On September 29, 2021, a plenary session of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church was held at the General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, chaired by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk. The meeting was held in person, according to patriarchia.

The main item on the agenda of the plenary session was the discussion by SBBC members of new trends in the ecclesiology of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The participants discussed a wide range of topics, including the claims of Constantinople to the role of the highest court of appeal in the Ecumenical Church, the “restoration of the priesthood” by the Patriarchate of Constantinople of persons who have never had such dignity or have lost it due to falling away into schism, other gross violations of church canons from sides of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Earlier SBBC, together with the Department for External Church Relations and the General Church Postgraduate and Doctorate Studies named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, held a conference on this topic.