Social Portrait of the Deaconate of the Sverdlovsk Diocese in the 1940s

Abstract

The article explores the social portrait of deacons in the Sverdlovsk eparchy during the 1940s, a period marked by radical shifts in the state-church relations. Using archival data, statistics, and biographical materials, it analyzes key trends in diaconal ministry against the backdrop of repression, the Great Patriotic War, and post-war church revival. The pre-revolutionary period (before 1917) featured a significant number of deacons (211 official positions), but by 1941 their numbers had plummeted to 0.7% of the original level due to Soviet anti-religious policies. The study emphasizes that by the late 1930s, the diaconal group in the Urals had been nearly eradicated, with only two clergy of renovationist orientation remaining. The turning point was the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when the authorities tempora­rily eased their pressure on the Church, allowing some churches to be opened and the number of serving clergy to increase significantly. Particular attention is paid to the educational background of deacons: while 26.2 % had incomplete secondary theological education before the revolution, by the 1940s, most had secular primary education (40.9 %) or no formal education. The social composition also shifted: 36.4 % of deacons came from peasant backgrounds, 31.8 % from clerical families. In 1941, the average age of clergy was 67.5 years, and by 1949 it had dropped to 51.3 due to new ordinations.