The Concordat between Russia and Vatican Signed

In Rome, on July 22 (August 3) 1847 a concordat between the Russian Empire and the Catholic Church was signed. This event is one of the most important episodes in the history of dialogue between Russia and the Papal throne. It is closely related to the attempts of the Russian authorities to remove the tension in the relations with the Catholic citizens in territory of the Polish Kingdom in first half of the 19th century. The text of the concordat which consisted of 31 articles and 12 discordant articles on questions at issue was signed by Cardinal Labruskini on behalf of Vatican and D. Bludov and A. Butenyov on behalf of Russia.

A considerable part of the concordat was devoted to the problems of Polish dioceses and position of the Mogilyov archiepiscopacy. One of the major points of the Concordat was dedicated to restoration of the episcopal chair in Russia as a part of the Mogilyov archiepiscopacy with the centre in Kherson, which was first founded by John XXII in 1333.

The Concordat declared the Pope head of the Russian Catholics and entitled him to define with a special bull the space and limits of Catholic dioceses in the Empire, which was earlier an exclusive prerogative of the Russian tsars. The Kherson diocese was to cover all the lower Volga region, Novorossisk region, the Crimea, Bessarabia and the Caucasus. Besides the administrator, the conciliatory commission provided for it two vicar bishops with residences in Saratov and Tiflis. Also, it envisaged an allowance of 4800 rubles to be paid annually to the Kherson bishop.

In exactly one year the Concordat was ratified in Russia, but its contents were not unveiled to the Senate until November 1848. It is no wonder, that the enactment of the Concordat caused a serious counteraction from the Russian society and the orthodox clergy. The full enactment of the Concordat took longer than it was planned. Mutual discontent of the parties grew and was especially gravitated when the Catholic clergy intervened in the Polish revolt of 1863-1864. The diplomatic relations between Russia and Rome were interrupted, and on November 25, 1866 a decree canceling the Concordat in the territory of the Russian state was issued. From that moment, the contacts of the Catholics of Russia and the Polish Kingdom with the Roman curia were carried out exclusively through the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the papal messages and instructions were subject to approval by the Emperor.

Lit.: Штурбабин С. История Церкви: Конкордат 1847 года и открытие Тираспольской епархии // Труды Саратовской православной духовной семинарии. Вып. 1. Саратов. 2008; Щебальский П. История русского конкордата // Русский вестник. 1871. № 4; Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона. СПб., 1895. Т. 30. С. 958; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.runivers.ru/bookreader/book10161/#page/1/mode/1up.