Liberalization of the state religious policy in the Russian empire in 1904 and 1905 and its aftermath for the orthodox dioceses of Riga and Finland

The article deals with the reforms in the religious field in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, first of all the “Decree on consolidation of the religious toleration”, dated April 17, 1905. These reforms were aimed at liberalization of the religious legislation and extension of the rights of the nonOrthodox believers. Among others, conversions from Orthodoxy to other Christian confessions were legalized. In the Baltic region and Finland, where the Orthodox believers were a minority among the non-Orthodox population, it was fraught with mass outflow of the parishioners. The administration and the clergy of the dioceses manages, nevertheless, to avoid such course of events and to keep the core of the Orthodox parishioners under their influence.