Szkolnictwo prawosławne w diecezji litewskiej w drugiej połowie XIX wieku

ENIn 1839 in Byelorussia the Uniate Church was unified with the Orthodox Church and the orthodox Lithuanian diocese was formed. The new diocese had a theological seminary in Zhyrovichy and several lower theological seminaries in the monasteries of Zhyrovichy, Kobryn and Suprasl. There were also some parish schools for lower classes in the provinces of Vilnius, Grodno and the district of Bialystok. Gradually new territories were added to the diocese with more population of uniate or even catholic origin, which influenced later the educational programme. In 1867 new statute of theological seminaries and lower theological seminaries was formulated. The theological seminaries were placed under the main administration of the Holy Synod and under the direct control of the diocesan hierarch. Lithuanian theological seminaries had the structure of the 6-classes Russian seminaries with a limited number of students in each class. It took 5 years to introduce the reform in Lithuania. The aim of the seminary was to educate future priests of the Orthodox Church, therefore particular attention was paid to the moral and spiritual state of the students. It was regulated by a strict discipline and precise schedule of the day. In 1884. an important change was introduced in the statute of the theological seminaries resulting in increasing the role of the diocesan bishop – among others he was the only person to appoint the teachers. Also the seminary had now a confessor, chosen by the board of the seminary among the diocesan clergy. Candidates for the seminary in the Lithuanian diocese in 1867 were prepared in 4 lower seminaries in Vilnius, Grodno, Zhyrovichy and Kobryn. In 1872, based on the decision of the clergy of the Lithuanian diocese and of the archbishop Makarius, the Holy Synod closed down the theological schools on Grodno and Zhyrovichy.Later on instead of the re-opened school in Zhyrovichy the school in Kobryn was closed. Students spent 4 years in the school, the life of which was basically regulated by the rules similar to those in the seminaries. In 1859 the Holy Synod issued the decision of forming parish schools for the peasants’ children. It was the responsibility of the diocesan clergy to found and lead those schools. In 1863 there were 323 parish schools in the Lithuanian diocese, among which 245 were financially supported by the clergy. At the beginning those schools were located in the houses of the parish priests or the psalmists and only later on special build ings were constructed at the expense of the parishioners. The main goal of the orthodox parish educational system on this territory was to strengthen the religious identity of the orthodox population and the defence of the Orthodox Church’s property facing the danger of the influence of the Latin Church. In 1888 Vilnius church-parish school for teachers was founded in order to prepare the teachers for the parish schools in the districts of Vilnius and Kovno. In 1892 the school was closed down. In 1861 a school for the girls of the priests’ families was founded in Vilnius and it was placed under the care of tsarina Maria Feodorovna. The school prepared future priest’s wives, especially taking into account the conditions of the rural life. Keywords: Orthodox Schools, Lithuanian Diocese.