Khristianstvo na blizhnem Vostoke

4-23

Authors: Hegumen Nikon (Denis S. Golovko)

The article explores two of the main land properties of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hebron (Palestine) – the so-called “Christian Ruins” and the compound of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in honor of the Holy Forefathers with the Oak of Mamre – in their church-archaeological, historical and legal aspects. The topic of Russian possessions in the Holy Land, in the territory of three states – Israel, Palestine and Jordan – is gaining new relevance today thanks to the continued publication of previously unreleased archival materials from the collections of the Russian State Historical Archive and the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, as well as the unpublished property corpus of the Archive of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Moscow Patriarchate. Materials from these collections, among them the little-known letters of the founder of the Russian Palestine Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin, have served as the basis for this study. The article explores the motives for the purchasing and the dramatic details connected to the initial registration of property rights on these lands by Archimandrite Antonin and his associates, describes the results of archaeological research conducted there in the second half of the 20th century, as well as the facts of recent history connected to the recognition of legal status of the Russian property in Hebron.

37-46

Authors: Yaroslav V. Sovgira

The beginning of 2020 was marked by the growth of interest to one of the most important stories of persecution of Syrian Christians – abduction of the metropolitans of Aleppo. The source was the publication of the journalist investigation of Mansur Salib. This article is intended to clarify the problem. Thus, we introduce the biographical facts about metropolitan of Aleppo Paul (Yazigi) (Orthodox Church of Antioch) and Gregorius Yohanna (Ibrahim) (Syrian Jacobite (or Syrian Orthodox) Church), which allow to understand the scale and the significance of their persons. In the article, we present brief overview of the situation on Christians in Syria in 2011–2013, especially in context of the facts of abductions and murders of the clergy. In conclusion, the results of a study of the possible motives of the abductors and the perpetrators of the abduction are presented.

55-73

Authors: Hilarion (Dani) Bechara

The Patriarch of Antioch Gregory IV (Haddad) played an important role in achieving harmony between different sectors of society. At that time, there was an urgent need for this, since everyone in the East was mixed: Christians and Muslims, Ottomans and Europeans, crusaders and defenders, angry and embittered, politicians and peasants. As a result of this, principles were lost and people became hardened, trying to achieve their interests on the one hand, and to get a piece of bread on the other. Love and good relations – that is what Patriarch Gregory achieved between the sons of this era, and our grandfathers, who were his contemporaries in his last days in Lebanon and Damascus, testified to this. However, the patriarch remembered the events that took place with the Apostles, when people in Antioch were first called Christians, and therefore he guarded this truth with all his faith, so that no one would later say that the Christians themselves left Antioch.