Territorial structure of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia in the post-Soviet period
The history of changes in the church-territorial structure of the Russian Orthodox Church has a very long history. This issue has become especially acute in recent years. The active revival of religious life in the country, which began in the late 1980s, is accompanied by territorial transformations in the diocesan structure of the Russian Orthodox Church. The purpose of the study is to identify changes in the administrative-territorial structure of the Russian Orthodox Church within the borders of the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet period. The prerequisites preceding the administrative reform of the Russian Orthodox Church are highlighted. In 2011, the reform of the diocesan structure of the Russian Orthodox Church began, as a result of which a three-stage system of organizing dioceses was built in the Moscow Patriarchate: patriarchy - metropolitanate - diocese. The main territorial unit of the Russian Orthodox Church is a diocese headed by a diocesan bishop (bishop, archbishop or metropolitan) and uniting parishes united in deaneries and monasteries in a given territory. The number of dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2011 has increased from 159 to 323, i.e., more than doubled. Diocesan borders are determined by the Holy Synod, taking into account the administrative-territorial division of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Maps have been constructed that reflect the modern borders of the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of the Russian Federation.