The article considers the activity of the second Irkutsk diocesan bishop-Bishop Innokenty (Nerunovich), who headed the diocese in 1733–1747, which received various assessments. It is proved that the initial aspirations of the bishop, characterized by the draft program for the Christianization of the indigenous population of Eastern Siberia, remained largely unfulfilled, including due to conflicts with the local secular authorities. Denounced by the highest church authority, Bishop Innokenty failed or did not want to understand and accept the specifics of Siberian identification, which represents a polyphony of multilingual and diverse peoples, alien norms and traditions of Christianity, the bishop's unwillingness to compromise, disregard for the realities of Siberian reality, and harsh measures against representatives of merchants and clergy led to isolation in local society. It is concluded that the drama of Nerunovich consisted in his unconditional affirmation of traditional Orthodoxy, without taking into account the surrounding mentality, and made the mission of spiritual care and guidance of the East Siberian flock impossible. Along with this, the bishop's work on the Christianization of the non-Russian population left a mark on the history of Siberian Orthodoxy.

Yurganova Inna Igorevna, Doctor of Sciences (History), Leading Researcher Fellow, Institute of Russian History RAS, 19, Dmitry Ulyanov st., Moscow, 143080, Russian Federation, е-mail: inna.yurganova@mail.ru

Yurganova I.I. Bishop Innokenty (Nerunovich): Mission Impossible…. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series History, 2021, vol. 36, pp. 4-14. https://doi.org/10.26516/2222-9124.2021.36.4 (in Russian)

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