The Urals Diocese: History and Current Status

One of the countries beyond the borders of Russia, which in the church relation is the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, is the Republic of Kazakhstan. There are several episcopal centers on its territory, one of which is the Urals diocese - the immediate topic of this article.

Specificity of church governance in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan in terms of administrative management of Orthodox believers is a metropolitan district. In other words, it is headed by a bishop in the ranks of the metropolitan, a number of hierarchical departments are in the area of responsibility. The Ural diocese is just one of those. Her second patronal city is Aktyubinsk. Thus, the full title of the ruling bishop sounds like the Urals and Aktobe. At present, this service is carried by an archbishop named Antony.

History of the Diocese

Originally, the diocese was opened in this territory as far back as 1908 as a vicariate. But in eight years she became independent. After the revolution, the bishopric was formally functioning until 1933, and then it was closed. Once again, the chair was formed by the decision of the Holy Synod in 1991. The immediate jurisdiction of this diocese includes parishes and monasteries located in addition to Uralsk and Aktyubinsk in the West Kazakhstan region. Orthodox associations in Kustanai and Mangystau also belong to this diocese. It should be clarified that, because of the similarity of names, it is sometimes confused with another one related to the Ekaterinburg Metropolia in the Sverdlovsk Region. Its department is located in the city of Kamensk-Urals, and therefore sometimes these two bishops are mistakenly identified. But it should be remembered that the Kamensk-Urals Diocese is officially called simply Kamenskaya and Alapaevskaya. Accordingly, to the one that is located in Kazakhstan, it has nothing to do.

Current state

The Ural diocese is divided into two deaneries, which include about fifty parishes. The same is the number of clergy, which it carries service. One female monastery is functioning, in which about six nuns are currently working. As for education, the Ural diocese does not have a seminary or theological courses. All educational functions are borne by Sunday schools, which number about ten pieces. Also, the diocese publishes its own newspaper "Blagovest" and is engaged in charitable work.