Cathedral of the Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church: participants, photo

On February 2 and 3, in Moscow, the next Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church was held. He was an important event in the religious life of the country. But before dwelling on those issues that were to be considered, it makes sense to clarify what this body of ecclesiastical authority is and what its history is.

Successors of the Holy Apostles

The practice of convening church councils dates back to the New Testament times, when in 49 (according to other sources in 51) in Jerusalem a cathedral was held, at which the apostles discussed the most important question - is circumcision necessary for the acquisition of eternal life. It was on him that a decree was issued that exempts all baptized people from having to fulfill most of the Jewish laws and the rituals prescribed by them.

In subsequent years, the church councils were included in the ubiquitous practice and were regularly convened. At the same time, they were divided into two categories - Local, that is, conducted within the framework of one local church, and Ecumenical ones, one name of which says that representatives of churches of the whole Christian world took part in it.

Features of Local Cathedrals

In the history of the church, the cathedrals of past times have come mainly from the names of the cities in which they were held, the local churches that have become their organizers, the states in whose territory they were convened, and also the religious faiths who decided their questions on them.

Representatives of not only a wide circle of clergy - from bishops to clerics of the lower levels, but also deputation of the laity residing in these territories participated in the work of Local Councils. They discussed various issues related not only to the doctrine, but also to the organization of church life, as well as its management.

Forums of the Higher Clergy

Unlike them, the members of the Bishops' Council are exclusively bishops, called to make decisions on the most important issues within the church. It is important to note that the separation of church councils into the Local and Bishops was established only in the synodal period. Previously, all the main decisions related to the life of the church were solely received by its primate.

Today the Council of Bishops is the supreme governing body of both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate. His status was determined by the decisions of the Local Council, held in 1945. Then came the term, which became his designation.

Previous Cathedral of the Archpastors

The meeting of the archpastors, which took place in February this year in Moscow, was preceded by only one cathedral (Bishops), held in 1961 in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. An interesting detail - none of its participants was warned in advance that they will have to participate in such a representative forum. All then received only invitations to celebrate the memory of its founder and already on arrival learned about the true goal of the call. This Council (Bishops') of 1961 was held at the height of Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign, and such conspiracy was by no means superfluous.

The recently completed cathedral

So, the current Bishops' Council of the ROC is the second in a row. Its beginning was preceded by the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, performed by Archpriest Michael (Ryazantsev). All the delegates who came to this largest church forum in recent years from all parts of the country and from abroad took part in it together with Patriarch Kirill.

As can be seen from his published documents, as well as from the speeches of the participants of the press conference organized after the completion of the work, the main issue was the preparation for the All-Orthodox (Ecumenical) Council scheduled for the near future, the place of which was to become the island of Crete.

The participants of the cathedral and its presidium

The composition of the Bishops' Council was very numerous. Suffice it to say that it included three hundred and fifty-four archpastors, representing the two hundred and ninety-three currently existing dioceses united around the Moscow Patriarchate. In accordance with the current church Charter, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill presided over him. He also made a report on the first day of the work of the cathedral, in which he highlighted the main issues of life and activities of the Russian church.

On the basis of the requirements of the Charter, all the permanent members of the Holy Synod were also members of the Presidium. Even long before the consecrated Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church began to work, in view of the importance of the issues brought to its consideration, several representatives of the autonomous sections of the Moscow Patriarchate, including the Metropolitans of New York, East-American, Latvian and A number of others.

Speech of the head of the Ukrainian Church

With great interest was heard the report of Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Onuphrius, who told the audience about the situation in which the church headed by him is today. Particular attention to his speech was caused by the difficult political situation that has developed in Ukraine today, and forced confrontation with the existing self-proclaimed church there.

The head of the Ukrainian Church (MP) spoke about the peacekeeping role that the church entrusted to him has undertaken today. Her pastors and archpastors are doing their utmost to stop enmity in a country where members of the same parish are sometimes enemies and, being blind executors of another's political will, plunge the country into chaos and bloodshed.

The speaker also expressed his deep gratitude to the church and secular authorities of Russia, who organized the delivery of humanitarian aid to the areas most affected by internecine conflicts, and expressed the hope that the current council (the Bishops' Council) would make a tangible contribution to the establishment of peace in Ukraine.

Problems associated with the preparation for the Ecumenical Council

One of the main subjects of the discussions that took place during the meetings was the forthcoming Ecumenical Council, with which there are a lot of problems of a very different nature, including those engendered by groundless rumors that arose on the basis of low religious awareness of citizens and associated with this superstition.

For example, it is spreading lies that, according to this eighth, according to the Ecumenical Council, there is a prophecy according to which it must become an antichrist and that a union with the Catholic church will be concluded on it, postages are abolished, repeated marriages of the white clergy are legalized and adopted Still many decrees harmful to true Orthodoxy.

In connection with this, Metropolitan Illarion, who holds the post of chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, said that throughout his last few months, his office received numerous letters from citizens calling on the Moscow delegation to refuse to participate in this unholy, in their opinion, event. And a few days before the current cathedral (the Bishops' Council) began its work, their number has multiplied many times.

The role of the cathedral in defending the interests of the Russian church

But there were also more serious issues that required their solution. One of them was the intention of the organizers of the Ecumenical Council to impose on all its participants the execution of decisions adopted by a majority vote. Such a statement of the question concealed a clear danger in itself. If, for example, the majority of delegations voted for the universal transition to a new church calendar, then everyone, including the Russian church, should obey this.

However, thanks to the perseverance and consistency of representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate, it was possible to achieve that the decisions of the council will be effective only if all the delegations without exception vote for them. In case if there is at least one vote against, then this decision will not be effective.

And there were many such questions. Those of them who have not yet found their solution, and, according to the speaker, they are many, were subject to detailed discussion, which was dedicated to the past Bishops' Council. The photos presented in the article help to present the business working environment in which its meetings were held.

Other issues considered during the cathedral

Among other issues included in the agenda of the council's work was the canonization of Archbishop Seraphim, still ranked among the saints, widely revered in Russia and Bulgaria. For his glorification, all delegates gave their votes unanimously. In addition, Metropolitan Krutitsky and Kolomna Yuvenaly (Poyarkov) read out a report on activities to perpetuate the memory of martyrs and confessors of Russia, who became victims of terror, deployed during the struggle against the church.

With particular attention the delegates of the cathedral listened to the report of VR Legoeda, who heads the Synodal Department for relations with society and the media, about the tasks that the church faces today in connection with its presence in social networks. The speaker emphasized the importance of this way of communicating with the broadest circle of both believing people and those who have not yet found their place in religious life. In particular, he dwelled in detail on individual projects, which are being prepared for implementation in the near future.

The next convocation of the Bishops' Council, according to the Church's Charter, should follow no later than 2020.