The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The roundtable participants at the conference “Orthodox Brotherhoods in Pre- Revolutionary Russia: Priorities in their Activities” discussed the issues of the typology, boundaries, ecclesiological grounds, and criteria for defining Orthodox brotherhoods. The debate focused on the historical, geographical, social and cultural conditions for the arising of brotherhoods. In particular, the participants addressed the question of why in some regions the brotherhoods were more active than in others. Another discussion point was the role the brotherhoods played in forming the Russian society. The relevant areas of research and the introduction of some new sources on the history of brotherhoods into academic discourse were also discussed.