UDC

82-92+281.93

Authors

Marina V. Novak
Southern Federal University; per. Universitetskiy 93, Rostov-on-Don, 344006, Russian Federation;
e-mail: marina.vl.novak@gmail.com

Abstract

This article dwells on the activity of Russian émigré press in the USA during the establishment and development of the Russian Orthodox Church in this country. By the beginning of the 20th century, a number of Orthodox, Orthodox-oriented and secular publications in America had formed into a coherent system. The history of their development is studied here in terms of their involvement in the main inter- and intradenominational conflicts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which accompanied almost the entire period of the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA. The publications, as well as church and public organizations behind them, gathered only ideological supporters around themselves. As a result, in addition to uniting people they also produced the opposite, disintegrating effect on the lives of their readers and of the Russian colony in general. The documentary, scientific and journalistic pieces of evidence used in this study allow us to conclude that the most typical feature of these publications was the critical focus of their discourse. Thus, in the absence of a single common goal of preserving the unity of the Russian diaspora, religious institutions, public organizations and the press supporting them only catalyzed one conflict after another. At the same time, it was during the struggle between Christian denominations and the search for compromise within the various jurisdictions of the Russian Orthodox Church that the system of Russian Orthodox and Orthodox-oriented press best developed in the USA. As a result, it attracted the interest and won the loyalty of its Orthodox readers.

Keywords

Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, North American diocese, Russian émigré press in the USA, Orthodox press in the USA

References

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