Volos Declaration Explained

A Declaration on the "Russian World" Teaching, also known as the Volos Declaration, is a 2022 theological statement issued by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and signed by more than 1600 theologians and clerics of the Eastern Orthodox Church in opposition to Russian Orthodox teachings following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] [2] [3] [4]

The statement, published on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, discusses and condemns as a heresy the ideology promoted by the Moscow Patriarchate since the end of the USSR and particularly since Vladimir Putin's rise to power,[5] [6] that of the "Russian world".[7] [8]

Background

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 misguided Orthodox theology, extreme nationalism and a revanchist feeling vis-à-vis the old territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (USSR) developed mainly since the accession to power of Vladimir Putin. With the enthronement of Kirill (Gundyayev) as Patriarch of Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church became a transmission belt for this idea in all sections of Russian society.[11] [12] [13]

This ideology sees a transnational space seeking to justify a fantasized civilizational unity based on references from the Kievan Rus', the unity of Orthodox Christianity, the use of the Russian language whose center would be Moscow, perceived as the Third Rome.[14]

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 the Orthodox world in general.[15] [16]

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the situation became increasingly untenable and tense within the Eastern Orthodox Church; about 1,600 theologians and clerics, including many Russians,[17] participated in this document condemning the Russian moves within the Church and the "heresies" of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Contents

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 gives scriptural background and quotes sacred tradition to argue that orthodoxy does not accept the "shameful" actions carried out by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill's leadership.

They link this "heresy" with a certain type of ethno-phyletism.

Signatories

The document was signed by Eastern Orthodox theologians and clerics from Greece, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Czech Republic, US, Lebanon, Germany, Belgium, from Canada, as well as some theologians from India and Serbia. A few hundred signatories are members of the Russian Orthodox Church, or from Russian Orthodox tradition, in particular theologians from Saint Vladimir's Seminary in New York City or the Lossky family in France.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: . 13 March 2022 . A Declaration on the "Russian World" (Russkii mir) Teaching . 2023-01-23 . Public Orthodoxy . en-US . 4 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221204125150/https://publicorthodoxy.org/2022/03/13/a-declaration-on-the-russian-world-russkii-mir-teaching/ . live .
  2. Web site: UHundreds of experts sign declaration denouncing religious ideology driving Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine . 2023-01-23 . www.exeter.ac.uk . en . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123111313/https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_904973_en.html . dead .
  3. News: Pullella . Philip . 14 March 2022 . Analysis: Ukraine invasion splits Orthodox Church, isolates Russian patriarch . en . Reuters . 2023-01-23 . 18 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220318055800/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-invasion-splits-orthodox-church-isolates-russian-patriarch-2022-03-14/ . live .
  4. Web site: Ecumenism as victim of war: Scholars condemn position of Moscow patriarch . 2023-01-23 . Crux . 15 March 2022 . en . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123130313/https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2022/03/ecumenism-as-victim-of-war-scholars-condemn-position-of-moscow-patriarch . live .
  5. Web site: М. Н. Тихомиров. Список русских городов дальних и ближних . 2023-01-23 . litopys.org.ua . 11 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130511215044/http://litopys.org.ua/rizne/spysok/spys04.htm . live .
  6. News: "Русский мир", бессмысленный и беспощадный . 2023-01-23 . Радио Свобода . 18 February 2015 . ru . Абаринов . Владимир . Сидорова . Галина . 7 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220707194750/https://www.svoboda.org/a/26855650.html . live .
  7. Web site: Russia's Orthodox Soft Power . 2023-01-23 . www.carnegiecouncil.org . en-US . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123130947/https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/article/russias-orthodox-soft-power . live .
  8. Web site: Heneghan . Gabriela Baczynska and Tom . The Russian Orthodox Church Acts As Putin's 'Soft Power' In Ukraine . 2023-01-23 . Business Insider . en-US . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123214217/https://www.businessinsider.com/r-how-the-russian-orthodox-church-answers-putins-prayers-in-ukraine-2014-10 . live .
  9. Web site: Русский архипелаг – Русский Мир: восстановление контекста . 2023-01-23 . archipelag.ru . 26 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221126120159/https://archipelag.ru/ru_mir/history/history01/shedrovitsky-russmir/ . live .
  10. Book: Fati︠u︡shchenko . Valentin Ivanovich . Russkiĭ mir v kontekste mirovykh t︠s︡ivilizat︠s︡iĭ : kurs lekt︠s︡iĭ . Фатющенко . Валентин Иванович . 2009 . Gnozis . Moskovskiĭ gosudarstvennyĭ universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova. Fakulʹtet inostrannykh i︠a︡zykov i regionovedenii︠a︡., Московский государственный университет им. М.В. Ломоносова. Факультет иностранных языков и регионоведения. . 978-5-94244-026-8 . Moskva . 462785232.
  11. News: The new Russian cult of war . The Economist . 2023-01-23 . 0013-0613 . 31 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230831064921/https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/03/26/the-new-russian-cult-of-war . live .
  12. Web site: Service . Meagan Saliashvili-Religion News . Orthodox Debate Ethnocentric Churches Amid Russia-Ukraine War . 2023-01-23 . News & Reporting . 17 January 2023 . en . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123211211/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/january/ethnophyletism-orthodox-church-russia-ukraine-africa-iota.html . live .
  13. Web site: Ashenden . Robin . 26 December 2022 . Putin's unholy alliance and the sins of the Russian Orthodox church . 2023-01-23 . The Spectator . en-US . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123211212/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/putins-unholy-alliance-and-the-sins-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/ . live .
  14. Book: Stoeckl, Kristina . Russian Orthodoxy and Secularism . 2020 . 978-90-04-44015-9 . Leiden . 1266679755.
  15. Book: Imbert, Nicolas . Vers la construction d'un partenariat entre l'Eglise et l'Etat en Russie post-soviétique ? . Aix Marseille Université – Institut d'études politiques . 2019 . Science-Po – Aix . fr.
  16. Imbert . Nicolas . 13 December 2022 . Ambiguïté et multi-vocalité des relations entre l'église et l'état: En contexte postsoviétique . Revue d'études comparatives Est-Ouest . 1–2 . 1 . 207–215 . 10.3917/receo1.531.0207 . 255644808 . 0338-0599 . 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. . 23 January 2023 . 23 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123214438/https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-etudes-comparatives-est-ouest-2022-1-page-207.htm?ref=doi . live .
  17. Web site: Panagiotis . A Declaration on the "Russian World" (Russkii mir) Teaching . 2023-01-24 . Ακαδημία Θεολογικών Σπουδών Βόλου . en-GB . 2 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230202021635/https://www.acadimia.org/en/news-announcements/press/963-a-declaration-on-the-russian-world-russkii-mir-teaching . live .

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