GALLITZIN, ALESSANDRO NIKOLAJEVIC

GALLITZIN, ALESSANDRO NIKOLAJEVIC. - B. on 20 Dec. 1773, d. in Crimea on 4 Dec. 1844, he was one of the principal advisers of Tsar Alessandro I. In 1806 the latter appointed G., who was moreover indifferent in matters of religion, chief procurator of the Holy Synod. G. then underwent a kind of conversion in a Protestant sense, arriving at a colourless faith in the Bible. He founded the Russian Bible Society, in which adherents of all Christian denominations took part. After Pio VII refused to associate himself with the « Holy Alliance », G. was appointed head of the so-called « Double Ministry », entrusted by the State with all matters concerning the worship of all religions. At that time the reconciliation of all the Churches in a single divine worship was envisioned. G. is a precursor of present-day ecumenism. Shortly before the death of Alessandro I, G. lost all his influence.