aici - Asociatia Tinerilor Istorici din Moldova

ţele rusificării a fost înstrăinarea bisericii de enoriaşi.
Ion Pelivan a remarcat întocmai starea de spirit a
clerului basarabean, care „după cuget şi simţire, după
interes şi năzuinţe…, după „blagorodnica” limbă ce se
vorbeşte în familie, în bună parte se găseşte sufleteşte
în tabăra stăpânitorului” 34 . Totuşi, dacă o parte dintre
preoţi nu ar fi menţinut făclia credinţei în limba
română în mijlocul enoriaşilor, românii basarabeni
practic s-ar fi contopit cu stăpânitorii lor. Clerul, mai
ales din mediul rural, rostea predici în limba moldovenească,
singura pe care o înţelegeau ţăranii basarabeni,
a căror incultură i-a apărat de rusificare.
În oraşe însă situaţia era alta, o parte din intelectualitate
fiind pierdută pentru românism. Opera de
rusificare se extindea din ce în ce mai mult, „câştigând
pe toţi acei care aveau legături cu administraţia şi cu
clasa stăpânitoare” 35 .
Biserica ortodoxă a servit interesele autorităţilor
imperiale în rusificarea Basarabiei, fiind un instrument
docil de promovare a expansionismului rus în această
zonă. Trebuie să recunoaştem însă meritele naţionale
şi culturale ale clerului basarabean, care, prin dragoste
şi devotament faţă de Biserică, a menţinut limba şi
cultura strămoşească.
SUMMARY
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH – AS AN INSTRUMENT OF RUSSIFICATION OF BESSARABIA
UNDER THE CZARIST REGIME
34
I. Pelivan, Basarabia sub oblăduirea rusească, Bucureşti:
Tipografia „Universul”, 1941, p. 6.
During the 18 th century, the Russian Orthodox
Church has gradually evolved into an organization
with well-established principles aimed at regeneration
of the Russian nation, promoted by its governing
body. The members of the Synod, directly named
by the Czar, would eventually become government
officials. As a result, the Church acted as a supporter
of the policy promoted by the czarist aristocracy
and has emphasized on the religious education in
the Russian provinces. The Slavophilism and the
pan-Slavic ideology were supporting the expansionary
policy of the Russian Empire and the idea that
Moscow was the third Rome, destined to become
the capital of an orthodox empire that included the
orthodox area of the Balkans. As a consequence, an
entire set of measures has been created to strengthen
the orthodoxy. The main principles of this new policy
were orthodoxy, autocracy and nationalism, the triad
launched by the czar Nicholas I (1825-1855). The
authorities initiated a restrictive policy towards the
religious cults, a change of faith from orthodoxy to
another confection being prohibited and the children
of a mixed orthodox and heterodox marriage had to
adopt the orthodox religion. The administration of
church is gradually turned to the ober-prosecutor
(ober-procuror) who took over Synod’s communications
with other institutions.
As part of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia, was
caught in the atmosphere of the czarist autocracy and
was isolated from the changes in Europe. The introduction
of Russian as an official language has further
amplified the dependency of the Bessarabian Church
on the Russian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox
Church from the Eparchy of Chisinau and Hotin,
given their moral authority, has sanctioned all the
regulations and provisions by the czarist authorities
in exchange of several advantages granted by the official
and by the church authorities. In this sense, to the
benefit of the local priests, several eparchial institutions
have been established, schools have been opened
and the eparchial congresses launched their activities.
During the one hundred years of cohabitation with
the Russian Orthodox Church, the Bessarabian clergy
has experienced all the adversities from the Russian
church and was thus subjugated to the interests of an
alien policy only to become a tool in the hands of the
imperial authorities.
The czarist autocracy, backed by the Russian
Orthodox Church, successfully shaped the eparchial
life according to the imperial principles and model.
The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church steered
all the administrative activities by means of laws,
directives and dispositions. During the Russian rule,
Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni was the only Romanian to
advance to the highest position of bishop (mitropolit)
and this position was dismissed after his death.
The czarist autocracy paid special attention to religious
education. The books had to be printed exclusively
in Russian while the subject that were being
taught, including literature, history, geography and
35
V. Pocitan, Biserica românească din Basarabia, Bucureşti:
Tipografia „Albert Baer”, 1914, p. 36.
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