The thesis summarizes the charitable work of the Russian Orthodox Church in Volyn in the conditions of the policy of the tsarist autocracy. It was proved that the policy of tsarism, which was determined by the orders of the Synod and diocesan authorities, gave rise to charity. These features were manifested in the fact that the church's money and efforts were directed, first of all, to building their own institutions (building of churches, missionary and / or church fraternities as means of reverence and russification of the local population), and the social aspect of charity was not prioritized.
It was substantiated that the activity of monasteries and clergy in the implementation of charity actions in most cases were motivated not by moral and ethical factors, but by orders of the Synod. The morality and financial situation of the majority of the clergy were not the main determinants of charity. Later, there were private initiatives of charity, the nature of the charity of the institution of the clergy is defined as voluntary and compulsory. The peculiarity of the charity of the Orthodox monasteries is that it is significantly inferior to the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the charitable activity of the Basilian monasteries.
Much attention is paid to the issues of financial and material provision of educational institutions of the spiritual department. It was investigated that the support of the students of the Volyn Seminary, students and students of religious schools was carried out by means of the state, churches, guardian societies and private charity actions. Despite the fact that the church owned large capital, some students and pupils suffered from poverty. Despite the fact that primary education in the system of church parish schools was under the custody of the clergy, its support from churches and monasteries was only 1%.
The social aspect of charity was provided by monasteries, church fraternities, and parish churches, which held small shelters for the impoverished, elderly and orphans and provided ambulatory care to patients in general. In separate monastery shelters, children did not receive appropriate help, were in unacceptable sanitary conditions. At the beginning of the XX century the medical aid of the church to the sick was 0.5%.
Separate representatives of the clergy joined the research, regional studies and memorial work. In view of the fact that their initiatives remained free, in the dissertation this type of activity of the clergy is regarded as a manifestation of charity. The position of the higher hierarchy in this area of charity was ambiguous. On the one hand, the bishops financially supported the scientific institutions, primarily the Volyn Church and Archaeological Society, but on the other hand, in comparison with their weighty assets, the funds made by them were insignificant. The analysis of the directions, scope and charity content of the Russian Orthodox Church in Volyn during the period studied suggests that its charitable activity was of a formal nature in solving social issues and was directed, in terms of financial and material assistance, mainly to strengthen institutional positions in the province.
