TEXT OF THE MEETING WITH STALIN BY G.KARPOV,

THE SOVIET "PROCURATOR-GENERAL" OF THE ‘NEW CHURCH’.

From the Literaturnaya gazeta in 1991, translated to English.

 

Georgii Karpov, Minutes of Stalin's Meeting with Three Orthodox Bishops. September 4, 1943.

“In the early morning on 4 September 1943 I was summoned to comrade Stalin, where the following questions were put to me:

a) What is Metropolitan Sergii like (age, physical state, his reputation in the church, his attitude to the authorities);

b) A short character reference for Metropolitans Aleksii and Nikolai;

c) When and how Tikhon was elected patriarch;

d) What links the Russian Orthodox Cchurch has with Church Abroad;

e) Who are the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem and others;

f) What I know of the leaderships of the Orthodox churches of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania;

9) What material conditions do the Metropolitans Sergii, Aleksii and Nikolai live in;

h) The number of parishes of the orthodox church in the USSR and the number of bishops.

 

 

After that, when I had given answers to the above questions, three questions were put to me of a personal nature:

a) Was I a Russian;

b) What year I joined the party;

c) What level of education I have and why I am familiar with church matters.

 

After this comrade Stalin said:

 

 'A special organ must be set up which would ensure a link with the leadership of the church. What suggestions do you have?'

Having mentioned that I was not completely prepared for this question, I put forward the proposal of organizing a department for the affairs of cults attached to the USSR Supreme Soviet and based myself in this on the fact that there existed a permanently functioning Commission for the affairs of cults attached to the ACEC.

Comrade Stalin corrected me, saying that a commission or department for the affairs of cults should not be organized as part of the USSR Supreme Soviet, that the question was of organizing a special organ attached to the Government of the Soviet Union and that a committee or a council could be organized. He asked for my opinion.

When I said that it was difficult for me to answer that question, comrade Stalin, having thought a little, said:

1) one must organize a Council attached to the Government of the Union, i.e. attached to the Council of People's Commissars, which we will call the Council for the affairs of the Russian orthodox church;

2) the council will be given the task of ensuring the links between the government of the Union and the patriarch;

3) the council will not take decisions independently, it will report and receive directions from the Government.'

After this comrade Stalin exchanged views with comrades Malenkov and Beria on the question of whether he should receive Metropolitans Sergii, Aleksii and Nikolai, as well as asking me how I viewed the fact that the Government would receive them.”