Diocese of Smolensk and Vyazma

Diocese Smolensk and Vyazma (Russian: Смоленская и Вяземская епархия) is an eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church with its center in Smolensk. The city cathedral is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

History

Christianity began to spread at the Smolensk land shortly after the baptism of Kiev [1]. According to the Chronicle, "in the summer of 6498 in Smolensk, Vladimir ideal land and customs baptize all the earth." The first city in the principality to receive baptism, became Smolensk.

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054 Smolensk became the capital of an independent principality, became the inheritance of his son Yaroslav - Vyacheslav, then to his grandson, Vladimir Monomakh.

Smolensk was part Perejaslav-Khmelnitsky diocese until the grandson of Monomakh, Prince Rostislav Mstislavich Pious (1128-1158) is not to obtain for self-bishop of Smolensk. The agreement between him and the first bishop became known as the "charters Rostislav". Smolensk bishopric received from Prince substantial income, land ownership. At Smolensk land in the 12th and 13th centuries unfolded the activities of many prominent preachers and writers of the Church. A clear their name in the galaxy is, the name of the holy St. Abraham of Smolensk. [2]

In 1415-1419 and 1458-1514 he served in the canonical jurisdiction of the metropolitans of Kiev-Litovsk.

On January 26, 1539 - Archdiocese, from 1681 to 1728 years - Metropolis.

During the Soviet period, was known process "Smolensk business" in 1922, in which, for trying to stop the seizure of church property from the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk, not subjected to looting, even during the invasion of Napoleon, had attracted 45 people, 25 of whom were imprisoned, 5 - shot. By 2008, there were 242 known name Smolensk diocese priests, innocent victims of persecution.

In 1941-1943 Smolensk diocese included the Smolensk and Bryansk and was a member of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Ruling bishop was Bishop of Smolensk and Bryansk, Stefan (Sevbo). After the liberation of Smolensk region from the Germans in 1943-1944,., Smolensk diocese headed by Archbishop Kalinin (Tver) Basil (Ratmirovo), which bore the title "Kalinin and Smolensk."

From 1984 to 2008, during the administration of Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) (now Patriarch Kirill) in the Diocese of Smolensk and Kaliningrad temple was built 143, 65 recovered.

Decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on March 31, 2009 on the territory of the Kaliningrad region is formed Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The ruling bishop of the newly formed Diocese received the title of "Kaliningrad and the Baltic".

Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church

Patriarch of Moscow

Dioceses in Russia	Abakan and Kyzyl Anadyr and Chukotka Ardatov and Atyashevo Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory Arsenyev and Dalnegorsk Astrakhan and Yenotayevka Barnaul and Altai Belgorod and Stary Oskol Birobidzhan and Kuldur Blagoveshchensk and Tynda Bryansk and Sevsk Cheboksary and Chuvashia Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust Chita and Krasnokamensk Elista and Kalmykia Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Kineshma Irkutsk and Angarsk Izhevsk and Udmurtia Kaliningrad and Baltiysk Kaluga and Borovsk Kamensk-Uralsky and Alapayevsk Kazan and Tatarstan Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk Khabarovsk and Priamurye Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut Kostroma and Galich Krasnoslobodsk and Temnikov Krasnoyarsk and Achinsk Kurgan and Shadrinsk Kursk and Rylsk Lipetsk and Yelets Magadan and Sinegorye Maykop and Adygea Moscow (Urban) Moscow (Oblast) Murmansk and Monchegorsk Nakhodka and Preobrazheniye Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Nizhny Tagil and Serov Novgorod and Staraya Russa Novosibirsk and Berdsk Omsk and Tara Orenburg and Buzuluk Oryol and Livny Penza and Kuznetsk Perm and Solikamsk Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka Petrozavodsk and Karelia Pskov and Velikiye Luki Pyatigorsk and Cherkessk Rostov and Novocherkassk Ryazan and Kasimov Saint Petersburg and Ladoga Salekhard and Novy Urengoy Samara and Syzran Saransk and Mordovia Saratov and Volsk Shakhty and Millerovo Simbirsk and Melekess Smolensk and Vyazma Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk Syktyvkar and Vorkuta Tambov and Rasskazovo Tobolsk and Tyumen Tomsk and Asino Tula and Yefremov Tver and Kashin Ufa and Sterlitamak Ulan-Ude and Buryatia Vladikavkaz and Makhachkala Vladimir and Suzdal Vladivostok and Primorye Volgodonsk and Salsk Volgograd and Kamyshin Vologda and Veliky Ustyug Voronezh and Borisoglebsk Vyatka and Slobodskoy Yakutsk and Lensk Yaroslavl and Rostov Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye Yekaterinodar and Kuban Yeniseysk and Norilsk Yoshkar-Ola and Mari El Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Kurilsk

Directly subordinated dioceses outside Russia	Argentina and South America Baku and Azerbaijan Berlin and Germany Brussels and Belgium Budapest and Hungary Chersonesos Sourozh The Hague and the Netherlands Vilnius and Lithuania

Japanese Orthodox Church	Kyoto and Western Japan Sendai and Eastern Japan Tokyo

Chinese Orthodox Church	Beijing Harbin and Manchuria Shanghai Tianjin Xinjiang

Ukrainian Orthodox Church	Berdyansk and Prymorsk Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav Cherkasy and Kaniv Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siverskyi Chernivtsi and Bukovina Dniprodzerzhynsk and Tsarychanka Dnipropetrovsk and Pavlohrad Donetsk and Mariupol Dzhankoy and Rozdolne Horlivka and Sloviansk Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia Kamianets-Podilskyi and Horodok Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv Kherson and Taurica Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv Khust and Vynohradiv Kiev Kirovohrad and Novomyrhorod Konotop and Hlukhiv Kremenchuk and Lubny Kryvyi Rih and Nikopol Luhansk and Alchevsk Lutsk and Volyn Lviv and Galicia Mukachevo and Uzhhorod Mykolaiv and Voznesensk Nizhyn and Pryluky Nova Kakhovka and Henichesk Odessa and Izmail Oleksandriia and Svitlovodsk Ovruch and Korosten Poltava and Myrhorod Rivne and Ostroh Sarny and Polissia Severodonetsk and Starobilsk Shepetivka and Slavuta Simferopol and Crimea Sumy and Okhtyrka Ternopil and Kremenets Tulchyn and Bratslav Uman and Zvenyhorodka Vinnytsia and Mohyliv-Podilskyi Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Kovel Zaporizhia and Melitopol Zhytomyr and Novohrad-Volynskyi

Moldovan Orthodox Church	Bălți and Fălești Cahul and Comrat Chișinău Edineț and Briceni Tiraspol and Dubăsari Ungheni and Nisporeni

Latvian Orthodox Church	Riga

Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate	Narva and Peipus Tallinn

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia	Sydney, Australia and New Zealand Berlin and Germany Buenos Aires and South America Chicago and Mid-America Eastern America and New York Geneva and Western Europe Great Britain and Ireland Montreal and Canada San Francisco and Western America

Belarusian Orthodox Church	Babruysk and Bykhaw Brest and Kobryn Gomel and Zhlobin Grodno and Vawkavysk Minsk and Slutsk Mogilev and Mstsislaw Novogrudok and Lida Pinsk and Luninets Polotsk and Hlybokaye Turaw and Mazyr Vitebsk and Orsha

Kazakhstani Metropolitan District	Astana and Almaty Karaganda and Shakhtinsk Kostanay and Petropavl Pavlodar and Oskemen Oral and Atyrau Shymkent and Akmola

Middle Asian Metropolitan District	Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan Dushanbe and Tajikistan Tashkent and Uzbekistan Patriarch's Parishes in Turkmenistan

Patriarchial Parishes	Canada Finland Italy United States