From its founding in 1928, the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius created an unprecedented bridge between Russian Orthodoxy and the Christian West. Through its journal—first under the Fellowship’s name and later as Sobornost—it became the principal venue where the exiled Russian Orthodox intelligentsia engaged with Anglican theologians of the Catholic party, as well as, on occasion, with other Protestant traditions. In this deeply researched account, Aidan Nichols traces the journal’s evolution and the shifting dynamics of East–West theological encounter across nearly a century.
Nichols divides the story into two major periods. The first forty years portray an exchange conducted on largely equal footing, marked by vigorous dialogue and mutual curiosity. In the decades that followed, however, the balance changed: the Western intellectual tradition increasingly appeared, from an Orthodox viewpoint, to be marked by theological missteps, and the tone of engagement shifted. Even more striking was a movement away from the earlier prominence of Russian émigré voices toward the influence of the Greek East, which gradually supplied the dominant theological and philosophical orientation of the journal.
By the early twenty-first century, Sobornost had become a mostly monophonic voice presenting Orthodox theology—especially modern Greek thought, Byzantine studies, and spiritual traditions—to Western readers. Yet throughout its history, the journal remained indispensable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Eastern Churches, particularly the Byzantine or Chalcedonian Orthodox, who formed the core focus of both Fellowship and publication.
This study provides an essential account of a remarkable ecumenical experiment as the Fellowship and Sobornost mark their 90th anniversary—illuminating both their legacy and their ongoing significance for Christian theology in the West.
About the Author
Aidan Nichols, OP, a Dominican theologian of Blackfriars, Cambridge, is among the most prolific Catholic thinkers writing in English today. His works span doctrine, liturgy, ecclesiology, and the dialogue between Eastern and Western Christianity. Other titles from Gracewing include Catholic Thought Since the Enlightenment; Lessons from a Rose-Garden: Reviving the Doctrinal Rosary; Year of the Lord’s Favour, a four-volume homiliary for the Roman liturgy; and studies on leading Orthodox theologians such as Vladimir Lossky and Sergéi Bulgakov.
