Confessions, Non-Orthodox (entry)

Categories / Religion. Church/Religious Faiths
NON ORTHODOX CONFESSIONS, Christian non-Orthodox churches. From the beginning of the 18th century, St. Petersburg was the centre of foreign confessions in Russia. The most numerous community were the Roman Catholics. The first Catholic church appeared in St. Petersburg in 1706. After the first division of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom (1772) a Catholic Eparchy was founded in Mogilev (Arch-Eparchy from 1782), headed by the Archbishop who lived in St. Petersburg. In 1842, the Catholic Theological Academy was transferred to St. Petersburg from Vilno (52 First Line of Vasilievsky Island). A Catholic Theological Seminary was created in 1869. By 1917, there were some 100,000 Catholics living in Petrograd (their number increased considerably at the beginning of the 20th century). There were 14 Catholic churches and 26 chapels in Petrograd; the main church was the St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church on Nevsky Prospect. The majority of Catholics were Poles, but there existed the French Church of Our Lady at 7 Kovensky Lane, the German Church of St. Boniface at 9 Tserkovnaya Street and the Russian Church of the Holy Spirit at 48/2 Barmaleeva Street. Latvians and Lithuanians of the Catholic faith did not have their own churches. In 1856, the Vyborg Catholic cemetery with a church attached was opened at 8 Arsenalnaya Street. Gymnasia for men and women, a charitable society of St. Vincent De Paul with an orphanage and a boarding school were overseen by the St. Catherine’s Church. In 1907, Mother Ursula arranged a boarding school for girls; in 1912-23, a boys’ refuge with workshops operated – the so-called house of Kerbedz at 19 Kirillovskaya Street. Vera I Zhizn Catholic magazine was published in 1908-12. In 1918, Catholic educational institutions were closed; by 1939 all the Catholic churches were closed as well, with the exception of the French Church. In the 1990s, four Catholic churches and Catholic Higher Theological Seminary were reopened,11 First Krasnoarmeiskaya Street. From the beginning of the 17th century, there were Lutheran churches in the town of Nyenschantz. In St. Petersburg the first Evangelic-Lutheran church was opened in 1704 in Peter and Paul Fortress. Its main church was the St. Peter Lutheran church. The majority of Lutheran chapels were German; there was the Finnish Church of St. Mary, the Swedish Church of St. Catherine, the Estonian Church of St. John and the Latvian Church of Christ the Saviour. By 1917 there were 170,000 Lutherans living in Petrograd (their number considerably increased at the end of the 19th – early 20th centuries due to the growing number of Estonians and Latvians settling in St. Petersburg), and there were 18 churches, 14 chapels and houses of prayer. From the beginning of the 18th century in St. Petersburg there were two German colleges (Peterschule and Annenschule), and from the 19th century – Evangelic hospitals at 4 Ligovsky Avenue and on Lesnoy Avenue. The Protestant Evangelic Union of Religious-and Moral Care functioned in the city from 1876. In 1880, an orphanage for children with mental disorders was created in Udelnaya. In 1925-34, there was a Lutheran Seminary functioning in Leningrad. By 1938, all the Lutheran churches were closed, at the beginning of the 1940s, Germans and Finns were deported from Leningrad. In 1994, the first General Synod of the revived Evangelic Lutheran church was held in St. Petersburg and some other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Now there are four Evangelic communities in St. Petersburg in St. Peter’s Church (with the office of the archbishop), St. Catherine’s Church, St. Anne’s Church, and Swedish St. Catherine’s Church, as well as the Theological Seminary in the Village of Novosaratovka (on the border with Nevsky District of St. Petersburg). The Lutheran Church of Ingria revived in St. Petersburg in the 1990s has two churches: the Finnish Church of St. Mary and the Russian Church of St. Michael. From the 18th century, there were Reformist communities in St. Petersburg: the Dutch community was formed in 1719, the French community – in 1724, and the German community in 1858. In the 19th century, all these communities set up their own churches, schools and orphanages. In 1917, there lived some 5,100 Reformists in Petrograd. Their churches were closed in 1926-30. In the 19th century, three Anglican churches were built, and by 1917, there were some 2,000 Anglican parishioners attended these churches (all the churches are now being used by other organizations). In the 1990s, small Reformist and Anglican communities appeared again. Two churches belong to Armenian Gregorian Church: St. Catherine’s Armenian Church on Nevsky Prospect and the Holy Resurrection Church in Smolenskoe Armenian Cemetery. The community of Armenians shaped in St. Petersburg in 1710 and by 1917, there were some 2,500 members of the Armenian community. It was liquidated in 1931 and was revived again in 1988.

Reference: Шкаровский М. В., Черепенина Н. Ю., Шикер А. К. Римско-католическая церковь на Северо-Западе России в 1917-1945 гг. СПб., 1998; Таценко Т. Н. Немецкие евангелическо-лютеранские общины в Санкт-Петербурге в XVIII-XX вв. // Немцы в России: Петерб. немцы. СПб., 1999. С. 245-280; Luther G. Herdaminne fцr Ingermanland. Helsingfors, 2000.

M. V. Shkarovsky. 1st Krasnoarmeiskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 11
Arsenalnaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Barmaleeva St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 48/2
Blokhina St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 9
Kirillovskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 19
Kovensky Lane/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Ligovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 4
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city
Шкаровский М. В., Черепенина Н. Ю., Шикер А. К. Римско-Католическая Церковь на Северо-Западе России в 1917-1945 гг. СПб., 1998
Luther G. Herdaminne for Ingermanland. Helsingfors, 2000
Таценко Т. Н. Немецкие евангелическо-лютеранские общины в Санкт-Петербурге в XVIII-XX вв. // Немцы в России: Петерб. немцы. СПб., 1999 St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
St. Maria Finnish Lutheran Church
St. Catherine’s Swedish Church
Estonian Church of St. John the Baptist
Latvian Church of Christ the Saviour
St. Petrischule
Annenschule, School
St. Peter’s German Reformed Church
St. Catherine’s Armenian Church
1842