CHARITY OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DURING THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR (1877-1878)

The article is devoted to the study of the charitable activities of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878). During the war years, the Church always took an active part in protecting the state from enemies. Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 is one of the most significant examples of such interaction. It should be noted that this military campaign was of particular importance for the Russian Orthodox Church, since its goal was to liberate the Orthodox peoples of the Balkan Peninsula from the power of the Ottoman Empire. For many years, Russian clergymen maintained contact with the Balkan clergy, providing them all possible assistance. During the Russo-Turkish war the Church’s charitable activities have reached unprecedented proportions.

Such activities began before the outbreak of war. The church hierarchs contributed to the creation of sisters of mercy organizations capable of working in military conditions. During the military campaign period, the Russian clergy launched active efforts to organize assistance to the active army and wounded soldiers. During the sermons, the priests urged the congregation to actively donate money and things. Representatives of the Church themselves also made a significant contribution for this purpose. A special role was played by the provincial, primarily the rural clergy, since the bulk of the population of the empire at that time were peasants.

In our opinion, the Russian Orthodox Church made a very significant contribution to the organization and implementation of charitable activities during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. This greatly helped the soldiers, and also assisted the families of those killed in the war.

Methods
The article is based on a systematic approach. Its usage in considering the problem allowed the author to research the interrelation of general trends in the relations between the Church and the army in the sphere of charity.

Also the principles of historicism and complexity have been used. Based on the principle of historicism, the author comprehensively evaluated the facts and documents of the past taking into account the specific features of the studied period. Following the principle of complexity, it was possible to obtain scientific knowledge about the general trends in the development of the Church charitable activity on the basis of a variety of identified sources and scientific works.