Hélène Beliakova

This article by Hélène Beliakova focuses on the ecclesiological resolutions of the 1917-1918 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, convened in the revolutionary context and on the eve of Bolshevik persecution. The author offers an analytical study of the main conciliar decisions, situating them within the long intellectual and canonical maturation of the nineteenth century. The central idea is that this Council constituted a coherent attempt to refound ecclesial organization on the principle of conciliarity at all levels: the restoration of the Patriarchate, the introduction of laypeople into governance, an elective system for episcopal functions, the status of parishes and monasteries, as well as the question of Edinoverie. The article makes a twofold contribution: it shows that these reforms were not a simple concession to revolutionary events, but rather the culmination of an original ecclesiological reflection, and it highlights the lasting significance of this conciliar model for contemporary Orthodoxy.