Dmitry Karpuk, Ph. D. (Theology), Associate Professor of the Church History Department, St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Head of the Department of Church- Historical and General Humanitarian Disciplines, Pskov-Pechory Theological Seminary
pp. 107–131
DOI: 10.25803/26587599_2024_49_107
Based on archival materials, the article examines the educational process in Leningrad theological academy and seminary in the 1940 s. The first inspector after the revival of theological schools in Leningrad was Archpriest Alexander Osipov. It was he who, with the active participation of Metropolitan Grigory (Chukov) of Leningrad, Chairman of the Educational Committee at the Holy Synod, had to solve those educational tasks and problems that took place in the pre-revolutionary theological school. The article discusses the first instructions for students adopted in 1946–1947. Based on archival sources, the problems that the administration faced in the first years of its activity are demonstrated. Life has shown that students who entered theological schools had different life experiences. As a result, conflict situations also occurred in everyday life. In the 1949–1950 academic year, the “Regulations on Educational Work” was drawn up, a document in which the basic principles of educational work in the theological school were spelled out. It follows from the text of the Regulation that the main instrument of education in theological schools should be the activity of classroom teachers. Mentors had to conduct spiritual and moral conversations with pupils as often as possible, delve into the inner world of students, exhort and instruct in difficult life situations. Archival materials also show that the key place in the education was given to general lectures, conversations, organization of various kinds of excursions, trips, concerts to improve the cultural and educational level of students. The central place in the education was occupied by the participation of students in the liturgical life of the theological school. The materials reviewed allow us to conclude that the members of the teaching corporation did everything possible to improve the system of education in Leningrad theological schools in the very first post-war years taking into account the mistakes of the pre-revolutionary spiritual and educational system.
Keywords: Leningrad Theological Academy, Leningrad Theological Seminary, theological schools, education, inspection, class teacher, Metropolitan Grigory (Chukov)
For citation: Karpuk D. A. (2024). “ ‘The ultimate goal of education is to give the Orthodox Russian Church a truly Christian pastor, a worthy patriot son to the Motherland, and an honest and cultured person to society’. Educational process in Leningrad theological schools in the 1940s”. The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute, v. 16, iss. 1, n. 49, pp. 107–131.