ECCLESIOLOGICAL CONDITIONALITY OF THE AUTOCEPHALOUS SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSAL ORTHODOXY

The article deals with one of the fundamental problems of the whole corps of the church law – autocephalous principle of the existence of the church. This problem drives the researchers' attention to the very essence of the existence of orthodoxy in general. The preaching of Christ and the Gospel leave no direct pointers of the internal organization of the church. The apostles make only the subtle hints to the administrative arrangement of the church in general. Their mission preaching and spreading the faith to all nations, however, they did not envisage any other administrative system than autocephaly. Church dogmas and canons, which regulate all aspects of the life of the Church, were formed during the heyday of Christianity in the Byzantine Empire. However, the significant politicization and dependence of the church on imperial power led to the proclamation of a number of canons that contradicted the original nature of the church. This also applies to autocephaly. Under the pressure of the state authorities, the primacy of honor together with ancient Rome is shared by the capital's Constantinople chair. The theory of the "Five Patriarchates" is be- ing formed, which are called to rule the world Orthodoxy. During the Ecumenical Councils, autocephaly was transformed from a basic and natural state of the Church existence into a certain privilege and a subject of political bargaining in the international arena.Despite the long process of forming the canonical and legal corps of Orthodoxy, there is no clear regulation of the procedure for proclaiming a new autocephalous church today. This led to significant misunderstandings and the termination of Eucharistic communion by a number of Local Churches after granting autocephalous status to the Ukrainian Church. Theological disputes over the very procedure of signing the Tomos still take place today.Besides theoretical justification, the internal church structure also has a practical value for the process of bestowing autocephaly on the new national Local Churches. This is relevant due to the struggle of a number of modern countries for the church independence and the Ecumenical recognition. Starting since the Byzantine Empire times, the state power has constantly imposed its own church management principle and methods, which often was going against traditions and canonical norms. Orthodox ecclesiology offers its own approach to church-administrative management. It is proved that merely the autocephalous system is the only acceptable option of the existence of the Universal Orthodoxy.