Abstract

This article polemicises with the post-Soviet school of the historians of Russian Orthodox priesthood, such as the school of M. Gromyko, whose approach is on the whole celebratory rather than seeking to uncover the full reality of priests’ conditions. Their aspiration to recover the priesthood from the long period of historical neglect and scorn and show fully the priests’ close connection with peasants is laudable and yields fascinating findings, however, what is lacking is a down-to-earth analysis of the actual conditions of priests.