Nicholas Tolstoy (20 February 1867 – 4 February 1938) was the first

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

priest to solicit a union with

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1893. Tolstoy is best known for his inauguration of a small

Russian Catholic The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Historically, it represents both a movem ...

community, and was responsible for its development.

Early life and education

Father Tolstoy was born into a branch of the aristocratic

Tolstoy family The House of Tolstoy, or Tolstoi (), is a family of Russian gentry that acceded to the Russian nobility, high aristocracy of the Russian Empire. The name ''Tolstoy'' is itself derived from the Russian adjective ( ). They are the descendants of ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He attended the

Page Corps The Page Corps (; ) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprudence prepared boys for civil service. The present-day equiva ...

military academy, and served in the Sofia Regiment after graduating. Soon after, he entered the Moscow Theological Academy and studied the writings of the Fathers of the Church in Russian and "Summa Theologica" by Saint

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

in Latin. In his time at the academy, Tolstoy met philosopher Vladimir Solovyov and the crypto-catholic Elizabeth Volkonskaya, and was impressed by the penetration of Protestant views in the teaching of Orthodox theology. In 1890 Tolstoy was ordained an Orthodox priest, and in the following year took a trip to the Middle East to become familiar with the traditions and customs of the Middle Eastern Christians. After the return of the French ''abbé'' Vivian of Saint Louis Church in Moscow, the ''abbé'' Vivian introduced Tolstoy to Italian cardinal

Vincenzo Vannutelli Vincenzo Vannutelli (5 December 1836 – 9 July 1930) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He spent his career in the foreign service of the Holy See and was made a cardinal in 1890. At his death he was the oldest member of the Coll ...

, who after talking with Tolstoy told him that with his views, he can consider himself a Catholic while staying in the home of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tolstoy traveled around the world, taking with him marching corporal and remembering in the cities of following local bishops. In Vienna, Tolstoy first visited the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

and met with Metropolitan Sylvester Sembratovich. After returning to Moscow, Tolstoy wrote his thesis on the Eucharist under the leadership of Alexey Lebedev. In 1893 he graduated with honors from the Theological Academy, and formally joined the Catholic Church in November 1894."Biography of Father Nikolay Tolstoy". https://biographies.library.nd.edu/catalog/biography-0652

Religious Work and Conflict

In Moscow, Tolstoy spoke with Russian Orthodox archpriest

John of Kronstadt John of Kronstadt or John Iliytch Sergieff (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ; 1829 – ) was a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Archpriest#In Byzantine Christianity, archpriest and a member of the Most ...

on his Catholic views. Despite being aware of his dissimilar views, the

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

took no action against Tolstoy. After the funeral of Emperor Alexander III, Tolstoy was summoned to the reception and showed Procurator of the Holy Synod, Vladimir Karlovich Sabler, the latest issue of the Catholic journal "Revue Bénédictine", which was published by his private letters to Father Vanutelli.

Renunciation

Under the threat of repression and confiscation, Tolstoy was demanded renunciation of dignity. Tolstoy went to Rome, where he met with many of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, including

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, and engaged in a service of the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. Russian ambassador

Alexander Izvolsky Count Alexander Petrovich Izvolsky or Iswolsky (, in Moscow – 16 August 1919 in Paris) was a Russian diplomat remembered as a major architect of Russia's alliance with Great Britain during the years leading to the outbreak of the First Worl ...

called to ban Tolstoy and deliver him to the Russian authorities, however, the Pope refused to meet these demands. After deciding that Nicholas resigned to his emigration, Izvolsky told the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

that Russia will not pursue disqualifying him by the Synod of dignity of a priest. On 22 April 1895 Tolstoy was able to return to Moscow. Russian Latins were unhappy with his return, and especially his service at what they considered to be the "schismatic" ceremony.

Return to Moscow

Following his return to Moscow, Tolstoy created a small house church and served the Russian liturgy with the commemoration of the Pope. The patience of the Synod died out when Tolstoy attached to the Catholic Church by the Byzantine rite of Vladimir Solovyov in Lent of 1896, and Cardinal Rampolla sent him to the Augustinian monastery in Paris. After the coronation of

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

, a manifesto which forgave illegal travel from Russia was issued, and Tolstoy left for Copenhagen, from where he traveled to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Tolstoy returned to Moscow, where he then met his wife and met with the governor. The governor authorized Tolstoy's stay in Moscow with his family for two days, then ordered him and his family to go to live in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

. Tolstoy was then arrested and escorted by train to Nizhny Novgorod. In

Sergiev Posad Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Сергиев Посад, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a city that is the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: The city contains the Trinity Lavra of St. Serg ...

, Tolstoy was granted permission to settle in the suburbs. Tolstoy was deprived of inheriting his family's estate, and under public pressure, his wife developed it while Tolstoy worked in the Gethsemane monastery.

Arrest and Death

After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

(1917-1923), Tolstoy worked as a priest in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, then in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

until 1928. On 12 December 1937 he was arrested in Kiev. On 25 January 1938, by order of the Special Meeting of the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

, Tolstoy was sentenced to be shot under Articles 52-2 and 54-6 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR. Tolstoy was shot and killed on 4 February 1938, at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolstoy, Nicholas Russian Greek-Catholics Former Russian Orthodox Christians Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy 1938 deaths 1867 births Clergy from Saint Petersburg

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...