On 11 April 2006 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) decided to establish a Select Committee to revise existing notions of the Christological problems arising from the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 of the Christian Era.

The select committee will also study the liturgical, pastoral, and canonical concerns relating to the Christological doctrinal issues, with a view toward restoration of normal relations and communion with the Pre-Chalcedonian Churches.

The formal decision of the Holy Synod on 11 April 2006 (below) is also to be found on the Moscow Patriarchal website.

Item No. 11

Issue: Report by Cyril, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, concerning the establishment of a Scholarly Council on the Christology of the early Oriental (pre-Chalcedon) Churches.

Information: The Scholarly Council on the Christology of Pre-Chalcedon Churches is established on the basis of the decision taken by the 1997 Bishops Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, to further study and specify the Christological definitions given in the Chambesy Second Agreed Statement of 1990: "The Second Agreed Statement made in Chambesy in 1990... cannot be regarded as a final document sufficient for the restoration of full communication between the Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, because of a certain ambiguity of some of its Christological definitions. We hope that these definitions will be specified as liturgical, pastoral and canonical issues are studied furthers, as well as the issues pertaining to the restoration of ecclesiastic communication between the two families of Churches of the Eastern Orthodox tradition." Furthermore, the achievements of the modern scholarship in the history of dogmatic movements in the East in the period when the Christological doctrine of the Church was formed, crave a revision of the existing notions of Christological problems, to apply this new knowledge in the theological dialogue with the Pre-Chalcedon Oriental Churches.

It is suggested that the Scholarly Council should become the nucleus of the studies into the doctrines of the Pre-Chalcedon Oriental Churches, co-ordinating the work of a wider circle of experts working in separate directions: Armenian, Syrian, Coptic and Ethiopian. The Council functions under the auspices of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, being at the same time a large-scale scholarly project with the participation of the Synodal Theology Committee, the Moscow Ecclesiastic Academy and the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanities University, as well as lay experts.

Decision: To take the report into account and to establish the following line-up of the Scholarly Council:

1. Mark, Bishop of Yegoryevsk, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, as Chairman of the Council;
2. Fr. Valentin Asmus, of the Moscow Ecclesiastic Academy;
3. Fr. Oleg Davydenkov, of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanities University;
4. Fr. Vladimir Shmaliy, of the Moscow Ecclesiastic Academy, Secretary of the Synodal Theology Committee;
5. Fr. Igor Vyzhanov, Secretary of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate for inter-Christian relations;
6. Deacon Sergiy Govorun, of the Moscow Ecclesiastic Academy, member of staff of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, as Secretary of the Council;
7. Fr. Alexander Vasyutin, member of staff, Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate;
8. Prof. B. Nelyubov, of the Moscow Ecclesiastic Academy.

source: http://eng.sedmitza.ru/index.html?did=1906