Pavel Ermilov Debates About the Right to Convoke Pan-Orthodox Council in the End of the 19th and the First Half of the 20th Century Pavel Ermilov - Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University (Moscow, Russia). pavel_ermilov@mail.ru The author examines the question of who has the right to convoke a Pan-Orthodox Council with references to contemporary historical circumstances. He proves that this right never exclusively belonged to the Patriarch of Constantinople, technically the first among equals, and this was accepted by some among Greeks. The attempt to grant this right to the Patriarch of Constantinople stems from the situation shaped just after the fall of the Russian Empire when a battle for primacy started to unfold. On the other hand, the idea of a collective convocation of a future Pan-Orthodox Council developed during the first half of the twentieth century. In spite of this, representatives of the Orthodox Churches agreed in 1968 that the right to convoke the hypothetical council did indeed belong to the Patriarch of Constantinople but always with prior agreement of the chief hierarchs of other autocephalous churches. The author shows that this decision was reached as a type of temporary compromise solution rather than a logical conclusion of previous discussions. Keywords: Pan-Orthodox Council, Ecumenical Council, PanOrthodox Conference, Patriarch of Constantinople, Right to Convoke a Council. ИДЕЯ созыва нового Вселенского собора зазвучала во второй половине XIX века. В начале декабря 1868 года Константинопольский патриарх Григорий VI объявил о решении вынести рассмотрение греко-болгарского конфликта на суд стр. 308 Вселенского собора1 и вскоре разослал пространное письмо предстоятелям автокефальных православных церквей с призывом принять участие в "соборе всей Церкви" (της καθολοκ εκκλησιας σuνοδος) 2. Именно об этой инициативе восторженно писал архимандрит Антонин (Капустин): Вселенский Собор... Огласилось наконец это слово и в устном переговоре, и в ... Read more