A Declaration on the "Russian World" Teaching,[a] also known as theVolos Declaration, is a 2022 theological statement issued by theVolos Academy for Theological Studies and signed by more than 1600 theologians and clerics of theEastern Orthodox Church in opposition toRussian Orthodox Church's teachings following theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2][3][4]
The statement, published on theSunday of Orthodoxy, March 13, 2022, discusses and condemns as aheresy the ideology promoted by theMoscow Patriarchate since the end of theUSSR and particularly sinceVladimir Putin's rise to power,[5][6] that of the "Russian world".[7][8]
According to most researchers, the concept of the "Russian world" was introduced into modern scientific and political circulation in 1993–1997 by P. G. Shchedrovitsky and E. V. Ostrovsky.[9][10] This ideology, mixing misguidedOrthodox theology, extremenationalism and arevanchist feeling vis-à-vis the old territories of theRussian Empire and theSoviet Union (USSR) developed mainly since the accession to power ofVladimir Putin. With the enthronement ofKirill (Gundyayev) asPatriarch of Moscow, theRussian Orthodox Church became a transmission belt for this idea in all sections ofRussian society.[11][12][13]
This ideology sees a transnational space seeking to justify a fantasized civilizational unity based on references from theKievan Rus', the unity of Orthodox Christianity, the use of the Russian language whose center would be Moscow, perceived as theThird Rome.[7][14][15]
Since the end of the USSR, the Russian Orthodox Church has increasingly engaged in initiatives to establish its ecclesiastical authority on what it perceived to be its traditional preserve, while trying to spread its influence over theOrthodox world in general.[14][15][16]
With theRussian invasion of Ukraine, the situation became increasingly untenable and tense within the Eastern Orthodox Church; about 1,600 theologians andclerics, including manyRussians,[17] participated in this document condemning the Russian moves within the Church and the "heresies" of theRussian Orthodox Church.[1][2][17]
The document consists of two parts, the first is an introductory note which condemns the "heresy" of the Russian World concept. The second part of the document givesscriptural background and quotessacred tradition to argue thatorthodoxy does not accept the "shameful" actions carried out by theRussian government and the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill's leadership.[1][17]
They link this "heresy" with a certain type ofethno-phyletism.[17]
Since the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill in 2009, the leading figures of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as spokespersons of the Russian State, have continually drawn on these principles to thwart the theological basis of Orthodox unity. The principle of the ethnic organization of the Church was condemned at theCouncil of Constantinople in 1872. The false teaching of ethno-phyletism is the basis for "Russian world" ideology. If we hold such false principles as valid, then the Orthodox Church ceases to be the Church of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Ecumenical Councils, and the Fathers of the Church. Unity becomes intrinsically impossible.
Therefore, we reject the "Russian world" heresy and the shameful actions of the Government of Russia in unleashing war against Ukraine which flows from this vile and indefensible teaching with the connivance of the Russian Orthodox Church, as profoundly un-Orthodox, un-Christian and against humanity, which is called to be "justified… illumined… and washed in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God" (Baptismal Rite). Just as Russia has invaded Ukraine, so too the Moscow Patriarchate of Patriarch Kirill has invaded the Orthodox Church, for example in Africa, causing division and strife, with untold casualties not just to the body but to the soul, endangering the salvation of the faithful.
— Volos Declaration, A Declaration on the Russian World teaching
The document was signed by Eastern Orthodox theologians andclerics fromGreece, Russia, Georgia,Romania,Ukraine,Bulgaria, France,Czech Republic, US,Lebanon, Germany,Belgium, from Canada, as well as some theologians from India andSerbia.[17] A few hundred signatories are members of the Russian Orthodox Church, or from Russian Orthodox tradition, in particular theologians fromSaint Vladimir's Seminary in New York City or theLossky family in France.[17]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Dans ce contexte, l'auteure évoque « une symphonie des vues » entre l'Église et l'État en Russie. Cette symphonie se retrouve dans la diffusion de l'idée du « monde russe » (russkij mir), un projet idéologique visant à « renforcer la sphère de l'influence culturelle russe » à l'étranger (Alicja Curanovic, in Köllner, p. 205). L'adoption de ce discours est favorable à l'État russe car il lui assure la légitimation de son action politique à l'étranger en usant du pouvoir symbolique dont dispose l'Église; il l'est aussi à l'Église russe car il lui permet d'étendre son influence et, le cas échéant, de bénéficier des moyens diplomatiques de l'État russe.
