Diocese of Samara Russian Orthodox Church

From the diocese to the metropolia - such a glorious path for 166 years passed the Samara diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The history of origin, bishops and modern diocesan administration will be discussed in this article.

Briefly about creating

The history of the diocese is contradictory and full of interesting dates and events.

The Diocese of Samara was separated from Simbirsk in the end of 1850. And then it was approved by the Synod. And already on 01.01.1851 the tsar signed the Highest Decree on the establishment of this diocese. The initial name (at the time of formation) was the following: the Samara and Stavropol diocese. Under this name, it lasted from 1850 to 1935.

When in 1935 the city of Samara was renamed into Kuibyshev, respectively, the name changed. Now it was the Kuibyshev and Syzran diocese. Under this name, it existed from 1935 to 1991.

In 1990, the city of Kuibyshev was returned to its original name - Samara. And it became the regional center. Therefore, from January 31, 1991, the diocese became known as Samara and Syzran.

Ruling bishops

The diocese is a church-administrative unit, which is administered by a bishop. During its existence, the Diocese of Samara was governed by 28 bishops. Let us recall some of them.

The first ruling bishop from 1850 to 1856 was Eusebius (EP Orlinsky). Much time spent on missionary work, especially among the Molokans. Known for the fact that for the library of the spiritual school, transferred from Stavropol to Samara, donated at least 300 books (this is about 700 volumes). At that time it was a fortune.

No less famous were the following bishops:

• Gury, in the world S. V. Burtasovsky: he managed 12 years - from 1892 to 1904.
• Konstantin, in the world KI Bulychev: he ran for 7 years - from 1904 to 1911.

It was during their administration that the Samara diocese had the largest number of church buildings. At that time it was:

• Monasteries (18 items);
• Chapels (86 units);
• Church (1112 units).

For the spiritual satisfaction of parishioners, there were parochial schools (1141 units), spiritual schools (4 units, one female), a male seminary and 933 scribes (reading room).

In the Soviet period, the most famous bishop was John (IM Snychev). He ruled the Samara diocese for 25 years - from 1965 to 1990.

At present, the ruling bishop since 1993 is Sergius (in the world, VM Poletykin). He is also the head of the Samara Metropolitanate.

Nowadays

What is the Diocese of Samara today?

After the unbundling in 2012 and the separation of the two dioceses, Kinel and Otradnenskaya, in its management remained:

• 189 temples;
• 10 monasteries;
• 23 Dean districts;
• 400 priests.

There are also 9 miraculous sources and 4 miraculous icons.

For the spiritual education, the diocese founded in the city of Samara the spiritual and educational center "Cyrillic", the Samara Orthodox Seminary and the children's diocesan educational center. And in the city of Togliatti is the Volga Orthodox Institute.

At the same time (the decision of the Holy Synod of 15.03.2012), the Samara Metropolitanate was established, which included three dioceses, including the Samara one.

Administration of the Diocese

The diocesan administration is located in Samara at: ul. Vilonovskaya, house 22. Management is the executive and administrative body of the diocese, which, together with the existing 7 diocesan departments (missionary, youth affairs, prison services, etc.) helps the ruling bishop to exercise ecclesiastical authority and interact with state authorities.

Territorially the diocese of Samara is divided into 23 deanery districts. In the city of Samara, there are nine such cities - Industrial, Krasnoglinsky, Central, Railway, etc. There are four such districts in Togliatti. There are deaneries in some cities: Syzran, Zhigulevsk, Novokuibyshevsk, Oktyabrsk, etc. Separately, there is a monastic deanery district, which unites all the monasteries.