Religions
The state religion of the Russian Empire was that of the Russian Orthodox Christianity. Its head was the tsar, who held the title of supreme defender of the Church. Although he made and annulled all appointments, he did not determine the questions of dogma or church teaching. The principal ecclesiastical authority was the Holy Synod, the head of which, the Over Procurator of the Holy Synod, was one of the council of ministers and exercised very wide powers in ecclesiastical matters. All religions were freely professed, except that certain restrictions were laid upon the Jews. According to returns published in 1905, based on the Russian Empire Census of 1897, adherents of the different religious communities in the whole of the Russian empire numbered approximately as follows.
| Religion | Count of believers |
|---|---|
| Russian Orthodox | 87,123,604 |
| Muslims | 13,906,972 |
| Roman Catholics | 11,467,994 |
| Jews | 5,215,805 |
| Lutherans | 3,572,653 |
| Old Believers | 2,204,596 |
| Armenian Apostolics | 1,179,241 |
| Buddhists and Lamaists | 433,863 |
| Other non-Christian religions | 285,321 |
| Reformed | 85,400 |
| Mennonites | 66,564 |
| Armenian Catholics | 38,840 |
| Baptists | 38,139 |
| Karaite Jews | 12,894 |
| Anglicans | 4,183 |
| Other Christian religions | 3,952 |
The ecclesiastical heads of the national Russian Orthodox Church consisted of three metropolitans (Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev), fourteen archbishops and fifty bishops, all drawn from the ranks of the monastic (celibate) clergy. The parochial clergy had to be married when appointed, but if left widowers were not allowed to marry again; this rule continues to apply today.
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