Formation of the papal primacy within the context of the early Byzantine history

Abstract

The article considers the process of forming of the theological and canonic teaching on ecumenical primacy of the Roman episcopate in the III-V centuries in declining years of the antique civilization. The author proves that the primacy of the Roman episcopate as the successor of apostle St. Peter has existed since the first century, however it beared the feature of "primacy" in love as being in quality of spiritual authority, not having any juridical basis. In the second half of the IV century under Damas and especially under Syritzee) the papal authority in the West started acquiring the features of primacy in jurisdiction. The eastern episcopate, recognizing the Roman Pope as a successor of Apostle St. Peter, eulogizing his spiritual authority at the Councils at Ephesus and Chalcedon in the V century, never meant the possibility of the canonic disciplinary subordination to Rome. The collapse of the antique culture in the same century, common for the Greeks and Latins, has drastically worsened the above misunderstanding and predetermined the great schism, which was under thorough consideration among Russian theologians and philosophers