The ethnic and social composition of the church activists of the Chisinau-Moldavian diocese in the second half of the 1940s-early 1950s (a case study of parishes in regional centers) br

The article examines the ethnic and social identity of lay believers, representatives of the so-called church activists - church "twenties", church councils, and audit commissions. Based on the lists of church "twenties", records of members of parish councils and parish audit commissions, the author identifies 508 parish activists, which provides an objective picture of the ethnic and social composition of this Moldovan social stratum that supported the Orthodox Church in the region. The national composition of the urban and rural parish communities of Moldavian USSR corresponded to the historically established multiethnic structure of society. The church's activists were Moldovans (57.3%), Russians (20.6%), Ukrainians (20.8%), single representatives of the Gagauz, Hungarians, and Poles. The participants of parish religious bodies represented the main categories of the population of the republic (peasants, workers, employees, clergy), with a predominance of people from peasant backgrounds (69.5%). The majority of church activists were mature (36.3%) and elderly (36.5%) people, with rich life experience and an established worldview. The vast majority of the members of these bodies were men (75%). The overwhelming majority of church activists were literate people (89.9%), but their level of education cannot be called high (illiterates and those with primary education (grades 1-2) accounted for 79%)), which confirms the thesis of Soviet researchers about the inverse relationship between the level of education and religiosity among believers.