Anatoliy Nikolaevich Leschinskiy Doctor of philosophy, professor, Institute of Social and Philosophical Sciences and Mass Communications, Kazan Federal University (420111, Kazan, Kremlevskaya ulitsa, 35)
Anatoliy Kirillovich Pogasiy Doctor of Philosophy, professor, Institute of Social and Philosophical Sciences and Mass Communications, Kazan Federal University (420111, Kazan, Kremlevskaya ulitsa, 35)
kazan_prihod@mail.ru
Leschinkskiy A. N., Pogasii A. K. Church schisms in World Orthodoxy of the 20–21th centuries: geographical and religious studies review, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2024, vol. 13, pp. 160–188.
doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2024-13-160-188
Language: Russian
The article studies schisms in the Orthodox tradition that have taken place since the late 1910s and up to this day. The dynamics of their spread is expressed in all indicators: schisms are increasing in number and geographically. The schisms that have survived to this day have transformed, moving into a new qualitative state. At the same time, in the religious world, church divisions have always been recognized as a purely negative phenomenon, and in opposition to them, there has been and continues to be a call for a single and monolithic Church.
So, the universal preaching of Christian unity — and a huge number of religious divisions throughout the history of the Church. How to reconcile these contradictory trends? Are church schisms a consequence of the sinful nature of man, or is there perhaps God’s providence in this? Why is the same schism considered, on the one hand, as an absolute evil, and, on the other, as a progressive phenomenon? This article will attempt to answer these and some other questions.
