The visit of the Anglican theologian William Palmer to Russia and theological conversations with Russian church leaders in 1840–1841

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the pages in the history of relations between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican Churches — the first visit of archdeacon William Palmer to Russia. The Anglican theologian, an associate of the Oxford movement, arrived in Russia in order to prove the correctness of the “theory of branches” proposed by the Oxford theologians and, as a consequence, to enter into Eucharistic communion with the Orthodox believers. Palmer had conversations on this issue with the chief Prosecutor of the Synod N. A. Protasov, Archimandrite Athanasius (Drozdov), Archpriest V. Kutnevich, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and other representatives of the Russian clergy. As a result of meetings and conversations, the Anglican archdeacon was denied intercommunion, but the Russian Church authorities were sympathetic to the idea of rapprochement between the Anglican and Russian Orthodox Churches and agreed to continue the dialogue on this issue. The article analyzes the purpose, content and outcome of W. Palmer’s visit to Russia, as well as the reasons why the Anglican theologian was not accepted into Eucharistic communion. The article highlights the personal contribution of the Archdeacon Palmer to strengthening of the the relationship between representatives of the two Churches, as well as his role in increasing interest for Anglicanism on the part of the Russian clergy and the church community.

Keywords:

faith, Anglicanism, clergy, theologian, theory of branches, dogma, transubstantiation, Orthodoxy, the Oxford movement