GALLITZIN, ALESSANDRO NIKOLAJEVIC

ALESSANDRO NIKOLAJEVIC GALLITZIN. — Born circa 1773, died in the Crimea circa 1844, he was one of the principal advisers of Tsar Alexander I. In 1806 the latter, despite Gallitzin’s indifference to religion, appointed him Procurator of the Most Holy Synod. Gallitzin then underwent a kind of Protestantizing conversion, arriving at a colourless faith in the Bible. He founded the Russian Bible Society, which included members of all Christian confessions. After Pius VII refused to join the “Holy Alliance,” Gallitzin was made head of the so-called “Double Ministry,” entrusted by the State with all matters pertaining to the worship of all religions. He then dreamed of reconciling all Churches into a single divine cult. Gallitzin is a precursor of present-day ecumenism. Shortly before Alexander I’s death, Gallitzin lost all his influence.