The article studies the peculiarities of the state and confessional policy of the Russian Empire in the 19^th – early 20^th centuries in relation to Roman Catholics. The materials that served as the basis for the study are stored both in the Russian State Historical Archive and in the archives of Siberian cities: Tobolsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk. Government orders of identical content were sent to all Siberian provincial centers, but in Tomsk they are in the best state of preservation, which gave us the opportunity to systematize them and use them for analysis. Government orders of identical content were sent to all Siberian provincial centers, but they are in the Tomsk State Archive in the best degree of preservation, which gave us the opportunity to systematize them and use them for analysis. The study revealed that the initiative to create the first Catholic parishes in Siberia belonged to the government and was dictated by the desire to remove the clergy of the Jesuit оrder from the capital. Upon arrival in Siberia, the Catholic clergy enjoyed the support of the Siberian Governor-General, who received an order for this from St. Petersburg. While living in Siberian cities, clerics of the Catholic Church took an oath of allegiance to the government. The mass flows of exiles after the uprisings in the Kingdom of Poland in 1830 and 1863 formed a large Catholic flock in Siberia, for the spiritual care of which new priests and new religious buildings were needed. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Stolypin agrarian reform were carried out in the interests of the entire state, and therefore builders and displaced farmers received financial support from the government, including in the case of church construction. The establishment of the Siberian diocese encroached on the interests of the state religion, Orthodoxy, and therefore did not find the support of the secular authorities. The results of the study are important for understanding the peculiarities of state and confessional policy in Siberia in the 19th – early 20^th centuries.

Keywords: General Administration of Western Siberia, General Administration of Eastern Siberia, Governor-General of Siberia, Mogilev Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Catholic Vicariate of Siberia, Tomsk Catholic Deanery, Omsk Catholic Deanery, Irkutsk Catholic Deanery

DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2021.4.47-55

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About the author

Tatyana G. Nedzelyuk – DSc (History), Leading research fellow at the department of regional studies of Russia, national and state-confessional relations; Altai State University; 61 Lenin pr., Barnaul, 656049, Russia; Professor at the Department of theory and history of state and law; Siberian Institute of Management – Branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.