Orthodox Religion and Church in Everyday Life of Russian Diplomats in the United States of the Late 19th – Early 20th Century

Abstract

The article, based on documents from Russian and American archives, explores the role of Orthodoxy in the value system of Russian diplomats, their participation in church life and relationships with the clergy. The article reveals the role of Orthodoxy and the Church in the daily life of diplomats of the Russian Empire who worked in the United States in 1867–1917, when the interaction of Russian diplomacy and the Aleutian-Alaska (North American) Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church reached its heyday. It is shown that the entire daily life of diplomats in America was built according to the church calendar with its series of religious holidays, fasts and other church events. It is concluded that, despite the divergence of corporate cultures of these institutions of spiritual and secular power of the Russian Empire, as well as the great differences in the lifestyle of diplomats and clergy, they were united by a common religious and state identity and a common mission – the promotion of Russian influence in the United States. In the conditions of being in an alien environment, Orthodoxy for diplomats became the most important part of Russian self-identification. At the same time, much depended on the individual characteristics of the representatives of the diplomatic corps: social origin, the degree of their religiosity and other features of the worldview. Concrete examples reveal the main types of participation of diplomats in the life of the diocese – from formal to zealously pious. The level of interpersonal communication between representatives of the clergy and the Russian diplomatic colony in the United States is also considered.