E.N. What do you consider the tendencies to be in the development of the Russian Orthodox Church and in the plan of church life? How will our church life develop further?

V.E. How God gives will be the way it goes. In any case, now there is an obvious awakening. It is more that activation, it is an awakening of what we call the feeling of conciliarism. Fundamentally consiliarism is before anything else holiness. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”, like it is said in the Acts of the Apostles. For this it is needed to know the will of the Holy Spirit, that is the gathering of the Holy Spirit and know His will. We should distinguish that here is the quiet voice of God. In the church community consiliarism is before anything else the moral responsibility of each member of the Church for all church activities. It should not attempt to shift this responsibility to the conscience of the hierarchy or to the conscience of the future Eighth Ecumenical Council.

Here I would like to recall the words from the speech of Patriarch Sergie, during the enthronement, that the keepers of the faith do not appear to be the bishops, not the clergy, but the believing people themselves, and that is why each member of the Church is responsible for the maintenance of the faith, the contents of this Christian community, that is the present local council with the church.