Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission of Urmia (Review of Research Literature)

The work is devoted to the historical study of the experience of Russian Orthodox missionaries educational activities among the Assyrian Christians of the Persian province of Urmia in the late 19th – early 20th century and includes a comprehensive review of the research literature on the topic. The review is based on the material of scientific publications of domestic and foreign authors. The study uses a comparative-historical method that allows you to compare and summarize the results of scientific research in previous scientific papers. The paper considers the historical aspects of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission in Urmia at the beginning of the 20th century, due to which there was a rapprochement (in some cases, jurisdictional connection) of the Eastern (pre-Chalcedonian) Orthodox Churches (Assyrian Church of the East, Syrian/Syro-Jacobite/Orthodox Church) with the Russian Orthodox Church. The study has a fundamental scientific significance, as it actualizes the issues of cultural rapprochement and international cooperation between Iran (Persia) and Russia on the basis of moral and religious values, cultural traditions, historical ties by filling in historical gaps in the scientific study of the works of the Urmian Orthodox Mission, established in 1898. The research focus of this article is the little-known and unknown facts of interaction between our countries, related to the experience of Orthodox missionary work in Persia, the study of which has unconditional scientific novelty. The study of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission in Persian Urmia is an urgent task of modern humanities. The history of the Russian presence in Persia has become the subject of a few separate studies, but so far, no work based on an analysis of the entire set of published research works on the activities of the Urmian missionaries has been carried out. Carrying out such work ensures the acquisition and dissemination in society of new fundamental scientific knowledge on the topical issue of interfaith relations of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Middle East in the historical past and present.