The article deals with the stabilization of the position of the Irkutsk renovation diocese under the “archbishop” Ilya Ivanovich Fokin being the head of Irkutsk Diocesan Church Authorities. The administration of the diocese of the “archbishop” Vasily Dmitrievich Vinogradov has been analyzed, as well as the consequences of the crisis in summer and autumn of 1926, when the regional renovation bodies were left without «arch-priest» care. The activities of the “archbishop» Ilya Fokin have been discussed in detail: his missionary and public-speaking activity, personnel policy, measures taken to make regular issues of the newspaper «Tserkovny vestnik» . The tendency of conversion of the rural parishes of the Patriarchal Church to renovationism during the period under review has been investigated. Renovationism was on the rise due to enlarging the diocesan structures in the region, as well as arresting the most irreconcilable opponents of the schism among the hierarchs and clergymen of the Patriarchal Church. The degree of integration of innovations into liturgical and canonical life of the diocese in the period under review has been investigated, as well as the reaction of the clergy and laity. The “archbishop” Ilya Fokin managed to stabilize the situation in the Irkutsk diocese, to increase the number of parishes and partially overcome the shortage of clerics. Under the “archbishop” Vladimir Mikhailovich Zlobin however, who took office at the end of October 1928, the financial situation of the renovation bodies in the region remained difficult, not all canonical innovations were supported by the clergy and laity. The newspaper “Tserkovny vestnik” was closed due to financial difficulties. 

Kulpinov Sergey Sergeevich, Deacon, Degree Seeking Applicant, Department of Church Histor, Saint-Petersburg Theological Academy, 17, Obvodnogo kanala embankment, St. Petersburg, 191167, Russian Federation, tel.: 8(999)4228098, e-mail: agnus.dei@rambler.ru

Kulpinov S. S. From Crisis to Stagnation: Irkutsk Renovation Diocese under «Archbishop» Ilya Ivanovich Fokin (November 1926 – November 1928) . The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies. 2018, vol. 26, pp. 105-121. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2018.26.105 (in Russian)

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