The 1917–1918 Local Council of the Orthodox Church of Russia () was the first Local Council of the Russian Church since the end of the 17th century. It opened on 15 August 1917 ( O.S.) in the Assumption Cathedral of the

Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

. Its most important decision was to restore the

Patriarchate Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...

in the Russian Church, thereby ending a period of 300 years when the Russian Church was governed directly by the

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through the

Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (, pre-reform orthography: ) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriar ...

as a result of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

's ecclesiastical reforms.

Background and overview

The council's sessions were held from August 1917 until mid-September 1918, mainly in the Moscow Diocesan House in Likhov Lane in Moscow. The Council coincided with important events in Russian history such as the continuation of the war with

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the

Kornilov affair The Kornilov affair, or the Kornilov putsch, was an attempted military coup d'état by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, from 10 to 13 September 1917 ( O.S., 28–31 August), against the Russian Provisional Gov ...

in August 1917, the proclamation of the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

in Russia (1 September 1917), the fall of the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

and the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the dispersal of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, the publication of the

Decree on Separation of Church and State The Decree on Separation of Church from State and School from Church () is a legislation, legal act adopted by the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on . The decree came into force on of the same ...

and the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The Council acted in response to some of these events. The Bolsheviks, whose actions were directly condemned by the council (or personally by the Patriarch), did not put direct obstacles to the sessions of the council. The council, preparation for which had begun in the early 1900s, opened when antimonarchist sentiments both in society and in the Church were dominant. The Council comprised 564 members, including 227 from the bishops and clergymen, 299 from the laity. It was attended by the head of the Provisional Government,

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

, Interior Minister Avksentiev, representatives of the press and the diplomatic corps.

Restoration of Patriarchate

The first session of the council, which lasted from August 15 to 9 December 1917, was devoted to the reorganization of higher church management: restoration of the patriarchate, the election of the patriarch, the determination of his rights and duties, the institution of the cathedral authorities to work together with the Patriarch in management of church affairs, as well as discussion of the legal position of the Orthodox Church in Russia. The debate on the restoration of the Patriarchate was not a foregone conclusion at the beginning: opponents of the patriarchate pointed to the threat that it could pose to the conciliar nature of the Russian Church and even to the danger of absolutism in the Church; Professor Nikolai Kuznetsov believed that there was a real danger that the Holy Synod, as an executive authority acting in the period between the Councils, might turn into a simple advisory body under the Patriarch, and that that would also be a diminution of the rights of bishops members of the Synod. But the issue gained urgency right after the Bolsheviks seized power in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

on 25 October; and three days after, the debates were suspended and the decision to restore the Patriarchy in the ROC passed on 28 October (O.S.). On 5 November of the same year, after election as one of the three candidates for the reinstated Moscow Patriarchate, Tikhon Belavin, Metropolitan of Moscow, was selected after a drawing of lots as the new

Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...

Literature

*
Собрание определений и Деяния Священного Собора Православной Российской Церкви 1917—1918 гг.
'. Moscow, 1994—2000 (scanned text: ''Священный Соборъ Православной Россійской Церкви. Собраніе опрдѣленій и постановленій''. М. 1918. — Изданіе Соборнаго Совѣта) {{DEFAULTSORT:1917-18 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church

Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church () is an assembly of bishops and other clergy and laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who a ...

20th-century Eastern Orthodoxy History of the Russian Orthodox Church Russian Orthodox Church in Russia

1917 in Moscow 1918 in Moscow