Blitz interview with Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, professor emeritus of the Moscow Theological Academy, on the appointment of a church court

Abstract

The Church Court as a type of ecclesiastical authority, of course, has always existed in the Church, but as an independent ecclesiastical institution it was created in the post-Soviet era: it did not exist in the Soviet period, nor in the synodal era, nor in the pre-Petrine era. Church authority, according to Orthodox teaching, is indivisible, and the fullness of it belongs to the ruling bishop - legislative, administrative and judicial power, and at the level of local churches it belongs to the Council of Bishops. Therefore, the diocesan courts that exist today are subordinate to the ruling bishop and are not authorised to make final decisions. Every decision of a diocesan court is approved by the ruling bishop, and some of them are also approved by the patriarch.