Karasuk Diocese: history of education and current state

The occupation of the patriarchal throne by Metropolitan Kirill brought many changes to the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, which had been settled before. Among other things, the administrative management system was subjected to reforms. This mainly affected the fragmentation of the dioceses and their further merger into the metropolitan districts. One of such newly formed episcopal departments was the Karasuk Diocese.

The formation of episcopacy

The decision to form a separate diocese with a center in the city of Karasuk was taken at a meeting of the Holy Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on December 28, Under the omophorion of the new department, temples and parishes from nine districts of the Novosibirsk Region, which had previously belonged to the diocese of the city of Novosibirsk, were to enter. The title of the new bishop was defined as "Karasuk and Ordynsky," and one of the monastic priests of Novosibirsk, Hegumen Philip (Novikov), was elected to this pulpit.

Ordination of Hegumen Philip to the bishop of Karasuk and Ordynsky

The bishop's consecration of Father Philip's protege, erected just before the Archimandrite, took place on March 11, 2012 in the walls of the Intercession Church of the Hotkovo Stauropegial Convent, which is located not far from Sergiev Posad. It was the second week of Lent, the day of the commemoration of St Gregory Palamas. The divine service was headed by Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Cyril (Gundyaev).

Church organization

The first working meeting of the diocesan clergy took place on April 2, 2012. It was decided that the Karasuk and Ordinsky diocese will be divided into two deaneries (Central and Eastern). All administrative, ecclesiastical and public activities were then distributed to ten specialized departments. Among them there is a department engaged in missionary activity within the borders of the diocese, there is a department in whose jurisdiction is lobbying the interests of Orthodox believers in the field of education. A special unit is the ministry of help and preaching among prisoners of convicts. There are also departments through which the Karasuk Eparchy communicates the church with the armed and law enforcement bodies. In addition, a special sub-department has been established to interact with medical institutions. Above all, the diocese of Karasuka takes part in charitable and social activities aimed at helping people in need. Together with the formation of these bodies in the territory occupied by the Karasuk diocese, missionary activity, prison service, catechism activities and other church initiatives have significantly increased. Some of them are held with the support or even direct participation of public authorities.

The modern state of the diocese

Today the Karasuk diocese has about forty temples, chapels and prayer houses. Also in her charge are two monasteries, and the number of staff clergy is about one and a half dozen priests. In April 2012, the newspaper "Our Diocese" began to appear, which is also managed by the Orthodox Diocese of Karasuk. At the moment this is the only printed organ in charge of this department. It is intended for the review of church life, the publication of official documents, interviews with various church and secular figures, the sermons of clergymen, the description of holidays and festive events, congratulations and similar material. The newspaper comes out irregularly, about once every three months. But in the future it is planned to increase the frequency of publication.