S. Gradirovsky and S. Pereslegin propose to transform the Russian Orthodox Church into a “Russian Vatican”

published by Polit.ru proposes a new variant of church organization - the extraterritoriality of the Russian Orthodox Church. An article by S. Gradirovsky and S. Pereslegin

According to the authors, "we are talking about the creation of a special type of statehood, separated from Russia, which does not coincide with it either functionally or territorially." Such an organization is supposed to be beneficial both for the state "when the integrationist processes in Eastern Europe and partly in the Balkans and Transcaucasia intensify", and the Church itself: "the creation of the "Russian Vatican" will lead to the revival of parish life and to the transfer of the main organizational efforts of the church to the level of the parish ".

The reorganization, according to S. Gradirovsky and S. Pereslegin, provides the ROC with a change in status among the Orthodox Churches "and in fact puts forward the Moscow Patriarchate, like the Constantinople in its time, to the position of the First among Equals. At the same time, this is the process of Unity, which could be opposed" Western ecumenism.

The state must allocate the territory, "sovereignty over which the state voluntarily renounces." But "unlike the Catholic Vatican, the Orthodox should receive ownership of a number of small territories, steadily associated with holiness. They will form the basis of the Orthodox Archipelago, consisting of such famous land, lake and sea "islands" as Sergiev Posad, Valaam , Diveevo and the Solovetsky Islands". These lands should receive the international status of "inalienable demilitarized territory." After that, relations between the "Russian Vatican" and the Russian state should be legally fixed.

Sources

• Gradirovsky S., Pereslegin S. Russian Vatican // Polit.ru. 2005. April 5.