Professor V. V. Bolotov and roman Catholics

The problem of church schisms and divisions is as relevant for the modern world as for antiquity. This article reveals the views of one of the most authoritative church historians and theologians, V. Bolotov, Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, on the separation of the churches and analyzes his attitude to the problem of the Filioque, the primacy of the pope, and the doctrine of papal infallibility. It turns out that V. Bolotov believed that the real obstacle that led to the split and division of the churches and interferes with their reunification is the doctrine of the papacy. Reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church was, in his opinion, possible for that part of the Catholic society that would show enough courage and common sense to abandon both the doctrine of the primacy of the pope and the dogma of his infallibility. The doctrine of the Filioque, perceived by this part of Catholics not as a dogma, but as a theologumen, or a private theological opinion, cannot be an obstacle to the reunification of the Churches.