Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/399

 CHURCH AND EDUCATION. 363

the Pope, its prohibiting the celibacy of the clergy, and its autho- rising all individuals to read and study the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue. The prohibition of celibacy is carried to such an extent, that no priest can perform any spiritual function before he is married, nor after he becomes a widower; and as, by the rules of the Church, he is not allowed to remarry, the death of his wife occasions the cessation of his clerical functions. The priests may, however, on the death of their wives, enter into a convent, and enjoy the privilege of becoming eligible to be dignitaries of the Church. There are in Russia nearly 500 cathedrals and about 29,000 churches attached to the established faith, the latter employ- ing about 70,000 secular or parochial clergymen. There are also about 550 convents, of which 480 are for men and 70 for women. The clergy are either secular or regular — the former consisting of the parochial clergy, and the latter of the higher dignitaries, monks, and priests. The hierarchy is composed of bishops, archbishops, and metropolitans. There are in all 38 dioceses.

The Russian Church formerly possessed immense wealth, but it was partly confiscated by Peter I. and partly by Catherine II. The latter sovereign appropriated the whole movable property of the Church for the use of the State, assigning, in compensation, pensions to the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries. But, with the exception of a few benefices in Petersburg, Moscow, and other principal cities, the stipends of the clergy, even when increased by the offerings of the people, and by the fees on occasion of births, marriages, and funerals, are almost inadequate to provide for their subsistence. The total number of established clergy, of all ranks and orders, is stated at 254,000.

With the exception of the restraints laid on the Jews, who are not allowed to settle in Russia Proper, all religions may be freely professed in the empire. No member of the Russo-Greek Church is, however, permitted to renounce his creed ; and when a marriage takes place between one of its members and a person belonging to another faith, the children must all be brought up in the established church. Catholics are very numerous in the Polish provinces, Lutherans in those of the Baltic, and Mohammedans in Southern Russia. There are no official religious statistics, but, according to the most reliable estimates, the empire has 56,000,000 inhabitants professing the Orthodox faith ; 6,500,000 Roman Catho- lics ; and 4,000,000 Protestants, mostly Lutherans. The Jews are stated to amount to nearly 2,000,000, with the same number of Mohammedans.

The following table shows, after official returns, the number of Educational Establishments in European Russia, Siberia, and the Transcaucasus, in the year 1867 : —