Canonization and Veneration of Modern Saints and International Relations of the Russian Churches

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K16703
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Religious studies
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: TAKAHASHI Sanami 北海道大学, スラブ・ユーラシア研究センター, 助教 (50724465)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ロシア / ロシア正教 / ディアスポラ / 聖人崇敬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The primary purpose of this project is to shed light on historical narratives and political stance of the Russian Orthodox Church（ROC) and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia（ROCOR), analyzing the process of veneration and canonization of Nikolay II, the last emperor of the Romanov Dynasty. During his lifetime, he was a quite unpopular emperor, while after the Russian revolution, he and his family's tragic execution symbolized victim of the revolution and war. Then, Nikolay was compared to St. Job in Russia. In 1981, ROCOR canonized Nikolay II as a symbol of many other victims and martyrs under the Bolshevik regime, in order to underline critical stance to the revolution and revisionism in front of Soviet people. Since the late 1980s, Russian monarchist groups had positively accepted these discourse formed in the ROCOR, which link to the contemporary revisionist conservatism in Russia.

Free Research Field

宗教社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ニコライ二世の崇敬は広く社会的関心を惹きつける問題であるが、本研究はニコライ二世の崇敬がいつどのように始まり、どう展開したのかという過程を歴史的な見地から明らかにすることができた。また、亡命教会の聖職者によってニコライ二世に付与された神秘的な意味づけが、ペレストロイカ末期のロシアで大衆的関心を惹きつけた正教と君主主義に対する関心と絡みあい、「ツァレボージュニキ」と呼ばれる極右的君主主義者の宗教集団を生み出したことへの注目は、ロシア政治と正教の昨今の関係を考える上で重要な示唆を与えるものである。