Канонічні та історичні умови отримання Московською патріархією п’ятого місця в диптиху помісних Православних Церков (1589–1593)

Анотація

У статті простежено історичні обставини та умови надання московській патріархії п’ятого місця в диптиху помісних автокефальних Православних Церков, проаналізовано можливі канонічні підстави для перегляду місця Православної Церкви України і російської Православної Церкви в цьому списку, подано канонічне обґрунтування порушеного питання.

The article traces the historical circumstances and conditions for granting the moscow Patriarchate the fifth place in the diptych of local Orthodox Churches and analyzes possible canonical grounds for reconsidering the place of the russian Orthodox Church in this list. Granting the moscow Church the status of patriarchate and, accordingly, the position in the diptych among other local Churches is «due to» the realities of the time and circumstances that can be perceived both as the will of God and as God’s permission. The Eastern Patriarchs had no choice, because the only Orthodox Church that was able to help them financially at the time was the moscow Church. The turmoil that befell Tsargrad in the early sixteenth century, the subjugation of the lands of the once magnificent empire by Muslims, induced the devastated Church to seek allies to support and help in this difficult time. The only powerful and prosperous Orthodox country at that time was the principality of moscow, with which it was necessary to restore the ties that had been lost after the conclusion of the Union of Florence (1439). The situation in the Orthodox East changed profoundly with the fall of Constantinople as the state stronghold of Orthodoxy. Financially, moscow took the place of Constantinople, which it took advantage of by demanding that the Patriarch of Constantinople grant the moscow Church autocephaly with patriarchal status (1589), as well as give it the third (!) place in the diptych of Orthodox Churches, although according to tradition and order it should have taken the fifth place. A diptych is an arranged list of autocephalous churches. In this sequence, the names of their leaders are mentioned during services, and seats are allocated during concelebration and councils. Constantinople is the first in the diptych, and the moscow patriarchate is the fifth, as it has historically been. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is in the last place, the 15th, as the youngest one. However, the last place is a temporary phenomenon. In this article, the author analyzes the attempts of the russian Church to «leapfrog» its place in the diptych of the local Orthodox Churches and presents the reasons for revising its current position.