REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

Romeo CEMÎRTAN: Primates of the Orthodox Church from R.S.S.M. and Soviet Religious … 201
the work provided by the diocese administration contributed to a great extent; therefore ...
the bishop Nectarie disposed to be evacuated from the monasteries those monks who
unfolded an undermining activity against the monastery shutting down. All practical work
for liquidating these monasteries was directly made by the representatives of the
diocese” 35 . Consequently, we may state that the revolt from the monastery of Răciula had
not only anti-State, as most researchers in the field assert, but also religious character,
manifested through disobedience against the local bishop.
The collaboration of the archbishop Nectarie with the Soviet structures to the detriment of
the spiritual authority continued during the following years. With the bishop’s approval, in
the years 1959-1960, still other 171 churches were shut throughout the republic, there being
abolished - 10 monasteries, fired - 88 priests, and in 1961, shut down - 44 churches, two
monasteries and fired - 31 priests. Consequently, the years 1959-1961 were the most tragic
for the entire Soviet period of the Orthodox Church from Bessarabia.
The person of the archbishop Nectarie was the most marking for the church life in
Bessarabia during the Soviet period, being a faithful representative of the
collaborationism between the Orthodox Church and the Soviet State. Undermining the
church sphere to the benefit of the laic one, in Nectarie’s case, is most clearly presented
in the open letter published in 1960 by the archbishop in the “Journal of Moscow
Patriarchate”, wherein he accuses U.S.A. of immixture in the life of other States,
supporting N. Hruşciov’s position 36 . This loyalty was proved in the period when, in
R.S.S.M., according to the “new cultural policy”, promoted in Bessarabia by the same
Hruşciov, hundreds of churches were shut, the monks were cast off monasteries, tens of
priest were fired and hundreds of thousands parishioners were intimidated. The
explanation of Nectarie’s loyalty towards the Soviet leadership is also discovered in a
strictly secret document, proceeding from the KGB archives, wherein there is described
the activity of the operative and prophylactic activity in the fight against the clergymen’s
menacing actions from 1959 37 . Among the conspiracy names in this document, there
appears first the one of “KazanŃev”. As regards this KGB agent, the assertion is made that
he holds leading function in the diocese. From the description of the agent “KazanŃev”’s
activity, we may state that under this name, the archbishop Nectarie himself hid, who had
been probably recruited by KGB ever since his being in the prison from Moscow, in the
years 1944-1946, wherefrom he left without undergoing judicial process. The given
assertion may be supported by the choice of the Russian bishop’s name. There is known
that Nectarie originated in the region Cazani from Russia, in the town of Cazani,
graduating theological studies. Consequently, the workers of the Soviet security gave him
the conspiracy name KazanŃev, in honour of the town wherefrom the recruited agent’s
hierarchical career started. This manner of infiltrating the security agents within the
Russian Orthodox Church was traditional for the Soviet period. We suppose that the
Russian bishops having followed the archbishop Nectarie were likewise KGB agents and
contributed to the diminution of the religiosity from R.S.S.M. The declassification of the
personal files from the S.I.S. archives of R. Moldova will help us to elucidating this black
page in the history of the Orthodox Church from R. Moldova.
35 ANRM, F. 3046, i. 1, d. 91, f. 48.
36 ANRM, F. 3046, i. 1, d. 105, ff. 120-121.
37 V.I. Pasat, Hard pages of Moldova’s history, Moscow, editing house Terra, 1994, pp. 651-653,
translated by V. Beşleagă in Cross overthrown by regime, the Raciula Monastery, 1959, Prut
InternaŃional Publishing House, 2006, pp. 186-188.