolis on the banks of the Volga
Part of the process of administrative and ecclesiasticaltransformation was also created in 2012, the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate. The history of Orthodoxy on the banks of the Volga dates back to the most ancient times, but the diocese here was established only in 1672. The population in these parts associated with the most important navigable river of Russia has steadily grown over the centuries and by 1912 reached more than 1.5 million people.
In pre-revolutionary years, there wereabout a thousand hundred churches and twenty-eight monasteries. Forty-eight bishops headed the diocese for more than three hundred years. After experiencing in the Soviet years all the same ordeals that fell to the lot of the entire Russian Orthodox Church, the diocese revived in the years of perestroika. Over the period of its existence, it has accumulated considerable experience in the spiritual nurturing of parishioners, which is now being realized in the framework of a new administrative entity known as the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate.
Strengthening the centralized management of the church
The process of converting the largest dioceses intothe metropolis continues, and its positive results leave no doubt as to the correctness of the chosen path. An example of this is the St. Petersburg Metropolis, which came under the control of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Varsonofy one of the main pillars of modern Russian Orthodoxy.
This is quite a natural process.Each newly formed metropolitanate of the Russian Orthodox Church, including several dioceses, summarizes their experience and, thanks to centralized leadership, allows it to obtain maximum implementation.
