Three-volume collection of the Actions of the 1917 – 1918 Sacred Council of the Russian Orthodox Church published

THREE-VOLUME COLLECTION OF THE ACTIONS OF THE 1917 – 1918 SACRED COUNCIL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH PUBLISHED

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the publishing house of the Krutisky Patriarchal Representation in cooperation with the Association of Lovers of Church History published a three-volume edition entitled ‘The 1917-1918 Sacred Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. A Survey of Actions’.

The Council of the Russian Orthodox Church was a central event of the dramatic church and social life in the early 20th century. Its decisions have a special meaning as the whole Church – bishops, clerics and laymen took part in its work.

During its long work, a special group led by Prof. Gunter Schultz (Germany) set itself as its task to make a general survey of the work of the Council on the basis of published and archival materials and to give a brief historical exposition of the events that happened during the plenary sessions. This edition will help the reader to find easily what in fact was discussed at any session of the Council by any of its member. Therefore, the Survey of the Council’s Actions allows to discover and compare the viewpoints of its members on a wide range of general church problems, problems of church-state and church-society relations, many of which remain relevant today. As a fundamental scientific reference book the Survey of Actions contains detailed name, biography and bibliography indices.

Unlike other projects for publishing materials of the 1917-1918 Council, the edition of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Representation puts in the scientific circulation the manuscript materials of the Council not only from the Moscow State Archives, but also from the Russian State Historical Archives (RSHA) in Saint-Petersburg.

At the same time, a great textual work has been carried out, which makes it possible to discover and fill in the gaps and inaccuracies of previous publications. For the first time, editorial cuts were marked in the text, which also indicates a strictly scientific approach made by the authors to their work and shows their respect for their readers.

The authors and compilers of the Survey of Actions aimed at giving researchers and all those interested in the history of Russian Orthodoxy an opportunity to find all the necessary information on the 1917-1918 Council easily. They also indicated fully the authentic sources for researchers’ further work.

The published Survey of Actions of the 1917-1918 Council will be of help to readers of parochial, scientific and theological-educational libraries, professors and students of theological schools, researchers of the 19th-20th century Russian Church History and everyone who is interested in the genesis of the Russian Church and theological thought in the 20th century.