The Diocese of Khabarovsk is achurch and administrative structure that manages the parishes located in the Khabarovsk Territory of Russia, as well as the Tuguro-Chumikansky, Okhotsk, Ayano-May and Nikolaevsky districts. The diocesan chair is located in Khabarovsk, and the main cathedral is the Transfiguration Cathedral located there. The head of the diocese is the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Volodymyr (Samokhin).
The beginning of the Christianization of the territory, whichincludes the diocese of Khabarovsk today, refers to in 1620, when the Bishop's Department was first established in the city of Tobolsk. However, further political conflicts, in particular, the signing of the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689, according to which a significant part of the Amur Region was retreating to China, suspended the process for almost a century and a half.
Only in 1858, after the conclusion of the Aigunagreement and the return of Russia to the Amur Region, the life of Orthodox parishes has received a new impetus. At the same time, by decision of the Synodal Administration, the Bishop's Department was moved to Blagoveshchensk.
The present diocese of Khabarovsk waswas established in 1925, but in those years had the status of vicariate, that is, it was a church-administrative unit, part of a larger diocese, in this case the Annunciation. At its head stood, as it should be in such cases, a bishop subordinate to the diocesan lord.
The center of the new formation was the city of Khabarovsk. This state of affairs persisted until 1933, when as a result of a series of anti-religious campaigns in the Amur Region, all churches were closed without exception. Only ten years later, at the height of the war with fascism, when, in order to promote spiritual unity of the people, the government began to partially revive religious life, the first parish in the Far East began to operate in Khabarovsk.
The diocese received its own government in 1945the year when the Holy Synod sent a bishop to the city of Khabarovsk, which received the title of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. However, in four years the leadership of the diocese was transferred to the Irkutsk lord.
In the late 80's, when in the life of the countrynew trends emerged due to perestroika, and the pressure of the authorities on the church significantly weakened, the diocese of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok (as it was now called) once again had the opportunity to self-government. In addition, its territory was significantly expanded and began to include, in addition to Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krai, a number of areas: the Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Magadan, Amur and Jewish autonomous regions.
In recent years, the Holy Synod has beena number of changes were made in the territorial and administrative structure of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Priamurskaya Metropolia, which includes the Khabarovsk diocese, did not stand aside from these undertakings either.
In particular, in 2011 it receivedindependence The Amur diocese, formerly part of Khabarovsk, was established, and the Nikolaev vicariate was established within the boundaries of the Tuguro-Chumikansky, Nikolaevsky, Ayano-Maysky and Okhotsk regions. In 2016 the Khabarovsk diocese was somewhat reduced, as part of it departed the newly formed Vanino diocese.
The visible embodiment of blessed changes,which occurred in the religious life of the Far East, was the erection in 2001-2004. Spaso-Preobrazhensky cathedral in Khabarovsk. This monumental five-domed building was built on funds from voluntary donations of future parishioners, as well as a number of enterprises and public organizations. The authors of the project were a group of Far Eastern architects, headed by Yuri Zhivetyev. The painting of the walls and the dome was made by a team of Moscow painters, specially invited by Vladyka Vladimir.
It should be noted that the main cathedral of Khabarovsk,the cross of which ascended 95 meters above the earth, is the third highest in the temples of Russia. He concedes only to St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg and the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Impressive and the size of its interior, which can simultaneously accommodate up to three thousand people.
In the building of the cathedral for eight years alreadyThe Far Eastern pilgrimage center of Khabarovsk diocese created with the blessing of Vladyka Vladimir. Its employees organize regular trips with visiting the holy places of our country, as well as those who are outside it. Thanks to their work, many residents of Primorye have the opportunity to visit Israel and see places associated with various biblical events, as well as to worship relics stored in the monasteries and temples of their homeland.
