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Volos Declaration

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A Declaration of Orthodox theologians on the teaching of the "Russian World", also known as the Declaration of Volos (in , , , , ), is a 2022 theological declaration published by the Volos Academy of Theological Studies and signed by more than 1600 theologians and clerics of the Orthodox Church.

The document, published on Orthodoxy Sunday, evokes and condemns as a heresy the ideology promoted by the Moscow Patriarchate since the end of the USSR and especially since Vladimir Putin came to power that of the "Russian World".

Background
According to most researchers, the concept of "Russian world" was introduced into modern scientific and political circulation in 1993-1997 by PG Shchedrovitsky and EV Ostrovsky. This ideology, mixing theological orthodox misguided, extreme nationalism and revanchist sentiment towards the former territories of the Russian Empire and the USSR, develops mainly since Vladimir Putin's accession to power. With the enthronement of Cyrille (Gundiaev) as Patriarch of Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church becomes a belt of transmission of this idea in all layers of Russian society.

This ideology sees a transnational space seeking to justify a civilizational unity fantasized from the references of the Kiev Rus', the unity of the Orthodox religion, the use of the Russian language whose center would be Moscow, perceived as the Third Rome.

Since the end of the USSR, the Russian Orthodox Church has been increasingly engaged in initiatives to establish its ecclesiastical authority over what it perceives as its traditional pre-square, while trying to extend its influence on the Orthodox world in general.

Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church undertook to invade autocephalous Orthodox jurisdictions since the beginning of the 21st century, such as the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem or the Orthodox Church of Alexandria, defending these invasions by phyletistic principles. During the Russian invasion of Georgia, the Russian Orthodox Church relies on the power of the state to found a submissive Church, the Abkhaz Orthodox Church, which is not recognized by any other Orthodox Church.

After the 2018 Orthodox schism on the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the situation worsened even further, with the Russian Orthodox Church deciding to break communion with part of the Orthodox Churches and to rename Ukrainian Orthodox.

After Vladimir Putin's declaration of war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and with the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the situation becomes increasingly untenable and tense within the Orthodox Church; About 1600 theologians and clerics, including many Russians, participate in this document condemning the Russian movements within the Church and the "heresies" of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Content
The document consists of two parts, the first is an introductory note