World War II and the historical fate of the Russian spiritual missions in the Far East

Abstract

The article examines the impact of World War II and the first post-war years on the activities of Russian spiritual missions of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Far East, in China, Japan, and Korea. It is shown that by the mid-20th century these missions already had a long history and performed not only religious, but also cultural translation, diplomatic, and communicative functions. In conditions of war, occupation regimes, changes in political authority, and the growing confrontation between the USSR and the United States, issues of support for Russian compatriots, the jurisdictional affiliation of church structures, and the property rights of the missions came to the fore. Based on Chinese material, the article analyzes post-war repatriation, the formation of the East Asian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate, and the conflict over missionary property. The Japanese section considers changes in church administration, the impact of Japanese wartime legislation, and subsequent intervention by the American occupation authorities. The Korean section shows the consequences of the division of the peninsula, the conflict between supporters of different church jurisdictions, and the struggle for mission property. The article concludes that the post-war fate of the missions was determined by a combination of the geopolitical consequences of the war, the anti-religious policy of the Soviet state, local national interests, and the aspirations of Orthodox communities for independence.

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