Cultural and educational work of diocesan departments of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian society in remote regions of the Russian Empire in the late 19th — early 20th centuries

The article characterizes the cultural and educational work of the diocesan departments of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) on the national outskirts of the Russian Empire in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. It is noted that the main form of this work was the organization and holding of Palestinian readings aimed at popularizing knowledge about the Holy Land, the Russian pilgrimage, the activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in the Middle East, as well as publishing literature on relevant topics in national languages. Its deployment dates back to the mid-1890s. and continued until 1917. The western provinces of the Russian Empire were a field of collision and interaction between two civilizations - Catholic (Polish-Lithuanian) and Orthodox (East Slavic). In their confrontation, a local national identity (Belarusian, Ukrainian) was formed, and the work of the IOPS can be considered as one of the tools for involving the local population in solving problems common to the Orthodox world, with the help of which they realized their organic connection with the “Russian world”. The high activity of diocesan departments on the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, the popularity of Palestinian readings are revealed. It is concluded that there is no national specificity in the organization and conduct of Palestinian readings by the "Ukrainian" and "Belarusian" diocesan departments of the IOPS. Where the Russian population was in an absolute minority (Poland, Georgia), the activities of the IOPS were aimed at representatives of the diaspora and almost did not affect local residents. In such regions as the Volga region, Siberia, the European North, northwestern Kazakhstan, the activity of the IOPS was linked with missionary work. It is indicated that the diocesan departments of the IOPS have contributed to the Christian enlightenment of the "foreign" population recently converted to Orthodoxy, to the fight against pagan remnants, various superstitions and prejudices. The expansion of the scale of pilgrimage to the Holy Land was noted as one of the consequences of the cultural and educational work of the IOPS.