Before the division, the Diocese of Syktyvkar occupied the territory of the Komi Republic. It is located in the north-eastern part of Russia. In the north and northeast Komi borders with the Arkhangelsk region, in the east - with the Tyumen region, in the southeast - with the Sverdlovsk region, in the south - with the Perm region, and in the south-west - with the Kirov region. Most of the territory of the republic is occupied by taiga. There are only a few cities here: the capital of the Republic of Syktyvkar, Vorkuta, Ukhta, Pechora, Vuktyl, Inta, Sosnogorsk, Usinsk, Emva, Mikun.
St. Stephen
The Diocese of Syktyvkar was born about 650 years ago. In the XIV century, on the land of Komi, there were settlements of pagans - Western Permians or Zyrians. In one of the cities bordering her - Ustyug - then the future saint Stephen was born. As a child, he became acquainted with the language and customs of the people, among whom he subsequently conducted missionary work. The saint did not want, along with the baptism of the Zyrians, to support their Russification. Therefore, he created the Zyryan script on the basis of local runes and translated the liturgical books and the Bible into the Zyryan language. That is, St. Stephen became for Komi the same as Cyril and Methodius were for Russia.
The saint began the preaching of the gospel with Ust-Vymi, the main settlement of the Zyrians. Having defeated the local sorcerer in a dispute, he began to preach Christianity in the land of Komi with great success. The magnificent temple, built by Stephen in Ust-Vymi, became a kind of preaching beauty. The pagans came just to admire the church and its decoration. The saint began to build temples and write icons for them throughout the Zyryan land. In addition to apostolic writings, Stefan was also worried about the daily bread for the people, who enlightened what earned the love and trust of the Zyrians.
The formation of the Perm diocese
In 1383, a church decree was issued, supported by the Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, on the creation of the Perm diocese on the land of Komi with the erection of St. Stephen as bishop. This bishopric became the first Russian diocese among non-Russian peoples. The 15th century gave the Zyrans three saints - Bishops Gerasim, Pitirim and Jonah. Four saints became patrons of the land of Komi. The diocese at that time was called Perm-Vologda. In 1564, the leadership of the diocese moved to Vologda, and it became known as the Vologda-Great Perm. Subsequently, the Zyryan flock was part of the first Vyatka, then Tobolsk diocese.
The appearance of the diocese of Syktyvkar and Vorkuta
Almost until the end of the 20th century, the land of Komi was part of the diocese of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. According to the decree of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II of October 6, 1995, an independent diocese of Syktyvkar and Vorkuta, separated from Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, was re-established on the territory of the Komi Republic.
The leadership of the diocese was entrusted to Bishop Pitirim (Pavel Pavlovich Volochkov). He received his new name on January 1, 1984 in honor of St. Pitirim, the Ust-Vym Wonderworker, during the adoption of monastic tonsure. The hierarchal ordination (ordination) was performed on him on December 19, 1995 in the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral.
Grounds for separation
As can be seen from history, the process of crushing large bishoprics into smaller ones has been going on almost continuously, from the very beginning of the existence of Orthodoxy in Russia and the territories it conquered. On April 16, 2016, a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held, which considered, among other things, the proposal of Bishop Pitirim to separate from the Syktyvkar new diocese - Vorkuta.
The following can be considered grounds for making such a proposal. The Diocese of Syktyvkar occupies the entire area of the Komi Republic. The population of Komi is about 856,831 people with a density of 2.06 people per 1 sq. Km. km The area of the republic is 416 774 square meters. km From southwest to northeast, it extends for 1275 km. All this serves as a serious basis for the division of the territory due to the physical impossibility of one bishop to regularly travel around such a huge territory and fully support the parishes.
Another important aspect of the division and renaming of the diocese is that its name should sound the name of the Komi people. Thus, it is emphasized that Russian Orthodoxy enlightens the hearts and non-Russian people. Instead of the name "Syktyvkar diocese", the "Syktyvkar and Komi-Zyryan diocese" was proposed as a new name.
Result of the proposal
Based on the results of the consideration of the proposal of Bishop Pitirim, a decision was made to establish the Vorkuta diocese. It was decided to include in its composition those allocated from the Syktyvkar diocese:
- Ust-Tsilimsky district;
- Izhemsky district;
- Pechora district;
- Vuktylsky city district;
- Intsk urban district;
- Vorkuta City District;
- Usinsky urban district.
The administration of the Syktyvkar diocese was entrusted to Vladyka Pitirim with the assignment of the title of Archbishop of Syktyvkar and Komi-Zyryansky to him. The head of the Vorkuta diocese became one of the clergymen of the Shuy diocese - hegumen Ioann (Rudenko) with the assignment of the title of Bishop of Vorkuta and Usinsky.
Diocese before division
The diocese of Syktyvkar at the time of separation included 258 parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church located on the land of the Komi Republic. On its territory there are 4 female and 3 male monasteries. In addition to numerous churches, there are several prayer rooms in the diocese. They are located in prisons, hospitals, educational institutions, orphanages, the home for the disabled and the Veterans Hospital. The diocese includes a special Prison Deanery District.
Consequences of separation
The division of the Syktyvkar diocese should entail a significant increase in the number of parishes. One of the questions that worried the public in connection with the division was whether it was advisable to appoint a clergyman from the Ivanovo region to the post of head of the Vorkuta diocese. This decision is due to the fact that a manager of this level should have appropriate training. Among the priests of the Syktyvkar diocese, unfortunately, no suitable candidate was found. Therefore, the hegumen John (Rudenko), the clergyman of the Shuy diocese, became the new bishop.
So why was it necessary to divide the diocese?
Any news about the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church has traditionally and inevitably caused a lot of negative assessments and comments, and mainly from people who are not related to the church. A question appeared in the media about why it was necessary to divide the Syktyvkar diocese. The answer may be as follows. In connection with the increase in the number of restored churches in 2011, the Russian Orthodox Church began the process of dividing large regional dioceses into smaller ones. This was due to the fact that there was a need to reduce the number of parishes per bishop so that more attention was paid to everyone. The result of this separation should be closer communication between archpastors and parishioners, the opening of new churches, the creation of new communities and the ordination of new priests. The former diocese of Syktyvkar and Vorkuta is no exception.