The Bishops’ Council, the supreme body of hierarchic governance, is summoned by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod no less than once every four years. In addition, the Bishops’ Council serves as the ecclesiastical court of final appeal. The Council’s responsibilities include solution of the principal theological, canonical, liturgical and pastoral matters, expression of pastoral cares for the problems of modern times, determination of the nature of relations with the state bodies, and preservation of the dogmatic and canonical unity of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Each Bishops’ Council traditionally concludes with the adoption of documents: either basic documents such as the 2000 adoption of the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church, or ones determining the main directions and vectors of the Church’s activities for years to come.
The Bishops’ Council will be held between February 2 and 5, 2013 in Moscow.