NIKON, Patriarch of Moscow. - In the world Nikita Minin, b. in 1605 in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, d. 17 Aug. 1681 near Yaroslavl.
His peasant origin and the mistreatment he suffered during childhood contributed to developing in N. a strong and harsh character. He became a priest (1625) in a rural parish, from which he moved in 1627 to Moscow. After the death of his children he withdrew to the hermitage on the island of Anzer in the White Sea and then to the Kozheozersky monastery in the province of Arkhangelsk, of which he became abbot in 1643. In 1646 N. was presented to Tsar Alexis, of whom he became the most influential adviser. In 1649 N. was appointed metropolitan of Novgorod and on 22 July 1652 patriarch of Moscow. N. proved himself a zealous pastor. He promoted the missions in Siberia and frequent preaching in the churches, demanding observance of ecclesiastical discipline. A lover of the splendor of worship, he wished to carry to completion the revision of the liturgical books begun by his predecessors. To this end he convened several synods and decided to reform the Russian liturgical texts and practice according to the liturgical books then used by the Greeks, also suppressing the numerous particular Russian customs consecrated by long and legitimate usage, which did not fail to arouse an ever stronger opposition from the conservatives led by Avvakum. N. claimed the full independence of the Church from the State; indeed he maintained the superiority of the patriarchal dignity over that of the Tsar in the manner of the papal dignity in the Roman-German Empire, and ended by assuming the title of Great Sovereign ("Velikij Gosudar") reserved to the Tsar. Alexis, during his frequent absences from Moscow, also entrusted the regency of the Empire to the patriarch. N., haughty and authoritarian, treated state and ecclesiastical dignitaries without regard, and this ended by creating many enemies for him and by alienating from him even the mind of the Tsar himself.
The open conflict broke out in 1658, and the Tsar ordered N. to lay down the title of Great Sovereign. N. withdrew to the Voskresensky monastery near Moscow. In 1666 the Synod of Moscow, in which the Eastern patriarchs took part, found N. guilty of arbitrary abandonment of the patriarchal see, of abuse of the title of Great Sovereign, of pride and of high-handedness, and deposed and degraded him. N. was then confined in the distant monastery of Ferapontov-Belozersky. In 1676 Tsar Alexis died without N. having been reconciled with him. Finally in 1681, by order of Tsar Theodore, N. was transferred to his beloved monastery of Voskresensky, but he passed away on 17 Aug., during the journey, near the city of Yaroslavl. By the will of the Tsar, N. was buried with pontifical honors, and in 1682, when the absolution of the Eastern patriarchs arrived posthumously, the name of N. was entered again on the list of the patriarchs of Moscow. The Synod of 1666-67 definitively approved the liturgical reform of the Russian Church, and the opponents of N.'s reform gave rise to the schism called "Raskol" (v.).
Bibliography5 works
Giuseppe Olš
(from Souvenir d'Egypte)