The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church , translated from Greek, literally means "meeting." He was introduced in 1701 by Tsar Peter, and he existed in its unchanged form until the revolutionary 1917. Initially, the creation of the Synod was supposed to include 11 members, namely, it was supposed to include the president, 2 vice presidents, 4 advisers and, in addition, 4 assessors. This also included the abbots of monasteries, bishops, and high officials of the clergy. The President of the Synod was called the primitive member, and the rest of the people were considered simply present. Before the October Revolution, each member of this organization received his title for life.
The dominant Holy Synod possessed all power in the Russian Orthodox Church, and also conducted affairs on issues arising in foreign Orthodox churches. The remaining patriarchies existing at that time obeyed him. Such interesting information is also known: the members of the Governing Synod were appointed by the emperor himself, who had his representative holding the position of Ober-Prosecutor. According to historians, the establishment of the Synod in the Russian Empire was an important political step, since this organization was the highest state body in the administrative power of the church.
A memorable date in the history of church life occurred on January 25, 1721, because it was then that the Holy Synod was formed. How did events develop at that time? After the death of the patriarch Hadrian, Tsar Peter did not give his monarch permission to convene, as was customary earlier, the Holy Cathedral and elect a new head of the Orthodox Church according to the rules. Peter himself decided to manage the personnel and administrative issues of the church. He gives the Pskov Bishop Feofan Prokopovich an important assignment - to draw up a new charter, which was called the Spiritual Regulation. It was on this document that the entire Orthodox Church of the country later relied in its work. The tsar is pursuing an open policy of completely subordinating the church to its interests, as evidenced by history.
The autocrat of all Russia decided to restore from 1701 the monastic order and the management of church lands to transfer to a secular man and boyar I. A. Musin-Pushkin. It was he who began to conduct the property affairs of numerous churches, as well as monasteries, all fees and profits from which were sent to the royal treasury. Peter expresses the idea that the pre-existing patriarchate was harmful to the state, and the collective management of church affairs would benefit everyone, while the Holy Synod should completely submit to its authority. It was impossible to make this decision on their own, therefore Peter I turned to Constantinople for recognition of his transformations and asked to recognize the Holy Synod as the Eastern Patriarch. In 1723, this was approved by a special certificate, which very clearly corresponded to the goals set by the sovereign.
The creation of the Synod restructured the existing church system in a new way, but not according to the biblical, but according to the state bureaucratic hierarchy. With the help of Peter, the church became a reliable instrument of propaganda and even investigation. According to the personal decree of the tsar, from 1722, priests were obliged to tell the secret of the confession they received from the parishioners, especially if this related to state atrocities. The establishment of the Synod contributed to the renaming of old names of orders and the emergence of new ones: a printing office, an order for church affairs, an order for inquisitorial affairs and the office of schismatic affairs.
In the 20th century, in 1943, during the Second World War, a permanent Holy Synod was elected. It was located in Chisty Lane, in house number 5. This building was allocated by personal order of I. Stalin. Since 2011, after a major reconstruction, the Synodal residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia has been located in the Holy Danilov Monastery.