Church Press

Categories / Literature. Book Publishing/Publishing Houses
CHURCH PRESS appeared in St. Petersburg after the organisation of the first printing presses, the first of which was established at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in 1720. These typographies published liturgical books, catechesis, prayer books as well as sermons and the lives of saints in Russian and Old Church Slavonic. Translations of contemporary European Christian authors were published at the same time. All the editions were subject to clerical censorship. The publication of the so called Elizabeth Bible (1753-56) and Russian translation of the New Testament (1860-61) and the Old Testament (1876), prepared mainly by Petersburg theologians, were important events. From 1821 Khristianskoe Chtenie magazine of the Theological Academy, though the bloom of ecclesiastic periodicals started in the second half of the 19th century: from 1860 Strannik and Dushepoleznoe Chtenie had been published, from 1874 - Tserkovno-Obshchestvenny Vestnik, from 1888 - Tserkovnye Vedomosty (part of the Synod), from 1885 - Russky Palomnik, from 1890 - Vestnik Voennogo Dukhovenstva. From the 1880s a church column had been added to all large capital newspapers. I.L. Tuzov's publishing house published the most part of the church press in St. Petersburg; many brochures and books were published by church organisations and brotherhoods. An independent church press appeared after 1905 (Tserkovny Golos, Pravda Pravoslaviya), but it was not in issue long and had no influence. From the 1920s the church press was prohibited and only reached the city from abroad. Its revival started in the 1980s as an underground press. The first Orthodox book was published in Leningrad in 1990. Orthodox Rus, Satis, The Resurrection, Dioptra, Tsarskoe Delo magazines, and V.A. Yurzhenko specialise in the church press today. Diocesan publishing board has been publishing Sankt-Peterburgskie Eparkhialnye Vedomosty quarterly magazine from 1991, Tserkovny Vestnik quarterly magazine and Pravoslavie i Zhizn informational bulletin - from 2000. Srednaya Rogatka, Leushino, Nechayannaya Radost newspapers are published by parishes. There are independent editions: Pravoslavny Petersburg monthly, Pravoslavny letopisets Sankt-Peterburga, Rus Pravoslavnaya newspaper, and Sobesednik Pravoslavnykh Khristian almanac in the city. The church press is distributed by churches, special and general bookstores and kiosks. The eparchy web-site, theological schools, parishes, editions, various school organisations and establishments.

V. V. Antonov. Tuzov Ignaty Lukianovich
Yurzhenko Vyacheslav Anatolievich
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Synod