On October 1, 2026, the III Berdnikov Readings were held at the Kazan Theological Seminary. The All-Russian scientific and practical conference was devoted to the topic "Inter—Orthodox relations - current problems and possible canonical solutions." The meetings were chaired by the rector of the seminary, Priest Nikita Kuznetsov.
The readings are held in memory of the outstanding Russian theologian and canonist, professor of the Kazan Theological Academy Ivan Stepanovich Berdnikov (1839-1915). Before the start of the forum, a memorial service was held in the seminary church of St. John of Kronstadt for the scientist and his students who contributed to the development of Russian church science.
Opening the conference, Priest Nikita Kuznetsov read out the greeting of Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan.
With the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, an employee of the DECR Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations, associate professor of the Ecclesiastical Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, A.Y. Khoshev, took part in the forum. At the plenary session, he presented a report on the problem of autocephaly and the search for ways to solve it within the framework of the inter–Orthodox process in the XX-XXI centuries.
The participants of the readings reviewed historical and modern aspects of relations between the Local Orthodox Churches. Archpriest Alexander Zadornov, Head of the Department of Ecclesiastical and Practical Disciplines at the Moscow Theological Academy, dedicated his speech to the relationship between empire, nation-state and territorial principle in inter-Orthodox relations. N.S. Semenova, Head of the Department of Church History and Church Law at the Ecclesiastical Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies, spoke about the role of the Canonical Corps of the Orthodox Church.
The report by Archpriest John Lapidus, Associate Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, presented the experience of the relationship between St. Sergius Parish in Johannesburg and the structures of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in 1999-2021. Associate Professor of the Kazan Theological Seminary A.Y. Mikhailov addressed the discussion of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church in the Pre-Council Presence in 1906 and the participation of I.S. Berdnikov in this work. Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law at the Faculty of Law of the State Academic University of the Humanities Yu.V. Erokhina made a presentation on "Crimes against religion and the Church as an encroachment on the state sovereignty of Russia."
The conference featured other presentations by experts in the field of inter-Orthodox relations, church history, canon and international law.
An exhibition of books, photographs and personal documents of I.S. Berdnikov and his students was prepared for the participants and guests. The presentation of the collective monograph "Church Law. Theory, History, Practice", published under the general editorship of Archpriest Alexander Zadornov and Yu.V. Erokhina.
Based on the materials of the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: mospat.ru .