Council of Crete: a pre-council document on the granting of autocephaly in the context of the church crisis in Ukraine and in inter-orthodox relations

The article considers one of the aspects of the crisis in modern inter-Orthodox relations, namely the issue of granting of autocephaly. Historical events of the emergence of patriarchy in the Russian Church in the XVII century and their modern interpretations by representatives of the Local Churches and theologians are touched upon. Protodeacon Vladimir Vasilik, priest Mikhail Zheltov, archpriest Vadim Leonov and others, mainly representing church science, made a great contribution to the understanding of history and current events. The events that began almost simultaneously with the opening of the council of Crete and continue to this day: the preparation and proclamation of the autocephaly of the so-called OCU, the "donation" of Thomos to it, the aggravation of the church schism in Ukraine, and the crisis in relations between the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow - can be understood through the use of the documents of the council of Crete, which remain in the form of projects. The object of the research was the draft document "Autocephaly and the way of its proclamation", which caused polemics on canonical and even dogmatic issues. The work used the historical and comparative method, the method of hermeneutic interpretation. The most acute issues of discussion around the original document and subsequent events were identified: 1. Jurisdictional belonging of Ukraine (in connection with the granting of patriarchy to the Russian Church). 2. Rights of the Patriarch of Constantinople. 3. Way of proclamation of autocephaly and ways of overcoming the crisis in inter-Orthodox relations. As a result of the analysis of historical and polemical documents, at the end of the article conclusions are made: the position of Constantinople in the pre-council period contradicts its subsequent actions; the Constantinople Patriarchate consciously refused the point of view on its own authority, which it considered to be expressing the Orthodox understanding of such authority. The present historical, canonical and dogmatic bases, confirmed and imposed by Constantinople as true to the fullness of Orthodoxy in a situation of crisis in Ukraine and in inter-Orthodox relations, are bases of absolutely new, non-Orthodox ecclesiology.