The Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ecclesiology of the Moscow Council of 1917-1918

This article by Goran Sekulovski examines the relations between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church in the interwar period, taking as its starting point the decisions of the Moscow Council of 1917-1918. The study adopts a historical and ecclesiological approach, combining analysis of canonical sources, ecclesiastical statutes and patriarchal correspondence. The main argument is that the Moscow Council exerted a decisive influence on the organization of the Serbian Church, particularly through two parallel processes: the restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate in 1920, directly inspired by that of Moscow, and the introduction of the conciliar principle in the 1931 statutes, which institutionalize the participation of the laity at all levels of ecclesiastical administration. The contribution of the article lies in highlighting the concrete reception of Russian conciliar ecclesiology by the Serbian Church, beyond the merely institutional ties between the two patriarchates.