Legal dispute in NewYork State Courts for Ownership of St. Nicholas Cathedral in NewYork as stated in the GA RF documents (1950–1960)

Abstract

The article presents some interesting facts about the history of the Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate in the United States of America. Much attention is given to the trial connected with the possession and use of St Nicholas Cathedral, which lasted for more than 10 years. The author discusses the positions taken in this law suit by the Russian Orthodox Church and the religious figures, the Soviet authorities and the Russian emigration, the American officials and the civil society, the judges and lawyers, etc. It is noted that the trial has remained the focus of world public and media for many years. The author pays special attention to the materials of the legal dispute not previously published and, first of all, to the materials from the Fund of the Council for Religious Affairs (F – P6991) of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, as well as to the materials from the US Reference Fund (F – 129) of the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation. The paper also presents a detailed analysis of the American interpretation of the laws defining the relations between the religious organizations and the civil authorities of the United States of America.