THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BISHOP INNOKENTY (SMIRNOV) OF PENZA AND ARCHIMANDRITE PHOTIUS (SPASSKY) IN THE ASSESSMENTS OF CONTEMPORARIES
Background. The article is devoted to the relations of two well-known church and public figures in the first third of the 19<sup>th</sup> century - Bishop Innokenty (Smirnov) of Penza and Archimandrite Photius (Spassky). The name of Photius, the most famous fighter against mysticism, is directly connected with a number of events at the end of the reign of Alexander I - the closure of the Bible Society and the official ban on the activities of Masonic lodges, the abolition of the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and Public Education. Photius, one of the most prominent figures of the “right opposition” in the Orthodox Church, called himself a disciple and ideological heir of the deceased Innokenty of Penza in 1819. As a result, Innocent himself began to be perceived as an opponent of Western mysticism. The purpose of this study is to analyze the testimonies of Innokenty, Photius and their contemporaries, which allow us to look at the relations and worldview of both figures in a new way. The relevance of this article for modernity, first of all, consists in dispassionately, questioning the “clichés” that have developed in historiography and relying on primary sources, to consider the relationship of Archimandrite Photius and Bishop Innokenty - figures who had a significant impact on the church and public life of St. Petersburg in the first quarter of the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Materials and methods. The research is based on epistolary and memoir testimonies, both previously published (mainly in the periodicals of the 19<sup>th</sup> century) and those remaining in the manuscript (Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts). The methodology of the research is based on the principles of a systematic approach to the consideration of issues of church and public life in the first third of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, which allows us to get away from subjective assessments and identify really significant vectors of the development of relations between the figures of the era. Results . Contradictions in the assessments of contemporaries and researchers of the relationship between Bishop Innokenty (Smirnov) of Penza and Archimandrite Photius (Spassky) have been revealed. Assumptions are made for what purpose the facts from their biographies were distorted and subjectively interpreted. Conclusions. The analysis of the material allows us to speak about the deliberate distortion by Archimandrite Photius (Spassky) of the role of Bishop Innokenty in the fight against mysticism, and to assert that in reality Innocent was more a supporter of the mystics, and not the Orthodox opposition to them.