UDC

93/94

Authors

Aleksandr R. Pavlushkov
Vologda Law and Economics Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (VILE of the FPS of Russia);
ul. Shchetinina 2a, Vologda, 160002, Russian Federation;
e-mail: apavlushkov@yandex.ru

Abstract

The paper deals with the process of creating prison churches in the 19th century, when the functional type of church was established in the state-run public institutions. The practical importance of this paper is explained by the current attempts of the Russian state to revive the activity of prison churches after their complete destruction during the Soviet period. The main (conceptual) stages of the prison church genesis are traced here: from the presentation of the first projects to the creation of a specific structure of religious buildings. Further, the paper reveals the causes and factors that contributed to the formulation of the question of prison church establishment. Particular attention is given to the period of preparation and implementation of construction projects for prison churches and to the evolution of prison churchbuilding. There were several approaches that differed in a number of fundamental propositions, which prompted a debate between the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Trustee Society for Prisons, and the Holy Synod. Among the most controversial issues were the following: departmental affiliation of the churches; sources of funding; activities; practicability of using a certain architectural plan. The parties’ views depended on a combination of sociopolitical and economic factors, as well as their social status. The projects had significant shortcomings, which were successfully overcome through compromise. The general solution was consolidated, with a decisive opinion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Prison churches were compulsorily established only in principal towns of provinces, while in those of districts it was optional. Later, the coordination of prison church-building was delegated to the Trustee Society for Prisons, which, in effect, increased its influence. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the role of prison churches expanded, which was due to the state tasks entrusted to the Russian Orthodox Church in the penitentiary sphere.

Keywords

Trustee Society for Prisons, penitentiary system, prison reform, prison church-building, prison church

References

1. Tsygul’skiy V.F. Dialektika istorii chelovechestva [Dialectics of the History of Mankind]. Perm, 2016. Book 3. 504 p.
   
2. Kuznetsov S.Ya. Pravoslavie i arkhitektura [Orthodoxy and Architecture]. Moscow, 2005. 176 p.
   
3. Shchenkov A.S. Problemy traditsionnoy formy v sovremennom khramostroenii Rossii [Problems of the Traditional Form in Modern Church-Building in Russia]. Khramostroitel’stvo v Rossii. Traditsii i sovremennost’ [Church-Building in Russia. Traditions and Modernity]. Moscow, 1996, pp. 19–24.
   
4. Verzhbitskiy Zh.M. Arkhitekturnaya kul’tura: iskusstvo arkhitektury kak sredstvo gumanizatsii “vtoroy prirody” [Architectural Culture: The Art of Architecture as a Means of Humanizing the “Second Nature”]. St. Petersburg, 2010. 136 p.
   
5. Kesler M.Yu. Razvitie khramostroitel’stva na Rusi s IX po XX vek [Development of Church-Building in Russia from the 9th to the 20th Century]. Pravoslavnye khramy [Orthodox Churches]. Moscow, 2003. Vol. 1. Available at: http://www.rusarch.ru/kesler2.htm (accessed 6 April 2017).
   
6. Pavlushkov A.R. Osobennosti formirovaniya tserkovnoy yurisdiktsii v oblasti ugolovno-ispolnitel’noy politiki XVIII–XIX vv. [Peculiarities of Formation of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Penal Policy of the 18th – 19th Centuries]. Vestnik instituta: prestuplenie, nakazanie, ispravlenie, 2013, no. 2, pp. 76–81.
   
7. Gernet M.N. Istoriya tsarskoy tyur’my. T. 1. 1762–1825 [The History of the Imperial Prison. Vol. 1. 1762–1825]. Moscow, 1951. 327 p.
   
8. Pavlushkov A.R. Osobennosti razvitiya penitentsiarnoy sistemy dorevolyutsionnoy Rossii: gumanizatsiya nakazaniya i tyuremnaya reforma [Penitentiary System Development in Pre-Revolutionary Russia: Humanization of Punishment and Prison Reform]. Istoriya i perspektivy ugolovno-ispolnitel’noy sistemy Rossii [History and Prospects of the Russian Penitentiary System]. Vologda, 2002, pp. 45–60.
   
9. Petrenko N.I., Nikiforova I.A. Vliyanie Obshchestva popechitel’nogo o tyur’makh na otechestvennuyu penitentsiarnuyu sistemu v pervoy polovine XIX v. [The Influence of the Trustee Society for Prisons on the Russian Penitentiary System in the First Half of the 19th Century]. Probely v rossiyskom zakonodatel’stve, 2011, no. 4, pp. 200–203.
   
10. Alekseev V.I. Tyuremnaya reforma v Rossii 1879 g. [1879 Prison Reform in Russia]. Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava, 2008, no. 9, pp. 127–131.
    
11. Kashkarov P.A. Obshchaya razrabotka voprosa o neobkhodimosti korennogo tyuremnogo preobrazovaniya v Rossii [General Consideration of the Issue Concerning the Need for a Radical Prison Reform in Russia]. St. Petersburg, 1883. 24 p.
    
12. Gagen V.A. Dukhovno-nravstvennoe i prosvetitel’skoe vozdeystvie na zaklyuchennykh [Spiritual, Moral and Educational Impact on Prisoners]. Tyuremnyy vestnik, 1913, no. 8-9, pp. 1217–1219.
    
13. Dorskaya A.A. Svoboda sovesti v Rossii: sud’ba zakonoproektov nachala XX veka [Freedom of Conscience in Russia: The Fate of Early Twentieth-Century Bills]. St. Petersburg, 2001. 143 p.