In 1852, while in France, he joined the Catholic Church, following the conversion of his close university friend Julian Astromov.
[6] In 1861, Balabin visited Constantinople as part of an effort to create a Bulgarian Jesuit college.
[7] However, Balabin had less ambitious plans than Gagarin for a Jesuit presence in the East, writing "In his solicitude for the salvation of our brothers of the East, Gagarin has conceived of many projects for the seminary to be established at Jerusalem, in Syria, and we speak often; but these projects seem impractical.
"[7] In 1863, Gagarin, Martynov, and Balabin founded a journal, named Kirillo-Mefodievskii Sbornik, aimed at unifying the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches.
[7] The efforts of Balabin and other Jesuits to convert Russians to Roman Catholicism influenced the young Andrey Sheptytsky, later Metropolitan of Lviv.