“Without complaint or nervousness”: the episcopal activity of Archbishop Leontius (Bondar) in the Orenburg Diocese in 1975—1984
Vyacheslav A. Verbovoy, Postgraduate Student, Senior Researcher
Samara National Research University, Museum of Eldar Ryazanov, Samara, Russia, vyacheslav.verbovoi@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7619-8896
Abstract
The article reveals the main areas of activity of Archbishop Leontius (Bondar), defines his contribution to the development of the Orenburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1975—1984. The analysis of the annual information reports of the representative of the Council for Religious Affairs in the Orenburg region made it possible to study the peculiarities of the administrative management of the diocese by Archbishop Leontius, religious rites and preaching activities. For the first time, the role of Archbishop Leontius in preserving Orthodoxy in the Orenburg region in the years preceding “perestroika” and the subsequent church revival is studied. Some of the information from the reports of the representative for the Orenburg region, including statistical data, is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.
Keywords
Orthodoxy, the history of Russian Orthodox Church, metropolitan Leontius (Bondar), Orenburg diocese, representative of Council for Religious Affairs, believers.
For citation:
Verbovoy V. A. “Without complaint or nervousness”: the episcopal activity of Archbishop Leontius (Bondar) in the Orenburg Diocese in 1975—1984. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2025, no. 1 (53), pp. 56—68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2025.53.4.
1. Amelin V. V., Denisov D. N., Morgunov K. A. Religii Orenburgskogo kraya: sistematicheskoe opisanie: v 3 t. T. 1. Vostochnoe khristianstvo [Religions of the Orenburg region: a systematic description. In 3 volumes. Vol. 1. Eastern Christianity]. Orenburg, Tip. “Yuzhnyi Ural” Publ., 2020. 332 p. (In Russian)
2. Panov P., Tatus’ V., Kolyvanov A., Demakin S., Efimenko M. N. Arkhierei Orenburgskoi mitropolii [Bishops of the Orenburg Metropole]. Orenburg, Orenburgskaya dukhovnaya seminariya Publ., 2021. 324 p. (In Russian)
3. Verbovoi V. A. Dukhovno-nravstvennoe vospitanie veruyushchikh mitropolitom Ioannom (Snychevym) v Kuibyshevskoi eparkhii v 1965—1990 gody [Spiritual and moral education of believers by metropolitan Ioann (Snychev) in the Kuibyshev Diocese in 1965—1990]. Samarskii nauchnyi vestnik — Samara Journal of Science, 2021, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 214—218. DOI: 10.17816/snv2021104213. (In Russian)
4. Efimenko M. N. Vladyka Leontii, mitropolit Orenburgskii i Buzulukskii: k 100-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya [Bishop Leontius, Metropolitan of Orenburg and Buzuluk: on the 100th anniversary of his birth]. Etnokul’turnyi i mezhkonfessional’nyi dialog v Uralo-Povolzhskom polietnichnom prostranstve: istoricheskii opyt i sovremennost’: sbornik materialov II Vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf., Orenburg, 14 dek. 2012 g. [Ethnocultural and interfaith dialogue in the Ural-Volga polyethnic space: historical experience and modernity. Proceed. of the II All-Russia sci.-pract. conf., Orenburg, Dec. 14, 2012]. Orenburg, IPK “Universitet” Publ., 2013, pp. 61—69. (In Russian)
5. Iz otcheta Soveta po delam religii pri SM SSSR chlenam TsK KPSS za 1974 god, podpisannogo V. Furovym, zamestitelem predsedatelya Soveta [From the report of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR to members of the Central Committee of the CPSU for 1974, signed by V. Furov, Deputy Chairman of the Council]. Vestnik russkogo khristianskogo dvizheniya [Bulletin of the Russian Christian Movement], 1979, no. 130, pp. 275—344. Available at: http://odinblago.nichost.ru/otchet_soveta_religii/?ysclid=m20lz7454x143757033. Accessed: 15.09.2024. (In Russian)
6. Kopylova O. N. Otchety upolnomochennykh Soveta po delam Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi kak istochnik po izucheniyu istorii Russkoi Tserkvi vo 2-i polovine XX stoletiya [Reports of the Commissioners of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church as a source for studying the history of the Russian Church in the second half of the 20th century]. Vestnik tserkovnoi istorii, 2011, no. 3—4 (23—24), pp. 64—92. (In Russian)
7. Kuzakhmetov R. K. “I molitva ego nizvodila v dushu Nebo”: uroki sluzheniya mitropolita Orenburgskogo i Buzulukskogo Leontiya (Bondarya) [“And his Prayer Brought Down Heaven into the Soul”: the lessons of Service of Leontius (Bondar), Metropolitan Orenburg and Buzuluk]. Vestnik Orenburgskoi dukhovnoi seminarii — Bulletin of the Orenburg Theological Seminary, 2019, no. 3 (12), pp. 82—89. (In Russian)
8. Gorlov G. (comp.) Mitropolit Leontii: “Preklonyaya kolena serdtsa moego…” [Metropolitan Leontius: “Bending the knees of my heart…”]. Orenburg, Orenburgskaya kniga Publ., 2023. 447 p. (In Russian)
9. Ob’’edinennyi gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Orenburgskoi oblasti [United State Archives of the Orenburg Region] (OGAOO). F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 396.
10. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 404.
11. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 405.
12. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 406.
13. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 409.
14. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 410.
15. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 411.
16. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 412.
17. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 413.
18. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 414.
19. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 415.
20. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 420.
21. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 424.
22. OGAOO. F. R-617. Op. 1. D. 428.
23. “O delakh tekushchei zhizni”. Dnevnik Vladyki Ioanna (Snycheva). 1637 s. [“On the affairs of current life”. Diary of Bishop John (Snychev). 1637 p.]. Lichnyi arkhiv mitropolita Ioanna (Snycheva) [Personal archive of Metropolitan Ioannes]. (In Russian)
24. Panov P. V. Vklad mitropolita Leontiya (Bondarya) v razvitie prikhodskoi zhizni Orenburzh’ya 1960—1990-kh godov [The Contribution of the Metropolitan Leontius (Bondar) into the development of parish life in the Orenburg region in 1960—1990]. Bogoslovskii vestnik — Theological Bulletin, 2020, no. 3 (38), pp. 266—279. DOI: 10.31802/GB.2020.38.3.012. (In Russian)
25. Panov P. V. Tserkovno-gosudarstvennye otnosheniya v Orenburgskoi (Chkalovskoi) eparkhii v 1943—1991 godakh: dis. … kand. bogosloviya [Church-state relations in the Orenburg (Chkalov) diocese in 1943—1991. Cand. Dis.]. Sergiev Posad, 2020. 248 p. (In Russian)
26. Popova K. Yu. Pravoslavnaya tserkov’ i gosudarstvennaya vlast’ na Yuzhnom Urale v 1965—1988 gg. [Orthodox Church and governmental authorities in the South Urals in 1965—1988]. Grani poznaniya, 2012, no. 1 (15), pp. 8—11. (In Russian)
27. Popova K. Yu. Religioznaya obryadnost’ pravoslavnogo naseleniya Yuzhnogo Urala v 60—70-e gody XX veka [Religious rituals of the Orthodox population of the Southern Urals in the 60—70s of the 20th century]. Vestnik Orenburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta — Vestnik of the Orenburg State University, 2011, no. 16 (135), pp. 552—553. (In Russian)
28. Popova K. Yu. Svyashchennosluzhiteli Yuzhnogo Urala v 1960-e — 1980-e gg. [Clergy of the Southern Urals in the 1960s — 1980s]. Al’manakh sovremennoi nauki i obrazovaniya — Almanac of Modern Science and Education, Tambov, Gramota, 2011, no. 7 (50), pp. 18—20. (In Russian)
29. Red’ko M. V. Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov’ v usloviyakh sovetskogo obshchestvenno-politicheskogo stroya 1940-kh — 1980-kh gg.: na materiale Krasnoyarskoi eparkhii: dis. … kand. ist. nauk [The Russian Orthodox Church in the context of the Soviet socio-political system of the 1940s — 1980s: based on the material of the Krasnoyarsk diocese. Cand. Dis.]. Irkutsk, 2010. 194 p. (In Russian)
30. Ryazanova S. V. Ofitsial’naya religioznaya zhizn’ pravoslavnogo Prikam’ya v dokumentakh fonda upolnomochennogo po delam religii [The official religious life of the Orthodox Kama region in the documents of the fund of the commissioner for religious affairs]. Tekhnologos — Technologos, 2022, no. 1, pp. 48—62. (In Russian)
31. Chirkov M. S. Russkaya tserkov’ v bor’be za sokhranenie pravoslavnogo naslediya (seredina 1960-kh — nachalo 1980-kh gg.) [The Russian Church in the Struggle to Preserve the Orthodox Heritage (mid-1960s — early 1980s)]. Natsional’noe kul’turnoe nasledie Rossii: regional’nyi aspekt: materialy V Vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf., Samara, 29 marta 2017 g. [National cultural heritage of Russia: regional aspect: Proceed. of the V All-Russia sci.-pract. conf., Samara, March 29, 2017]. Samara, Samarskii gos. in-t kul’tury Publ., 2017, pp. 111—116. (In Russian)
32. Shakirova E. Z. Evolyutsiya gosudarstvenno-tserkovnykh otnoshenii na Yuzhnom Urale i Srednem Povolzh’e vo vtoroi polovine XX v.: dis. … kand. ist. nauk [Evolution of Church-State Relations in the Southern Urals and the Middle Volga region in the second half of the 20th century. Cand. Dis.]. Orenburg, 2010. 188 p. (In Russian)
33. Yakunin V. N. Istoriya Samarskoi eparkhii [History of the Samara Diocese]. Tolyatti, 2011. 625 p. (In Russian)