| This dissertation examines the All-Russian Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which convened from 15 August 1917 to 20 September 1918. The formation, activity, and decisions of the Council indicate how the Church addressed the critical problems it faced, particularly in Church-state relations, ecclesiastical administration, parish life, religious practice, and the mounting crisis of revolution. The dissertation uses a variety of previously inaccessible Russian archival sources to complement the Council's published proceedings and diocesan publications from across the Russian Empire.; The Council marked the culmination of a reform movement that began in the mid-eighteenth century and that called for the Church to have a greater voice in administering its own affairs. To many churchmen the desire to free the Church from state tutelage was felt even more keenly after the government's 1905 Edict of Toleration allowed non-Orthodox faiths in the empire to enjoy official status and the right to proselytize. Thus, from 1905 until the February Revolution, the Church's special ties to the state actually tied its hands to a government whose agendas often conflicted with those of the Church.; The collapse of the old regime in February 1917 enabled the Church to restructure its life and governance on the basis of the conciliar principle (sobornost'), which called for active participation and cooperation among bishops, clergy, and laity. The Council, consisting of episcopal, lay, and clerical delegates, called for complete independence from the state in the Church's internal affairs; reorganized central Church administration; decentralized diocesan administration; gave greater authority to the laity in parishes; and sought to bring order to religious practice. However, adherence to tradition, the chaos of revolution, and the delegates' fears of a largely uneducated populace prompted the Council to grant less authority to non-episcopal members. The Bolshevik regime's anti-religious policies reinforced these fears, compelling the Council to change its focus from reforming the Church to defending it. |
