View source for Eastern Orthodox Church

{{short description|Second-largest Christian church}}
{{About|the Eastern Orthodox Church as an institution|its religion, doctrine and tradition|Eastern Orthodoxy}}
{{Other uses of|Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Oriental Orthodox Churches|Eastern Christianity|Eastern Catholic Churches}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon               = Orthodox cross.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| icon_width         = 25px
| name               = Orthodox Catholic Church
| image              = St. George's Cathedral 2022 (6).jpg
| imagewidth         = 300px
| caption            = [[St. George's Cathedral, Istanbul|Saint George's Cathedral]] in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]]
| orientation        = [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]
| main_classification = [[Christianity]]
| structure          = [[Koinonia#Between churches|Communion]]
| scripture          = {{ubl|[[Septuagint]]|[[New Testament]]}}
| theology           = [[Eastern Orthodox theology]]
| polity             = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| language           = [[Koine Greek]], [[Church Slavonic]], and other [[vernacular]]<ref name=vern1>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Orthodoxy – Worship and sacraments |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy |access-date=13 April 2020 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531013354/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=vern2>{{Cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=3 July 1970 |title=Greek Orthodox Vote to Use Vernacular in Liturgy |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/03/archives/greek-orthodox-vote-to-use-vernacular-in-liturgy-greek-orthodox.html |access-date=13 April 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=vern3>{{Cite web |title=Liturgy and archaic language {{!}} David T. Koyzis |url=https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/10/liturgy-and-archaic-language |access-date=13 April 2020 |website=First Things |date=27 October 2009 |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127024546/https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/10/liturgy-and-archaic-language |url-status=live }}</ref>
| liturgy            = [[Byzantine Rite]] (predominant)<br>[[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Western Rite]]
| area               = Primarily [[Southeastern Europe]], [[Eastern Europe]], [[Northern Asia]], [[Levant]], [[Egypt]], [[Northern America]], [[Near East]], [[Caucasus|Caucasia]], [[Cyprus]]<ref name=Pew20152016>{{Cite web |date=10 May 2017 |title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/ |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510190714/http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| headquarters       = 
| origin_link        = 
| founder            = [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]], according to [[Sacred tradition#Eastern Orthodox Church|sacred tradition]]
| founded_date       = [[Christianity in the 1st century|1st century]]
| founded_place      = [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judaea]], [[Roman Empire]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuckin |first=John Anthony |title=The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |location=Malden, MA |pages=1–25 |isbn=978-1-4051-5066-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuckin |first=John Anthony |title=The Eastern Orthodox Church: A New History |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |location=New Haven |pages=3–18 |isbn=978-0-300-21876-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Timothy (Kallistos) |title=The Orthodox Church |edition=3rd revised |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2015 |location=London |pages=1–20 |isbn=978-0-14-198063-8}}</ref>
| parent             = 
| absorbed           = 
| separations        = {{plainlist}}
* Several [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Gudziak |first=Borys A. |title=Between East and West: The Eastern Catholic ('Uniate') Churches |website=Cambridge University Press |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-christianity/between-east-and-west-the-eastern-catholic-uniate-churches/989FB17501D4A5E72F7C4D9EB2F9ED16# |access-date=2026-06-26 |quote=‘Uniate’ churches comprise Eastern Christians who either reaffirmed their never formally broken communion with Rome, or left their Orthodox mother churches to join the Catholic communion.}}</ref>
* [[Old Believers]] ([[Schism of the Russian Church|1660s]])
* [[Old Calendarists]] (1920s)
{{endplainlist}}
| branched_from      = 
| defunct            = 
| congregations_type = 
| congregations      = 
| members            = 220,266,000 (2020)
| ministers_type     = 
| ministers          = 
| missionaries       = 
| churches           = 
| hospitals          = 
| nursing_homes      = 
| aid                = 
| primary_schools    = 
| secondary_schools  = 
| tax_status         = 
| tertiary           = 
| other_names        = Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christian Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
| leader_title       = ''[[Primus inter pares]]''
| leader_name        = [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople|Bartholomew]],<br>[[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]]
}}
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar}}
{{Christianity |expand-eastern=yes}}
[[File:Spas vsederzhitel sinay.jpg|thumb|''[[Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)|Christ Pantocrator]]'', sixth century, [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]; the oldest known [[icon]] of Christ, in one of the oldest monasteries in the world]]

The '''Eastern Orthodox Church''', officially the '''Orthodox Catholic Church''',<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/177174/Eastern-Orthodoxy |title = Eastern Orthodoxy |date = 18 May 2023 |quote = Eastern Orthodoxy, official name, used in British English as well, is Orthodox Catholic Church, one of the three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity. |access-date = 21 June 2022 |archive-date = 4 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504133728/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/177174/Eastern-Orthodoxy |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ellwood">{{cite book|last1=Ellwood|first1=Robert S.|last2=Alles|first2=Gregory D.|title=Ellwood Encyclopedia of World Religions|publisher=Infobase|date=2007|page=128|isbn=978-1-4381-1038-7|quote=The Eastern Orthodox Churches are properly known as the "Orthodox Catholic Church".|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pGbdI4L0qsC&pg=PA128}}</ref><ref name="tsichlis">{{cite web |last1= Tsichlis |first1= Fr. Steven |title= Frequently Asked Questions About the Orthodox Church |publisher= St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church, Irvine, CA |quote= The full title of our Church is 'The Orthodox Catholic Church.' |url=http://www.stpaulsirvine.org/FAQs.html |access-date= 4 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210021538/http://stpaulsirvine.org/FAQs.html |archive-date= 10 December 2013 }}</ref> also known as the '''Greek Orthodox Church'''<ref name="EBGreek" /> is a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Full communion|communion]] of [[autocephalous]] national and regional [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] churches. It is one of the [[List of Christian denominations by number of members|three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity]].<ref name="Britannica" /> As of 2020, it has approximately 220 million adherents, making it the second-largest Christian body in the world after the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="Adherents3" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Riccardi-Swartz |first=Sarah |date=2023 |title=Orthodox Christianity in the United States: A challenge for the study of American religion |journal=Religion Compass |language=en |volume=17 |issue=5–6 |article-number=e12461 |doi=10.1111/rec3.12461 |issn=1749-8171 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Zurlo |first=Gina A. |title=Global Christianity: a guide to the world's largest religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe |date=2022 |publisher=Zondervan Academic |isbn=978-0-310-11361-4 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox Church operates as a [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] of [[autocephalous]] churches, each governed by its [[Bishop (Orthodox Church)|bishops]] via local [[Holy Synod|synods]].<ref name="BBC1">{{Cite web |title=BBC – Religions – Christianity: Eastern Orthodox Church |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml |website=BBC |access-date=2020-05-15 |archive-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510092158/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the [[pope]] of the [[Catholic Church]]. Nevertheless, the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] is recognised by them as ''[[primus inter pares]]'' ({{gloss|first among equals}}),<ref name="aboutWeb">{{cite web|last1=Fairchild|first1=Mary|title=Christianity:Basics:Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination|url=http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm|access-date=22 May 2014|publisher=About|ref=none|archive-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605234938/http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=20 December 2009|title=The Patriarch Bartholomew|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-patriarch-bartholomew/|access-date=26 June 2021|work=[[60 Minutes]]|publisher=[[CBS]]|archive-date=26 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626150503/https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-patriarch-bartholomew/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography – The Ecumenical Patriarchate|url=https://www.patriarchate.org/biography|access-date=11 December 2019|website=Ecumenical Patriarchate|archive-date=15 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515055636/https://www.patriarchate.org/biography|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Winfield|first1=Nicole|last2=Fraser|first2=Suzan|date=30 November 2014|title=Pope Francis Bows, Asks For Blessing From Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew In Extraordinary Display Of Christian Unity|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/30/pope-francis-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-_n_6243414.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317041746/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/30/pope-francis-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-_n_6243414.html|archive-date=17 March 2016|access-date=11 December 2019|website=Huffington Post}}</ref> a title held by the [[patriarch of Rome]] prior to the [[East–West Schism]]. 

As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played an especially prominent role in the history and culture of [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southeastern Europe]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=8}} Since 2018, there has been an [[2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism|ongoing schism between Constantinople and Moscow]], with the two not in [[full communion]] with each other.

[[Eastern Orthodox theology]] is based on the [[Scriptures]] and [[holy tradition]], which incorporates the dogmatic decrees of the [[seven ecumenical councils]], and the teaching of the [[Church Fathers]]. The church teaches that it is the [[one, holy, catholic and apostolic]] [[One true church|church]] established by [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] in his [[Great Commission]],<ref name="OCA">{{Cite web |title=The Orthodox Faith – Volume I – Doctrine and Scripture – The Symbol of Faith – Church |url=https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/church |access-date=27 July 2020 |website=Orthodox Church in America}}</ref> and that its bishops are the [[Apostolic succession|successors]] of Christ's [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyendorff |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wo9MwwEACAAJ |title=Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes |date=1983 |publisher=Fordham University Press }}</ref> It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith, as passed down by holy tradition. Its [[patriarchates]], descending from the [[pentarchy]], and other autocephalous and [[Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy)|autonomous]] churches, reflect a variety of [[hierarchical]] [[Eastern Orthodox Church organization|organisation]]. It recognises seven major [[sacrament]]s (which are called [[Holy mysteries (Orthodox Church)|holy mysteries]]), of which the [[Eucharist]] is the principal one, celebrated [[Divine Liturgy|liturgically]] in [[synaxis]]. The church teaches that through [[Consecration#Eucharist|consecration]] [[epiclesis|invoked]] by a [[Priesthood (Orthodox Church)|priest]], the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The [[Virgin Mary]] is [[venerated]] in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the ''[[Theotokos]]'', which means 'God-bearer', and she is honoured in [[Marian devotions|devotions]].

The churches of [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], and [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch|Antioch]]—except for some breaks of communion such as the [[Photian schism]] or the [[Acacian schism]]—[[Koinonia#Between churches|shared communion]] with the [[Diocese of Rome|Church of Rome]] until the [[East–West Schism]] in 1054. The 1054 schism was the culmination of mounting theological, political, and cultural disputes, particularly over the [[Papal supremacy|authority of the pope]], between those churches. Before the [[Council of Ephesus]] in AD 431, the [[Church of the East]] also shared in this communion, as did the various [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]] before the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in AD 451, all separating primarily over [[Chalcedonian Definition|differences in]] [[Christology]].

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the primary religious confession in [[Russia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Romania]], [[Greece]], [[Belarus]], [[Serbia]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Moldova]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Cyprus]], and [[Montenegro]]. Eastern Orthodox Christians are also one of the main religious groups in [[Estonia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Kosovo]] and [[Latvia]] as well as a significant group in [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], and other countries in the [[Middle East]]. Roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in the post Eastern Bloc countries, mostly in Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peter |first=Laurence |date=17 October 2018 |title=Orthodox Church split: Five reasons why it matters |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45877584 |publisher=[[BBC]] |quote=The Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church has at least 150 million followers – more than half the total of Orthodox Christians.&nbsp;... But Mr Shterin, who lectures on trends in ex-Soviet republics, says some Moscow-linked parishes will probably switch to a new Kiev-led church, because many congregations 'don't vary a lot in their political preferences.' |access-date=23 October 2018 |archive-date=20 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920223911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45877584 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=8 November 2017 |title=Orthodox Christianity's geographic center remains in Central and Eastern Europe |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianitys-geographic-center-remains-in-central-and-eastern-europe/ |access-date=9 December 2020 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |archive-date=25 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225000348/http://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianitys-geographic-center-remains-in-central-and-eastern-europe/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The communities in the former [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine regions]] of [[North Africa]] and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] are among the oldest Orthodox communities from the [[Middle East]], which are decreasing due to forced migration driven by increased [[Persecution of Christians|religious persecution]].<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |last=Harriet Sherwood |date=13 January 2016 |title=Christians flee growing persecution in Africa and Middle East |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/13/christians-flee-growing-persecution-africa-middle-east}}</ref><ref name="K4D">{{Cite web |last=Huma Haider University of Birmingham |date=16 February 2017 |title=K4D The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/59786a0040f0b65dcb00000a/042-Persecution-of-Christians-in-the-Middle-East.pdf |website=Publishing Service U.K. Government |access-date=27 April 2019 |archive-date=27 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427024140/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/59786a0040f0b65dcb00000a/042-Persecution-of-Christians-in-the-Middle-East.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Eastern Orthodox communities outside [[Western Asia]], [[Asia Minor]], [[Caucasus|Caucasia]] and [[Eastern Europe]], including those in [[North America]], [[Western Europe]], and [[Australia]], have been formed through [[diaspora]], [[Conversion to Christianity|conversions]], and [[missionary]] activity.
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== Name and characteristics ==

=== Definition ===

The Eastern Orthodox Church is defined as the [[Eastern Christians]] which recognise the [[seven ecumenical councils]] and usually are in [[Koinonia|communion]] with the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]], the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria]], the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]], and the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Patriarchate of Jerusalem]]. The Eastern Orthodox churches "are defined positively by their adherence to the [[dogma]]tic definitions of the seven [ecumenical] councils, by the strong sense of not being a [[sect]] or a [[Christian denomination|denomination]] but simply continuing the [[One true church|Christian church]], and, despite their varied origins, by adherence to the [[Byzantine rite]]". Those churches are negatively defined by their rejection of [[Papal supremacy|papal immediate and universal supremacy]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=1 September 2017|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|pages=169–70|chapter=Eastern Orthodox|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|orig-date=1999|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.|archive-date=7 November 2021|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107062420/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405166584|url-status=live}}</ref>

The seven ecumenical councils recognised by the Eastern Orthodox churches are: [[Nicaea I]], [[First Council of Constantinople|Constantinople I]], [[Council of Ephesus|Ephesus]], [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedon]], [[Second Council of Constantinople|Constantinople II]], [[Third Council of Constantinople|Constantinople III]], and [[Nicaea II]].<ref name="OC">{{Cite book|url=|title=Historical dictionary of the Orthodox church|date=1996|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-3081-7|editor-last=Prokurat|editor-first=Michael|pages=114–5|chapter=ECUMENICAL COUNCILS|oclc=797749844|display-editors=etal}}</ref><ref name="EC" /> These churches consider the [[Quinisext Council]] as "shar[ing] the ecumenical authority of Constantinople III."<ref name="EC">{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=2017-09-01|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|pages=171–2|chapter=ecumenical councils|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|orig-date=1999|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.|archive-date=2021-11-07|access-date=2021-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107062420/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405166584|url-status=live}}</ref> "By an agreement that appears to be in place in the [Eastern] Orthodox world, possibly the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|council held in 879]] to vindicate the [[Photios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]] will at some future date be recognized as the eighth [ecumenical] council" by the Eastern Orthodox Church.<ref name="OC" />

[[Western Rite Orthodoxy]] exists both outside and inside [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]. Within Eastern Orthodoxy, it is practised by a [[vicariate]] of [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|the Antiochian Orthodox church]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=1 September 2017|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|pages=514–5|chapter=Western rite Orthodoxy|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.|orig-date=1999|archive-date=7 November 2021|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107062420/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405166584|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America]] estimated there are 1,416 members of the Western Rite vicariate in 24 parishes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emelyanova |first=Olga |date=2025-02-08 |title=Why Has the Western Rite Not Been Widely Adopted in the Orthodox West? - ROCOR Studies |url=https://www.rocorstudies.org/2025/02/08/why-has-the-western-rite-not-been-widely-adopted-in-the-orthodox-west/ |access-date=2025-12-22 |language=en-US |archive-date=2026-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260122110252/https://www.rocorstudies.org/2025/02/08/why-has-the-western-rite-not-been-widely-adopted-in-the-orthodox-west/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With roughly 3,000 members worldwide, spread across about 50 scattered [[parish]]es, Western Rite Orthodoxy remains a very small minority within the Eastern Orthodox Church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orthodoxy: Eastern but Western |url=https://time.com/archive/6808597/orthodoxy-eastern-but-western/ |publisher=Time |access-date=2025-09-05 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

=== Name ===
The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the "Orthodox Catholic Church".<ref name="Britannica" /><ref name="ellwood" /><ref name="tsichlis" /><ref name="Losch2002">{{cite book|author= Richard R. Losch|title= The Many Faces of Faith: A Guide to World Religions and Christian Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdKCVjCschMC&pg=PA76|date= 1 May 2002|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-0521-8|page= 76|quote= The official name of the body is the Orthodox Catholic Church.}}</ref> It is the name by which the church refers to itself<!--
This adaptation from ''The Orthodox Church'', Kallistos Ware, 1993, was first produced by the monks of Decani Monastery, Kosovo. It was placed on the Orthodox Christian Information Center website after the monastery website went defunct following the Kosovo conflict. It has been used among various Orthodox church websites to provide an introduction to the faith. – User Evensteven, 3 May 2014
--><ref>{{cite web|author=The monks of Decani Monastery, Kosovo|title=The Orthodox Church, An Introduction|url=http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/orthodoxy.aspx|access-date=3 May 2014|publisher=Orthodox Christian Information Center|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).|archive-date=1 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701222838/http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/orthodoxy.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=What We Believe|url=http://doepa.org/about_orthodoxy.html|access-date=3 May 2014|work=The Orthodox Church|publisher=The Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania, Orthodox Church in America|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).|archive-date=13 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713125935/http://doepa.org/about_orthodoxy.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About Orthodoxy|url=http://www.orthodoxdelmarva.org/about_orthodoxy.html|access-date=3 May 2014|work=The Orthodox Church|publisher=Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church|location=Berlin, MD|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).|archive-date=20 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820053629/http://www.orthodoxdelmarva.org/about_orthodoxy.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Holy Orthodox Christian Church: Its Faith and Life|url=http://www.archangelsbooks.com/orthofaith.asp|access-date=4 May 2014|publisher=Archangels Books|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).|archive-date=2 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502093545/http://www.archangelsbooks.com/orthofaith.asp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Orthodox Christianity – Introduction|url=http://www.kosovo.net/orthodoxy.html|access-date=4 May 2014|publisher=Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Ras and Prizren|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (gr. catholicos = universal).|archive-date=15 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515181633/http://www.kosovo.net/orthodoxy.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About Orthodoxy|url=http://www.haoca.org/|access-date=4 May 2014|publisher=Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Frackville, PA|quote=The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church" (greek catholicos = universal).|archive-date=17 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517163341/http://haoca.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> and which is issued in its liturgical or [[Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church|canonical]] texts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eastern Orthodoxy {{!}} Definition, Origin, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|access-date=11 November 2021|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|quote=The official designation of the church in Eastern Orthodox liturgical or canonical texts is 'the Orthodox Catholic Church.' Because of the historical links of Eastern Orthodoxy with the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium (Constantinople), however, in English usage it is referred to as the 'Eastern' or 'Greek Orthodox' Church.|archive-date=31 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531013354/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of World Religions|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC&pg=309 309]: "The official designation of the church in Eastern Orthodox liturgical or canonical texts is 'the Orthodox Catholic Church.{{'"}}}}<!-- end of reference grouping for "The Orthodox Church" --> Eastern Orthodox theologians refer to the church as Catholic.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=307}}{{sfn|Fitzgerald|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_F5yntZocGIC&pg=PA8 8]}} This name and longer variants containing "Catholic" are also recognised and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Eastern Orthodox writers.{{sfn|De Vie|1945}}{{sfn|Nielsen|Johnson|Ellis|2001|p=248 "In the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, authority"}}{{sfn|Fortescue|2008|p=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_UPr1ZCxPW6QC/page/n290 255] "it is all gathered together and still lives in the Holy Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church of the Seven Councils."}}{{sfn|Schadé Encyclopedia of World Religions|2006}}{{sfn|Losch|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OdKCVjCschMC&pg=PA76 76]}}{{sfn|Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of World Religions|1999|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC&pg=309 309–310]}} The [[catechism]] of [[Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow]] published in the 19th century is titled: ''The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church''<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church|url=http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Pravoslavieto|archive-date=3 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171158/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> ({{Langx|ru|Пространный христианский катехизис православныя, кафолическия восточныя Церкви}}).

In keeping with the church's teaching on universality and with the Nicene Creed, Eastern Orthodox authorities such as [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] have insisted that the full name of the church has always included the term "[[Catholic (term)|Catholic]]", as in "Holy [[Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] Catholic [[Twelve apostles|Apostolic]] [[Christian Church|Church]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=About Orthodox |publisher=Saint Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Pawtucket, RI |quote=The official designation of the Orthodox Church is the 'Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church.' |url=http://stmarypawtucket.org/about-our-church/about-orthodox/ |access-date=4 May 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=To be an Orthodox Christian&nbsp;.... <!-- ellipsis in the original --> |publisher=Orthodox Christian Church in Thailand (Moscow Patriarchate) |url=http://www.orthodox.or.th/index.php?content=orthodoxy&lang=en |access-date=4 May 2014 |archive-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826235549/http://www.orthodox.or.th/index.php?content=orthodoxy&lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From ancient times through the first millennium, Greek was the most prevalent shared language in the demographic regions where the [[Byzantine Empire]] flourished, and Greek, being the language in which the [[New Testament]] was written, was the primary liturgical language of the church. For this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as "Greek" (in contrast to the [[Latin Church|"Roman" or "Latin" church]], which used a Latin translation of the Bible), even before the Great Schism of 1054. After 1054, "Greek Orthodox" or "Greek Catholic" marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople, much as "Catholic" did for communion with the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="EBGreek">{{cite web|title=Eastern Orthodoxy|website=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|quote=Because of the use of the name 'Greek Catholics' by the Eastern churches of the Catholic Church and the historical links of the Orthodox Catholic church with the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium (Constantinople), however, the exonyms in American English usage referred to it as the 'Eastern' or 'Greek Orthodox' Church. These terms are sometimes misleading, especially when applied to Russian or Slavic churches and to the Orthodox communities in western Europe and America.|access-date=2026-03-03|archive-date=2020-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531013354/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Hungarian, the church is still commonly called "Eastern Greek" ({{Langx|hu|Görögkeleti}}). This identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Eastern Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. In addition, struggles between Rome and Constantinople to control parts of [[Southeastern Europe]] resulted in the conversion of some churches to the Catholic Church, which then also used "Greek Catholic" to indicate their continued use of the Byzantine rites. Today, only a minority of Eastern Orthodox adherents use Greek as the language of worship.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica Online | loc=[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/177174/Eastern-Orthodoxy "Eastern Orthodoxy"] "Because of the use of the name 'Greek Catholics' by the Eastern churches of the Catholic Church and the historical links of the Orthodox Catholic church with the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium (Constantinople), however, the [[exonym]]s in American English usage referred to it as the 'Eastern' or 'Greek Orthodox' Church. These terms are sometimes misleading, especially when applied to Russian or Slavic churches and to the Orthodox communities in western Europe and America."}}

"Eastern", then, indicates the geographical element in the church's origin and development, while "Orthodox" indicates the faith, as well as communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.<ref name="Calivas1983" /> There are additional Christian churches in the east that are in communion with neither the Catholic Church nor the Eastern Orthodox Church, who tend to be distinguished by the category named "[[Oriental Orthodox]]".<ref>{{cite web |date=14 December 2013 |title=Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, First Agreed Statement |url=https://orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/first-agreed-statement-1989/ |access-date=15 February 2024 |website=Orthodox Joint Commission |archive-date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326185825/https://orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/first-agreed-statement-1989/ |url-status=live }}</ref> While the Eastern Orthodox Church continues officially to call itself "Catholic", for reasons of [[Catholicity|universality]], the common title of "Eastern Orthodox Church" avoids casual confusion with the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Eastern Orthodoxy|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|access-date=2025-11-24|archive-date=2020-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531013354/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Moșoiu |first=Nicolae V. |title=The mystery and the unity of the Church: Considerations from an Eastern Orthodox perspective |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies |volume=77 |issue=4 |pages=a6707 |year=2021 |doi=10.4102/hts.v77i4.6707|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Orthodoxy ===

[[File:Byzantinischer Mosaizist um 1000 002.jpg|thumb|[[Emperor Constantine]] presents a representation of the city of [[Constantinople]] as tribute to an enthroned Mary and baby Jesus in this church mosaic ([[Hagia Sophia]], {{Circa|1000}}).]]

The first known use of the phrase "the catholic Church" (''he katholike ekklesia'') occurred in a letter written {{circa|AD&nbsp;110}} from one Greek church to another ([[Ignatius of Antioch]] to the [[Smyrna]]eans). The letter states: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal [katholike] Church."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Catholic |last=Thurston |first=Herbert |author-link=Herbert Thurston |place=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |date=1908 |access-date=17 August 2012 |editor-first=Kevin |editor-last=Knight |editor-link=Knight |volume=3 |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103033237/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Thus, almost from the beginning, Christians referred to the Christian Church as the "one, holy, catholic (from the Greek καθολική, 'according to the whole, universal'){{sfn|Hardon|1981|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ke37zpSv3gC&pg=PA217 217]}} and apostolic Church".<ref name="OCA" /> The Eastern Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same early church.

A number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim: the [[Catholic Church]], the [[Anglican Communion]], the [[Assyrian Church of the East|Church of the East]], and the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]]. In the Eastern Orthodox view, the Church of the East and Oriental Orthodox left the Orthodox Church in the years following the Third Ecumenical [[Council of Ephesus]] (431) and the Fourth Ecumenical [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451), respectively, in their refusal to accept those councils' [[Christological]] definitions; conversely, the latter two churches hold the same view towards the Eastern Orthodox Church regarding each respective council. Similarly, the churches in Rome and Constantinople separated in an event known as the [[East–West Schism]], traditionally dated to the year 1054, although it was more a gradual process than a sudden break.

To all these churches, the claim to [[catholicity]] (universality, oneness with the ancient Church) is important for multiple doctrinal reasons that have more bearing internally in each church than in their relation to the others, now separated in faith. The meaning of holding to a faith that is true is the primary reason why anyone's statement of which church split off from which other has any significance at all; the issues go as deep as the schisms. The depth of this meaning in the Eastern Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word "[[Orthodoxy|Orthodox]]" itself, a union of [[Greek language|Greek]] ''orthos'' ("straight", "correct", "true", "right") and ''[[doxa]]'' ("common belief", from the ancient verb δοκέω-δοκῶ which is translated "to believe", "to think", "to consider", "to imagine", "to assume").<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Ddoke%2Fw δοκέω] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225002607/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Ddoke%2Fw |date=2021-02-25 }} in Liddell and Scott.</ref>

The dual meanings of ''doxa'', with "glory" or "glorification" (of God by the church and of the church by God), especially in worship, yield the pair "correct belief" and "true worship". Together, these express the core of a fundamental teaching about the inseparability of belief and worship and their role in drawing the church together with Christ.{{sfn|Ware|1991|pp=16, 271}}{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=69–72}} All [[Slavic Orthodox churches]] use the title ''Pravoslavie'' ({{lang-cyrl|Православие}}), meaning "correctness of glorification", to denote what is in English ''Orthodoxy'', while the Georgians use the title ''Martlmadidebeli'' ({{Langx|ka|მართლმადიდებელი}}).<ref>{{cite book |title=School Orthographic Dictionary |author=Shuqia Aphridonidze; Iamze Gagua; Tamar Vashakidze |publisher=Meridiani |location=Tbilisi |year=2011 |language=ka |page=230}}</ref>

The term "Eastern Church" (the geographic east in the East–West Schism) has been used to distinguish it from [[western Christendom]] (the geographic West, which at first came to designate the Catholic communion, later also the various [[Protestant]] and Anglican branches). "Eastern" is used to indicate that the highest concentrations of the Eastern Orthodox Church presence remain in the eastern part of the Christian world, although it is growing worldwide. Orthodox Christians throughout the world use various ethnic or national jurisdictional titles, or more inclusively, the title "Eastern Orthodox", "Orthodox Catholic", or simply "Orthodox".<ref name="Calivas1983">{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7052/|title = The Orthodox Church: An Introduction|date = 9 January 1996|website = [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]|last1 = Fitzgerald|first1 = Thomas|access-date = 11 June 2016|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603103953/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7052|archive-date = 3 June 2016}}</ref>

What unites Orthodox Christians is the catholic faith as carried through [[holy tradition]]. That faith is expressed most fundamentally in scripture and worship,{{sfn|Ware|1991|pp=212–213}} and the latter most essentially through baptism and in the [[Divine Liturgy]].{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=282}}

The lines of even this test can blur, however, when differences that arise are not due to doctrine, but to recognition of jurisdiction. As the Eastern Orthodox Church has spread into the West and over the world, the church as a whole has yet to sort out all the inter-jurisdictional issues that have arisen in the expansion, leaving some areas of doubt about what is proper church governance.{{sfn|Ware|1991|pp=180–199}} Moreover, as in the ancient church persecutions, the aftermath of [[Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|persecutions of Christians in communist nations]] has complicated some issues of governance that have yet to be completely resolved.{{sfn|Ware|1991|pp=152–179}}

All members of the Eastern Orthodox Church profess the same faith, regardless of race or nationality, jurisdiction or local custom, or century of birth. Holy tradition encompasses the understandings and means by which that unity of faith is transmitted across boundaries of time, geography, and culture. It is a continuity that exists only inasmuch as it lives within Christians themselves.{{sfn|Ware|1991|pp=203–204}} It is not static, nor an observation of rules, but rather a sharing of observations that spring both from within and also in keeping with others, even others who lived lives long past. The church proclaims the Holy Spirit maintains the unity and consistency of holy tradition to preserve the integrity of the faith within the church, as given in the scriptural promises.<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|John|14:17|NKJV}}; {{Bibleverse|John|14:26|NKJV}}</ref>

Orthodoxy asserts that its shared beliefs, and its theology, exist within holy tradition and cannot be separated from it, and that their meaning is not expressed in mere words alone;{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=215}} that doctrine cannot be understood unless it is prayed;<ref>{{citation |last1=Evagrius the Solitary |author-link1=Evagrius Ponticus |chapter=On Prayer, 60 |orig-date=4th century |editor1-last=Migne |editor1-first=J.P. |title=Patrologia Graeca |page=1180B |volume=79 |location=Paris |publisher=Imprimerie Catholique |year=1857–1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4_YAAAAMAAJ |access-date=15 May 2014 |ref=none }}.</ref> and that it must also be lived in order to be prayed, that without action, the prayer is idle, empty, and in vain, and therefore the theology of demons.<ref>{{citation |last1=St. Maximus |author-link1=Maximus the Confessor |chapter=Letter 20 |orig-date=7th century |editor1-last=Migne |editor1-first=J.P. |title=Patrologia Graeca |page=601C |volume=91 |location=Paris |publisher=Imprimerie Catholique |year=1857–1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsPUAAAAMAAJ |access-date=15 May 2014 |ref=none }}.</ref>

=== Catholicity ===
{{anchor|Catholicity of the Orthodox Church}}
[[File:John the Baptist of Macedonia.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] [[icon]] of St. [[John the Baptist]], 14th century, [[North Macedonia]]]]

The Eastern Orthodox Church considers itself to be both orthodox and catholic.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Catholic' and 'Orthodox' – Questions & Answers |url=https://www.oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/catholic-and-orthodox |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=Orthodox Church in America |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033643/https://www.oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/catholic-and-orthodox |url-status=live }}</ref> The doctrine of the [[Catholicity of the Church]], as derived from the [[Nicene Creed]], is essential to Eastern Orthodox [[ecclesiology]]. The term ''Catholicity of the Church'' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Καθολικότης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας}}) is used in its original sense, as a designation for the universality of the Christian Church, centred around Christ. Therefore, the Eastern Orthodox notion of catholicity is not centred around any singular see, unlike the Catholic Church which has one earthly centre.

Due to the influence of the Catholic Church in the West, where the [[English language]] itself developed, the words "catholic" and "catholicity" are sometimes used to refer to that church specifically. However, the more prominent dictionary sense given for general use is still the one shared by other languages, implying breadth and universality, reflecting comprehensive scope.{{sfn|American Heritage Dict|5th ed|p=294 [http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=catholicity "catholicity"]}} In a Christian context, the Christian Church, as identified with the original church founded by Christ and his apostles, is said to be catholic (or universal) in regard to its union with Christ in faith.{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=16}}

Just as Christ is indivisible, so are union with him and faith in him, whereby the Christian Church is "universal", unseparated, and comprehensive, including all who share that faith. Orthodox bishop [[Kallistos Ware]] has called that "simple Christianity".{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=16}} That is the sense of early and [[patristic]] usage wherein the church usually refers to itself as the "Catholic Church",{{sfn|Encyclopedia of Christianity|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7ly4DgtT3LkC&pg=PA867 867]}}{{sfn|Leith|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=saFgJRjaPwcC&pg=PA486 486]}} whose faith is the "Orthodox faith". It is also the sense within the phrase "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church", found in the [[Nicene Creed]], and referred to in Orthodox worship, e.g. in the litany of the catechumens in the Divine Liturgy.

With the mutual excommunications of the East–West Schism in 1054,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=6 April 2020 |title=Great Schism |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul16/great-schism/ |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=National Geographic Society |language=en |quote=On July 16, 1054, Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius was excommunicated, starting the "Great Schism" that created the two largest denominations in Christianity—the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths. |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730210422/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul16/great-schism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the churches in Rome and Constantinople each viewed the other as having departed from the [[One true church|true church]], leaving a smaller but still-catholic church in place. Each retained the "Catholic" part of its title, the "''Roman'' Catholic Church" (or Catholic Church) on the one hand, and the "''Orthodox'' Catholic Church" on the other, each of which was defined in terms of inter-communion with either Rome or Constantinople. While the Eastern Orthodox Church recognises what it shares in common with other churches, including the Catholic Church, it sees catholicity in terms of complete union in communion and faith, with the Church throughout all time, and the sharing remains incomplete when not shared fully.

== History ==

{{Main|History of the Eastern Orthodox Church}}

=== Early Church ===

[[File:Ephesus IchthysCrop.jpg|thumb|An early Christian "[[Ichthys]]" (''fish'') inscription from ancient [[Ephesus]]|210x210px]]

[[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] and the [[Twelve Apostles|Apostles]] travelled extensively throughout the [[Roman Empire]], including Asia Minor, [[Early Christianity|establishing churches in major communities]], with the first churches appearing in [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]] and the [[Holy Land]], then in [[Antioch]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Egypt]], [[Rome]], [[Alexandria]], [[Athens]], [[Thessalonica]], [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], and [[Constantinople|Byzantium]], which centuries later would become prominent as the [[New Rome]].<ref name=ware1993>{{harvnb|Ware|1993}}</ref> Christianity [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|encountered considerable resistance in the Roman Empire]], mostly because its adherents refused to comply with the demands of the Roman state—often even when their lives were threatened—by offering sacrifices to the pagan gods. Despite persecution, skepticism, and initial social stigma, the Christian Church spread, particularly following the [[Constantine I and Christianity|conversion of Emperor Constantine I]] in AD 312.<ref name=ware1993/>

By the [[Christianity in the 4th century|fourth century]], Christianity was present in numerous regions well beyond the Levant. A number of influential schools of thought had arisen, particularly the [[Catechetical School of Alexandria|Alexandrian]] and [[School of Antioch|Antiochian]] philosophical approaches. Other groups, such as the [[Arians]], had also managed to gain influence. However, their positions caused theological conflicts within the church, thus prompting the [[Constantine the Great|Emperor Constantine]] to call for a great ecumenical synod to define the church's position against the growing, often widely diverging, philosophical and theological interpretations of Christianity. He made it possible for this council to meet not only by providing a location but also by offering to pay for the transportation of all the existing bishops of the church. Most modern Christian churches regard this synod, commonly called the [[First Council of Nicaea]] or more generally the [[First Ecumenical Council]],<ref name=ware1993/><ref>{{cite book| author = Tomáš Špidlík
| title = The spirituality of the Christian East: a systematic handbook| year = 1986
| publisher = Cistercian Publications| isbn = 978-0-87907-879-9 }}</ref> as of major importance.

=== Ecumenical councils ===

{{Main|First seven Ecumenical Councils}}

{{See also|State church of the Roman Empire}}
[[File:Nicaea icon.jpg|thumb|[[Icon]] depicting [[Constantine the Great]], accompanied by the bishops of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325), holding the [[Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed|Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381]]. First line of main text in Greek: {{lang|grc|Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θ[εό]ν, πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ κ[αὶ] γῆς}}. Translation: "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."]]

Several doctrinal disputes from the fourth century onwards led to the calling of [[ecumenical council]]s. In the Orthodox Church, an ecumenical council is the supreme authority that can be invoked to resolve contested issues of the faith. As such, these councils have been held to resolve the most important theological matters that came to be disputed within the Christian Church. Many lesser disagreements were resolved through local councils in the areas where they arose, before they grew significant enough to require an ecumenical council.

There are seven councils authoritatively recognised as ecumenical by the Eastern Orthodox Church:
# The [[First Ecumenical Council]] was convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine at [[Nicaea]] in 325 and presided over by the Patriarch [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria|Alexander of Alexandria]], with over 300 bishops condemning the view of [[Arius]] that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8062|title=The First Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326232946/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8062|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Second Ecumenical Council]] was held at Constantinople in 381, presided over by the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, with 150 bishops, defining the nature of the Holy Spirit against those asserting His inequality with the other persons of the Trinity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8065|title=The Second Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326234312/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8065|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Third Ecumenical Council]] is that of Ephesus in 431, presided over by the Patriarch of Alexandria, with 250 bishops, which affirmed that Mary is truly "Birthgiver" or "Mother" of God (''[[Theotokos]]''), contrary to the teachings of [[Nestorius]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8066|title=The Third Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326234318/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8066|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] is that of Chalcedon in 451, Patriarch of Constantinople presiding, 500 bishops, affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly man, without mixture of the two natures, contrary to [[Monophysite]] teaching.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8067|title=The Fourth Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326234323/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8067|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]] is the second of Constantinople in 553, interpreting the decrees of Chalcedon and further explaining the relationship of the two natures of Jesus; it also condemned the alleged teachings of [[Origen]] on the pre-existence of the soul, etc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8068|title=The Fifth Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326234328/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8068|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] is the third of Constantinople in 681; it declared that Christ has two wills of his two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the [[Monothelites]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8069|title=The Sixth Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326234332/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8069|url-status=live}}</ref>
# The [[Seventh Ecumenical Council]] was called under the Empress Regent [[Irene of Athens]] in 787, known as the second of Nicaea. It supports the [[veneration]] of [[icon]]s while forbidding their worship. It is often referred to as "The Triumph of Orthodoxy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8071|title=The Seventh Ecumenical Council – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=24 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324035845/http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8071|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are also two other councils which are considered ecumenical by some Eastern Orthodox:

* The [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] was called in 879. It restored [[Photius]] to his [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|See in Constantinople]] and condemned any alteration of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.
* The [[Fifth Council of Constantinople]] was actually a series of councils held between 1341 and 1368. It affirmed the [[hesychastic]] theology of [[Gregory Palamas]] and condemned the philosopher [[Barlaam of Calabria]].

=== Other major councils ===
In addition to these councils, there have been a number of other significant councils meant to further define the Eastern Orthodox position. They are the Synods of Constantinople, in [[Synod of Constantinople (1484)|1484]], 1583, [[Oros of the Holy Great Church of Christ|1755]], 1819, and [[Phyletism|1872]], the [[Synod of Iași]] in 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox [[Synod of Jerusalem (1672)|Synod of Jerusalem in 1672]]. Another council convened in [[Pan-Orthodox Council|June 2016]] to discuss many modern phenomena, other Christian confessions, Eastern Orthodoxy's relation with other religions and fasting disciplines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Fanar:-Churches-reach-agreement-on-pan-Orthodox-Holy-Synod-in-2016-30509.html|title=Fanar: Churches reach agreement on pan-Orthodox Holy Synod in 2016|website=Asia News|access-date=2015-04-28|archive-date=2015-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618011617/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Fanar:-Churches-reach-agreement-on-pan-Orthodox-Holy-Synod-in-2016-30509.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Roman and Byzantine Empire ===
{{main|State church of the Roman Empire|Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople}}

[[File:Hagia Sophia (228968325).jpeg|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]], the largest church in the world and patriarchal basilica of [[Constantinople]] for nearly a thousand years, later converted into a [[mosque]], then a museum, then back to a mosque]]

[[Constantinople]] is generally considered to be the centre and the "cradle of Orthodox [[Role of Christianity in civilisation|Christian civilisation]]".<ref>{{cite book| title = Christianity: Religions of the World | first = Ken | last = Parry | year = 2009 | isbn=9781438106397| page = 139 |publisher = Infobase Publishing |quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity
| first = Ken| last = Parry| year = 2010| isbn=9781444333619| page = 368| publisher = John Wiley & Sons| quote = }}</ref> From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe.<ref>Pounds, Norman John Greville. ''An Historical Geography of Europe, 1500–1840'', p. 124. CUP Archive, 1979. {{ISBN|0-521-22379-2}}.</ref> Eastern [[Christian culture]] reached its golden age during the high point of the [[Byzantine Empire]] and continued to flourish in Ukraine and Russia, after the [[fall of Constantinople]]. Numerous [[autocephalous]] churches were established in Europe: Greece, Georgia, Ukraine, as well as in Russia and Asia.

In the 530s the [[Church of the Holy Wisdom]] (Hagia Sophia) was built in [[Constantinople]] under Emperor [[Justinian I]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archnet.org/sites/1989 |title=Hagia Sophia |publisher=Archnet |access-date=12 March 2016 |archive-date=13 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313024104/http://archnet.org/sites/1989 |url-status=live }}</ref> Beginning with subsequent [[Byzantine architecture]], Hagia Sophia became the paradigmatic [[Eastern Orthodox church architecture|Orthodox church form]] and its architectural style was emulated by [[Ottoman architecture#Classical period (1437–1703)|Ottoman mosques]] a thousand years later.<ref name="Heinle1996">{{harvnb|Heinle|Schlaich|1996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Machabee |first=Stephanie |date=2022-04-01 |title=Religion and Contested Cultural Heritage: The Rotunda and Hagia Sophia as Church, Mosque, and Museum |url=https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/630 |journal=Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations |archive-date=2024-04-17 |access-date=2024-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417080102/https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/630/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Being the [[episcopal see]] of the [[ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople]], it remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until [[Seville Cathedral]] was completed in 1520. [[Hagia Sophia]] has been described as "holding a unique position in the [[Christian world]]",<ref name="Heinle1996" /> and architectural and [[cultural icon]] of [[Byzantine culture|Byzantine]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Culture|Eastern Orthodox civilisation]],<ref>{{harvnb|Cameron|2009}}.</ref><ref name=M19>{{harvnb|Meyendorff|1982}}.</ref> and it is considered the epitome of [[Byzantine architecture]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fazio|first1=Michael|title=Buildings Across Time|last2=Moffett|first2=Marian|last3=Wodehouse|first3=Lawrence|publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education|year=2009|isbn=978-0-07-305304-2|edition=3rd}}</ref> and is said to have "changed the history of architecture".<ref name=nytimes22>{{cite news|last=Simons|first=Marlise|date=22 August 1993|title=Center of Ottoman Power|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/22/travel/center-of-ottoman-power.html|access-date=4 June 2009|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712043016/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/22/travel/center-of-ottoman-power.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Early schisms ===

There are the "[[Nestorian]]" churches resulted from the reaction of the [[Council of Ephesus]] (431), which are the earliest surviving Eastern Christian churches that keep the faith of only the first two ecumenical councils, i.e., the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) and the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381) as legitimate. "Nestorian" is an outsider's term for a tradition that predated the influence of [[Nestorius]], the origin of which might lie in certain sections of the [[School of Antioch]] or via Nestorius' teachers [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] or [[Diodore of Tarsus]]. The modern incarnation of the "[[Nestorian Church]]" is commonly referred to as "the Assyrian Church" or fully as the [[Assyrian Church of the East]].

The church in Egypt ([[Patriarchate of Alexandria]]) split into two groups following the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451), over a dispute about the relation between the divine and human natures of [[Jesus]]. Eventually this led to each group [[Anathema#Religious usage|anathematising]] the other. Those that remained in communion with the other patriarchs (by accepting the Council of Chalcedon) are known today as the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], where the adjective "Greek" refers to their ties to the Greek-speaking culture of the Byzantine Empire.

Those who disagreed with the findings of the Council of Chalcedon were the majority in Egypt. Today, they are known as the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], having maintained a separate patriarchate. The Coptic Orthodox Church is currently the largest Christian church in Egypt and the entire [[Middle East]]. Likewise, in the [[Levant]] and [[Mesopotamia]], another schism occurred to the [[Patriarchate of Antioch]], resulting in the establishment of two parallel patriarchates which endure today: the [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch]] and the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wigram |first=William Ainger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OTYAAAAMAAJ |title=The Separation of the Monophysites |date=1978 |publisher=AMS Press |isbn=978-0-404-16115-6 |pages=63,132 |language=en |quote=Monophysites were no more than a party every where (except in Egypt, where they were all-powerful), but that party was the majority in Palestine and Syria, and was not negligible in the Capital, and in Asia Minor. .. There were plenty of laity and monks among the Monophysites; there was a fair supply of clergy; Chalcedonians were negligible in Egypt, and a minority in all the Orient, though they were a considerable minority, perhaps even a local majority, in Palestine. |archive-date=2025-08-26 |access-date=2025-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250826021740/https://books.google.com/books?id=0OTYAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Those who disagreed with the Council of Chalcedon are called ''[[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]]'' to distinguish them from the ''[[Eastern Orthodox]]'', who accepted the Council of Chalcedon. Oriental Orthodox are also sometimes referred to as "non-Chalcedonians" or "anti-Chalcedonians". The Oriental Orthodox Church denies that it is monophysite and prefers the term ''[[miaphysite]]'', to denote the "united" nature of Jesus (two natures united into one composite nature) consistent with Cyril's theology: "The term union&nbsp;... signifies the concurrence in one reality of those things which are understood to be united" and "the Word who is ineffably united with it in a manner beyond all description" ([[Cyril of Alexandria]], ''On the Unity of Christ''). This is also defined in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic]] liturgy, where it is mentioned "He made it [his humanity] one with his divinity without mingling, without confusion and without alteration", and "His divinity parted not from his humanity for a single moment nor a twinkling of an eye."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Image 219 of The Divine Liturgies of Saints Basil, Gregory, and Cyril|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ihas.200155823.0/?sp=219|access-date=4 December 2021|website=Library of Congress|archive-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204215426/https://www.loc.gov/resource/ihas.200155823.0/?sp=219|url-status=live}}</ref> They do not accept the teachings of [[Eutyches]], or [[Eutychianism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/1_7.html#1|last=St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church, Jersey City, NJ.|title=Tout 7 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium|access-date=8 December 2023|archive-date=10 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010114833/https://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/1_7.html#1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://st-takla.org/books/en/pope-shenouda-iii/nature-of-christ/eutychianism.html|last=St Takla Haymanaut Coptic Orthodox|title=The Heresy of Eutyches (Eutychianism) – Nature of Christ|access-date=8 December 2023}}</ref> Both the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches formally believe themselves to be the continuation of the true church.

=== Conversion of the South and East Slavs ===

{{Further|Christianisation of Bulgaria|Christianisation of Kievan Rus'}}

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Christianity made great inroads into pagan Europe, including [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]] (864) and later [[Kievan Rus']] (988). This work was made possible by  [[Cyril and Methodius]] of [[Thessaloniki]], two brothers chosen by [[Byzantine emperor Michael III]] to fulfil the request of [[Rastislav of Moravia]] for teachers who could minister to the Moravians in their own language. Cyril and Methodius began translating the [[divine liturgy]], other liturgical texts, and the [[Gospels]] along with some other [[Bible|scriptural texts]] into local languages; with time, as these translations were copied by speakers of other dialects, the hybrid literary language [[Church Slavonic]] was created. Originally sent to convert the Slavs of [[Great Moravia]], Cyril and Methodius were forced to compete with [[Frankish mythology|Frankish]] missionaries from the Roman diocese; their [[Saint Sava (disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius)|disciples]] were driven out of Great Moravia in AD 886 and emigrated to [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]].<ref>A. Avenarius. Christianity in 9th-century Rus. // Beitruge zur byzantinischen Geschichte im 9.-11. Jahrhundert. Prague: V. Vavrinek, 1978. pp. 301–315.</ref>

[[File:Radzivill Olga in Konstantinopol.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''The baptism of [[Olga of Kiev|Princess Olga]] in [[Constantinople]]'', a miniature from the ''[[Radziwiłł Chronicle]]'']]

After the [[Christianisation of Bulgaria]] in 864, [[Saint Angelar|the disciples]] of [[Cyril and Methodius]] in [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], the most important being [[Clement of Ohrid]] and [[Naum of Preslav]], were of great importance to the Orthodox faith in the [[First Bulgarian Empire]]. In a short time they managed to prepare and instruct the future [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian]] clergy into the biblical texts and in AD 870 the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] granted the Bulgarians the oldest organised [[autocephalous]] Slavic Orthodox Church, which shortly thereafter became Patriarchate. The success of the [[Christianisation of Bulgaria|conversion of the Bulgarians]] facilitated the conversion of the [[East Slavs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stclementofohrid.com/religion/st_clement_of_ohrid.asp|title=St. Clement of Ohrid Cathedral – About Saint Clement of Ohrid|author=Aco Lukaroski|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=16 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516024053/http://www.stclementofohrid.com/religion/st_clement_of_ohrid.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2023}} A major event in this effort was the development of the [[Cyrillic script]] in [[Bulgaria]], at the [[Preslav Literary School]] in the ninth century; this script, along with the liturgical [[Old Church Slavonic]], also called [[Old Bulgarian]], was declared official in [[Bulgaria]] in 893.<ref>{{cite book | first=Francis | last=Dvornik |title=The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization | quote = The Psalter and the Book of Prophets were adapted or "modernised" with special regard to their use in Bulgarian churches, and it was in this school that glagolitic writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing, which was more akin to the Greek uncial, simplified matters considerably and is still used by the Orthodox Slavs. | year = 1956 | place = Boston | publisher = American Academy of Arts and Sciences | page = 179}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt |url-access= registration |quote= Cyrillic preslav. |title= Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 |series= Cambridge Medieval Textbooks |author= Florin Curta |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year= 2006 |isbn=978-0-521-81539-0|pages= [https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt/page/221 221]–222}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-H9BTVHKRMC&q=The+Orthodox+Church+in+the+Byzantine+Empire+Cyrillic+preslav+eastern&pg=PR3-IA34|chapter= The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire |title=Oxford History of the Christian Church|author= J. M. Hussey, Andrew Louth|publisher= Oxford University Press|year= 2010|isbn=978-0-19-161488-0|pages= 100}}</ref>

The work of Cyril and Methodius and their disciples had a major impact on the [[Serbs]] as well.<ref name="Cyril">''Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. 2001–05, s.v. "Cyril and Methodius, Saints".</ref><ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Warren E. Preece – 1972, p. 846, s.v., "Cyril and Methodius, Saints" and "Orthodoxy, Missions ancient and modern".</ref><ref>''Encyclopedia of World Cultures'', David H. Levinson, 1991, p. 239, s.v., "Social Science".</ref><ref>Eric M. Meyers, ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East'', p. 151, 1997.</ref><ref>Lunt, ''Slavic Review'', June 1964, p. 216.</ref><ref>Roman Jakobson, "Crucial problems of Cyrillo-Methodian Studies".</ref><ref>Leonid Ivan Strakhovsky, ''A Handbook of Slavic Studies'', p. 98.</ref><ref>V. Bogdanovich, ''History of the ancient Serbian literature'', Belgrade, 1980, p. 119.</ref> They accepted Christianity collectively along familial and tribal lines, a gradual process that occurred between the seventh and ninth centuries. In commemoration of their baptisms, each Serbian family or tribe began to celebrate an exclusively Serbian custom called [[Slava (patron saint)]] in a special way to honour the saint on whose day they received the sacrament of [[baptism]]. It is the most solemn day of the year for all Serbs of the Orthodox faith and has played a role of vital importance in the history of the Serbian people. Slava remains a celebration of the conversion of the Serbian people, which the church blessed and proclaimed a church institution.<ref>{{cite book| author = Stephan Thernstrom| title = Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups| year = 1980| publisher = Belknap Press| isbn = 978-0-674-37512-3| page = [https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther/page/925 925]| url = https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther/page/925}}</ref>

The missionaries to the East and [[South Slavs]] had great success in part because they used the people's native language rather than [[Greek language|Greek]], the predominant language of the Byzantine Empire, or [[Latin]], as the Roman priests did.<ref name="Cyril" /> Perhaps the greatest legacy of their efforts is the Russian Orthodox Church, which is the largest of the Orthodox churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucrdc.org/HA-RUSSIAN_ORTHODOX_CHURCH.html|title=Harvest of Despair|publisher=Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC)|access-date=21 January 2019|archive-date=21 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521233344/http://www.ucrdc.org/HA-RUSSIAN_ORTHODOX_CHURCH.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Great Schism (1054) ===

{{Main|East–West Schism}}

In the 11th century, what was recognised as the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]] took place between [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]], which led to separation between the Church of the West, the Catholic Church, and the Eastern Byzantine churches, now the Orthodox.<ref name=NatGeo>{{Cite news|last=National Geographic Society|date=6 April 2020|title=Great Schism|work=National Geographic Society|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul16/great-schism/|access-date=22 July 2020|archive-date=7 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207211000/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul16/great-schism/|url-status=live}}</ref> There were doctrinal issues like the [[filioque]] clause and the authority of the [[Pope]] involved in the split, but these were greatly exacerbated by political factors of both Church and state, and by cultural and linguistic differences between Latins and Greeks. Regarding [[papal supremacy]], the Eastern half grew disillusioned with the Pope's centralisation of power, as well as his blatant attempts of excluding the Eastern half in regard to papal approvals. It had previously been the case that the emperor would have a say when a new Pope was elected, but towards the high Middle Ages, the Christians in Rome were slowly consolidating power and removing Byzantine influence. However, even before this exclusionary tendency from the West, well before 1054, the Eastern and Western halves of the Church were in perpetual conflict, particularly during the periods of Eastern [[iconoclasm]] and the [[Photian schism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodox.org.ph/content/view/211/50/|title = East-West Schism 01 |publisher = Orthodox Church in the Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114151752/http://www.orthodox.org.ph/content/view/211/50/ |archive-date = 14 January 2012 |url-status = dead |access-date = 20 June 2016 }}</ref>

[[File:Tintoretto.2tomaconstantinopla.jpg|thumb|Latin Crusaders [[Siege of Constantinople (1204)|sacking the city of Constantinople]], the capital of the Eastern Orthodox–controlled [[Byzantine Empire]], in 1204]]

The final breach is often considered to have arisen after the capture and sacking of Constantinople by the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204; the final break with Rome occurred circa 1450. The sacking of [[Church of Holy Wisdom]] and establishment of the [[Latin Empire]] as a seeming attempt to supplant the Orthodox [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1204 is viewed with some rancour to the present day. In 2004, [[Pope John Paul II]] extended a formal apology for the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, which had also been strongly condemned by the Pope at the time, [[Innocent III]]; the apology was formally accepted by [[Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople]]. However, many items stolen during this time, such as [[holy relics]] and riches, are still held in various European cities, particularly [[Venice]].<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1204innocent.html Pope Innocent III, Letters, 126] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814182451/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1204innocent.html |date=2014-08-14 }} (given 12 July 1205, and addressed to the papal legate, who had absolved the crusaders from their pilgrimage vows). Text taken from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook by Paul Halsall. Modified. Original translation by J. Brundage.</ref><ref>{{cite book|date = 1979 |title = The Horses of San Marco, Venice|publisher = Thames and Hudson |page = 191 |translator1-first = John|translator2-first = Valerie|translator1-last = Wilton-Ely|translator2-last = Wilton-Ely|isbn =0500233047 }}</ref>

Reunion was attempted twice, at the 1274 [[Second Council of Lyon]] and the 1439 [[Council of Florence]]. The Council of Florence briefly reestablished communion between East and West, which lasted until after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In each case, however, the councils were rejected by the Orthodox people as a whole, and the union of Florence also became very politically difficult after Constantinople came under Ottoman rule. However, in the time since, several local Orthodox Christian churches have renewed union with Rome, known as the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]. Recent decades have seen a renewal of ecumenical spirit and dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/CarlsonUnity.php|title=Dr. David Carlson – Continuing the Dialogue of Love: Orthodox-Catholic Relations in 2004|author=Articles on moral / morality Orthodox Christian perspective.|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=29 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429071959/http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/CarlsonUnity.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Greek Church under Ottoman rule ===

{{Main|Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|History of the Eastern Orthodox Church under the Ottoman Empire}}

The Byzantine Empire never fully recovered from the sack of Constantinople in 1204. Over the next two centuries, it entered a precipitous decline in both territory and influence. In 1453, a much-diminished Byzantine Empire fell to the [[Ottoman Empire]], ending what was once the most powerful state in the Orthodox Christian world, if not in all [[Christendom]]. By this time [[Egypt]], another major centre of Eastern Christianity, had been under [[Muslim]] control for some seven centuries; most Eastern Orthodox communities [[Ottoman conquest of the Balkans|across southeastern Europe]] gradually came under Ottoman rule by the 16th century.

Under the Ottomans, the [[Orthodox Church of Constantinople|Greek Orthodox Church]] acquired substantial power as an autonomous ''[[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]]''. The ecumenical patriarch was the religious and administrative ruler of the ''[[Rûm]]'', an Ottoman administrative unit meaning "Roman", which encompassed all [[Rum Millet|Orthodox subjects of the Empire]] regardless of ethnicity. While legally subordinate to Muslims and [[Dhimmi|subject to various restrictions]], the Orthodox community was generally tolerated until the rise of nationalist movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and left to govern its own internal affairs, both religiously and legally. Until the empire's dissolution in the early 20th century, Orthodox Christians would remain the largest non-Muslim minority, and at times among the wealthiest and most politically influential.

[[File:Smyrna-massacre greeks-killed line.jpg|thumb|Greek Orthodox massacred during the [[Greek genocide]] in Smyrna in 1922]]

During the period 1914–1923 in Asia Minor (Anatolia) the [[Greek genocide]] took place by the Ottomans. During the Greek genocide, many Orthodox Christians were persecuted and killed. The culmination of the martyrdom was the [[Asia Minor Catastrophe]] with the killing of a large number of Orthodox. Among them, 347 clergymen of the Smyrna region and [[Chrysostomos of Smyrna|Metropolitan of Smyrna Chrysostomos]] were tortured and killed. The period 1923–1924 was followed by the obligatory [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]].<ref>Nikolaos Andriotis (2008). Chapter ''The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930)'', in "''Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας''", ΟΕΔΒ (''"Topics from Modern Greek History"''). 8th edition.</ref>

=== Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire ===
[[File:Catedral Uspenski, Helsinki, Finlandia, 2012-08-14, DD 03.JPG|thumb|[[Uspenski Cathedral]], a main cathedral of the [[Finnish Orthodox Church]] in [[Helsinki, Finland]], was built [[Grand Duchy of Finland|under Imperial Russia]].]]
By the time most Orthodox communities came under Muslim rule in the mid-15th century, Orthodoxy was very strong in Russia, which had maintained close cultural and political ties with the Byzantine Empire; roughly two decades after the fall of Constantinople, [[Ivan III of Russia]] married [[Sophia Palaiologina]], a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine XI]], and styled himself Tsar ("Caesar") or ''imperator''. In 1547, his grandson [[Ivan IV]], a devout Orthodox Christian, cemented the title as "Tsar of All Rus", establishing Russia's first centralised state with divinely appointed rulers. In 1589, the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephalous status to Moscow, the capital of what was now the largest Orthodox Christian polity; the city thereafter referred to itself as the [[Third Rome]] [[Third Rome#Russian claims|—]]<nowiki/>the cultural and religious heir of Constantinople.

Until 1666, when Patriarch Nikon was deposed by the [[Russian tsar|tsar]], the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] had been independent of the State.<ref>[http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/rusdest.htm "Russian Destinies"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928050122/http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/rusdest.htm |date=28 September 2008 }} by Fr. Andrew Phillips, "Orthodox England", 4/17 July 2005.</ref> In 1721, the first Russian Emperor, [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]], abolished completely the patriarchate and effectively made the church a department of the government, ruled by a [[Most Holy Synod|most holy synod]] composed of senior bishops and lay bureaucrats appointed by the Emperor himself. Over time, Imperial Russia would style itself a protector and patron of all Orthodox Christians, especially those within the Ottoman Empire.<ref>''Peace Treaties and International Law in European History: from the late Middle Ages to World War One'', Randall. Lesaffer, 2004, p. 357.</ref>

For nearly 200 years, until the [[Bolshevik]]s' [[October Revolution]] of 1917, the Russian Orthodox Church remained, in effect, a governmental agency and an instrument of tsarist rule. It was used to varying degrees in imperial campaigns of [[Russification]], and was even allowed to levy [[tax]]es on [[peasant]]s. The church's close ties with the state came to a head under Nicholas I (1825–1855), who explicitly made Orthodoxy a [[Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality|core doctrine of imperial unity and legitimacy]]. The Orthodox faith became further tied to Russian identity and nationalism, while the church was further subordinated to the interests of the state. Consequently, Russian Orthodox Church, along with the imperial regime to which it belonged, came to be presented as an [[enemy of the people]] by the [[Bolsheviks]] and other Russian revolutionaries.<ref>[[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]], ''Two Hundred Years Together''.</ref>

=== Eastern Orthodox churches under Communist rule ===

{{See also|Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union}}
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Christ saviour explosion.jpg
| alt1              = A church being dynamited
| caption1          = 1931 demolition of the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]] in [[Moscow]]
| image2            = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour 2024.jpg
| alt2              = Large church
| caption2          = The rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, currently the third-tallest Orthodox church
}}

After the [[October Revolution]] of 1917, part of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church fled abroad to escape [[Bolshevik]] persecutions, founding an [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia|independent church in exile]], which reunified with its Russian counterpart in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-church/russian-orthodox-church-reunites-after-80-year-rift-idUSL1729095720070517|title = Russian Orthodox church reunites after 80-year rift|newspaper = Reuters|date = 17 May 2007|last1 = Dmitracova|first1 = Olesya|archive-date = 14 April 2021|access-date = 10 September 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210414102453/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-church/russian-orthodox-church-reunites-after-80-year-rift-idUSL1729095720070517|url-status = live}}</ref> Others formed the present-day [[Orthodox Church in America]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=A History and Introduction of the Orthodox Church in America |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/oca-history-intro |access-date=2025-06-06 |website=www.oca.org |archive-date=2025-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250606232303/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/oca-history-intro |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]] (the latter whose bishops were considered ''[[episcopi vagantes]]'', yet also accepted back into mainstream Orthodoxy).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Herbel |first=Fr Oliver |date=2012-01-19 |title=HEOCACNA and Bishop Sophronios(us) |url=https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2012/01/19/heocacna-and-bishop-sophroniosus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181228/https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2012/01/19/heocacna-and-bishop-sophroniosus/ |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Orthodox History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Damick |first=Fr Andrew Stephen |date=2009-08-10 |title=The First Second Convert Orthodox Bishop in America |url=https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2009/08/10/the-first-convert-bishop/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181357/https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2009/08/10/the-first-convert-bishop/ |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Orthodox History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Namee |first=Matthew |date=2011-03-15 |title=Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview |url=https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2011/03/15/bishop-joseph-zuk-a-brief-biographical-overview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181036/https://www.orthodoxhistory.org/2011/03/15/bishop-joseph-zuk-a-brief-biographical-overview/ |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Orthodox History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.uocofusa.org/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181610/https://www.uocofusa.org/history |archive-date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA |quote=In 1928 a second group of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in the USA initiated a movement toward Orthodoxy. Because of the questions surrounding the status of Archbishop John, the group hesitated in affiliating itself with his already established jurisdiction even though it was thriving. The first Sobor of this group met in Allentown, PA in the spring of 1929 and established itself as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America. Rev. Dr. Joseph Zuk was elected as administrator to organize the diocese and at its second Sobor of 1931 in New York City he was elected as its first Bishop. Two hierarchs of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the USA consecrated Bishop Zuk in 1932 at St. Volodymyr Cathedral, on 14th Street in New York City. Unfortunately, Bishop Joseph lived less than two years following his consecration.}}</ref><ref name="Anson2006">{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Peter F |author-link=Peter Anson |url={{GBurl|lTD_PAAACAAJ}} |title=Bishops at large |publisher=Apocryphile Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-977146-18-5 |edition=1st Apocryphile |series=Independent Catholic Heritage |location=[[Berkeley, California]] |pages=504–506 |oclc=72443681 |orig-year=1964 |language=en}}</ref> Some actions against Orthodox priests and believers along with [[execution]] included [[torture]], being sent to [[Gulag|prison camps]], [[sharashka|labour camps]] or [[Psikhushka|mental hospitals]].<ref>{{cite book| author = Alexander (servant of God.) | title = Father Arseny, 1893–1973: Prisoner, Priest and Spiritual Father | year = 1998 | publisher = St Vladimir's Seminary Press | isbn = 978-0-88141-180-5 }}</ref><ref>Sullivan, Patricia. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500783.html Anti-Communist Priest Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203130801/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500783.html |date=2020-02-03 }}, ''The Washington Post'', 26 November 2006. p. C09. Accessed 9 May 2008.</ref> In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed.<ref name=time>Ostling, Richard. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813173443/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,150718,00.html "Cross meets Kremlin"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 24 June 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2008.</ref>

After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, [[Joseph Stalin]] revived the Russian Orthodox Church to intensify patriotic support for the war effort. By 1957 about 22,000 Russian Orthodox churches had become active. However, in 1959, [[Nikita Khrushchev]] initiated his own campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church and forced the closure of about 12,000 churches. It is estimated that 50,000 clergy had been executed between the revolution and the end of the Khrushchev era. Members of the church hierarchy were jailed or forced out, their places taken by docile clergy, many of whom had ties with the KGB. By 1985 fewer than 7,000 churches remained active.<ref name=time />

[[Albania]] was the only state to have declared itself [[State atheism|officially fully atheist]].<ref name="Elsie p27">{{Cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|last=Elsie|first=Robert|publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8108-6188-6|edition=2nd|series=Historical Dictionaries of Europe, No. 75|location=Lanham, MD, and Plymouth|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=haFlGXIg8uoC&pg=PA27 27]}}</ref> In some other Communist states such as Romania, the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] as an organisation enjoyed relative freedom and even prospered, albeit under strict secret police control. That, however, did not rule out demolishing churches and monasteries as part of broader [[systematisation]] (urban planning), and state persecution of individual believers. As an example of the latter, Romania stands out as a country which ran a [[Pitești Prison|specialised institution]] where many Orthodox (along with people of other faiths) were subjected to [[psychological punishment]] or torture and [[Brainwashing|mind control]] experimentation in order to force them give up their religious convictions. However, this was only supported by one faction within the regime, and lasted only three years. The Communist authorities closed down the prison in 1952, and punished many of those responsible for abuses (twenty of them were sentenced to death).<ref>Dumitru Bacu, ''[http://litek.ws/k0nsl/detox/anti-humans.htm The Anti-Humans. Student Re-Education in Romanian Prisons] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927051409/http://litek.ws/k0nsl/detox/anti-humans.htm |date=27 September 2007 }}'', Soldiers of the Cross, [[Englewood, Colorado]], 1971. Originally written in Romanian as ''Pitești, Centru de Reeducare Studențească'', Madrid, 1963.</ref><ref>[[Adrian Cioroianu]], ''Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc'' ("On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism"), [[Editura Curtea Veche]], Bucharest, 2005.</ref>

=== Post-communism to 21st century ===
Since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], and the subsequent [[Fall of Communist]] governments across the [[Orthodox world]], there has been marked growth in Christian Orthodoxy, particularly in Russia. According to the [[Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project]], between 1991 and 2008, the share of Russian adults identifying as Orthodox Christian rose from 31 per cent to 72 per cent, based on analysis of three waves of data (1991, 1998 and 2008) from the [[International Social Survey Programme]] (ISSP), a collaborative effort involving social scientists in about 50 countries.<ref>{{cite web|date=10 February 2014|title=Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2014/02/10/russians-return-to-religion-but-not-to-church/|access-date=5 March 2015|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=6 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306184913/http://www.pewforum.org/2014/02/10/russians-return-to-religion-but-not-to-church/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pew research conducted in 2017 found a doubling in the global Orthodox population since the early 20th century, with the greatest resurgence in Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 November 2017|title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|access-date=22 May 2021|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125010533/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the former Soviet Union—where the largest Orthodox communities live—self-identified Orthodox Christians generally report low levels of observance and piety: In Russia, only 6% of Orthodox Christian adults reported attending church at least weekly, 15% say religion is "very important" in their lives, and 18% say they pray daily; other former Soviet republics display similarly low levels of religious observance.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|date=8 November 2017|title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|access-date=23 May 2021|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125010533/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Moscow–Constantinople schisms ====
=====1996=====
{{main|1996 Moscow–Constantinople schism}}

Since 1923, the [[Orthodox Church of Estonia]] separated from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] due to the imprisonment of [[Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow]], and the church in the [[Republic of Estonia]] falling out of communication with the Russian Church. They petitioned to be placed under direct control of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]], operating as an autonomous church. In 1944 the [[Soviet Union]] annexed Estonia and outlawed the Orthodox Church of Estonia, forcefully bringing their churches back under the control of the Moscow Patriarch. However, the church's Primate, Metropolitan Aleksander, fled to [[Sweden]] with 21 clergymen and 8,000 followers and established a synod there operating there throughout the [[Cold War]].<ref name="Toom">Toom, Tarmo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JmFetR5Wqd8C&dq=The%20encyclopedia%20of%20Eastern%20Orthodox%20Christianity&pg=PA226 "Estonia, Orthodox Church in"], ''The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity'', p.226-8, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2011.</ref>

In 1993, the synod of the Orthodox Church of Estonia in Exile was re-registered and on 20 February 1996, [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople]] restored the church's position as subordinate to Constantinople, not Moscow. [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow]], who had been born in Estonia, rejected this loss of territory, and severed ties with Patriarch Bartholomew on February 23, removing his name from the diptychs. The two sides would then negotiate in [[Zürich]], and a settlement was reached on 16 May 1996. In it, the ethnically Estonian population of Estonia would be under the jurisdiction of the [[Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church]], while the ethnically Russian population of Estonia would be under the jurisdiction of the [[Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate]]. After signing the document the Russian Church restored communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church 8 November 2000: Russian Orthodox Church.|date=12 November 2000|website=Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-01|quote=Patriarch Bartholomew issued an 'Act' on 20 February 1996 on the renewal of the 1923 Tomos of Patriarch Meletius IV and on the establishment of the 'Autonomous Orthodox Estonian Metropolia' on the territory of Estonia. Temporal administration was entrusted to Archbishop John of Karelia and All Finland. A schismatic group headed by the suspended clergymen was accepted into canonical communion. Thus the schism in Estonia became a reality.<br /><br />On 23 February 1996, in response to the one-sided and illegal actions of Patriarch Bartholomew the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to recognise them 'as schismatic and compelling our Church to suspend canonical and Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople… and to omit the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the diptych of the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches.'|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143211/https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/}}</ref><ref name="HD" />

=====2018=====
{{main|2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism}}

Since the [[Baptism of Rus']]{{efn|[[Rus' (region)|Rus']] is a region inhabited by [[East Slavs]] who were once ruled by princes from the [[Rurik dynasty]]. This term refers to the [[Middle Ages]], in contrast to the more recent (15th century) term "Russia". See also: [[Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia]].}} in 867 the Orthodox church in Ukraine was led by the [[Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus']] who was subordinate to the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] and was largely governed by the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] since the territory was conquered in the [[Galicia–Volhynia Wars]], ending in 1392. Poland-Lithuania lost the territory to Russia as part of the peace deal of the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Great Northern War]] in 1654. In 1686 [[Dionysius IV of Constantinople]] transferred the territory to the [[Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus']]. In 1924, Orthodox churches in Ukraine besides the Metropolitan of Kyiv were placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Polish Orthodox Church]] by the Ecumenical Patriarch as an autonomous church, however, the Russian Church never agreed to nor recognised this transfer, mostly due to [[Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow]] and most of the Russian Church's leaders being imprisoned by Soviet officials.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shubin|first=Daniel|year=2004|title=A History of Russian Christianity. Volume I: From the Earliest Years Through Tsar Ivan IV|location=New York|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-289-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rowell|first=S.&nbsp;C.|year=1994|title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345|series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series|volume=25|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-45011-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sysyn|first=Frank E.|author-link=Frank Sysyn|year=1991|chapter=The Formation of Modern Ukrainian Religious Culture: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries|editor-last=Hosking|editor-first=Geoffrey|editor-link=Geoffrey Hosking|title=Church, Nation and State in Russia and Ukraine|location=Basingstoke, England|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=1–22|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-21566-9|isbn=978-1-349-21566-9}}</ref> The [[Soviet Union]], initially, had a policy of repression against the Orthodox Church, regardless of its denomination. However, after the start of the [[Operation Barbarossa|Nazi Invasion of the Soviet Union]], [[Joseph Stalin]] transformed the Russian Church into a propaganda tool to intensify patriotic support for the war effort. Following Soviet victory in the war, various autonomous and Independent Orthodox churches around eastern Europe were forcefully integrated or reintegrated into the Russian Church, including the church in Ukraine. Many of the church's leaders at this time were installed and closely monitored by the [[NKVD]] to ensure the church's support for the Soviet Union.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Alekseev, Valery. [http://www.ipc.od.ua/14spravka.html Historical and canonical reference for reasons making believers leave the Moscow patriarchate]. Created for the government of [[Moldova]]
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129175211/http://www.ipc.od.ua/14spravka.html |date=29 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://espreso.tv/news/2017/12/10/moskovskyy_patriarkhat_stvoryuvaly_agenty_nkvs_svidchat_rozskerecheni_sbu_dokumenty |title=Московський патріархат створювали агенти НКВС, – свідчать розсекречені СБУ документи |website=espreso.tv |access-date=2023-07-31 |archive-date=2017-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211003729/https://espreso.tv/news/2017/12/10/moskovskyy_patriarkhat_stvoryuvaly_agenty_nkvs_svidchat_rozskerecheni_sbu_dokumenty |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.znak.com/2017-12-10/sbu_rassekretila_arhivy_moskovskogo_patriarha_v_1945_godu_izbirali_agenty_nkgb|last=ZNAK|title=СБУ рассекретила архивы: московского патриарха в 1945 году избирали агенты НКГБ|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=11 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211003534/https://www.znak.com/2017-12-10/sbu_rassekretila_arhivy_moskovskogo_patriarha_v_1945_godu_izbirali_agenty_nkgb|url-status=dead}}</ref>

This situation led to the rise of rival, anti-Russian and anti-Soviet churches within Ukraine, including the [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] (UAOC), founded in 1917 which declared itself the restored autonomous church that existed prior to 1686 but had been eradicated within Soviet Ukraine by the 1930s. The church was largely supported by Ukrainian émigrés and diaspora, and was restored as a legally recognised church by the Ukrainian government in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/state/national_religious_question/73918/|title=Metropolitan Epifaniy (Dumenko) becomes Primate of One Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|date=15 December 2018|access-date=31 July 2023|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726115904/https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/state/national_religious_question/73918|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1992, the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate]] (UOC-KP) came into existence, being founded by members of the Russian Church [[defrocked]] for insubordination, alongside support with the Ukrainian émigré community. The church submitted a request for Ukrainian autocephaly at its founding synod in Kyiv in 1992.<ref>[https://www.cerkva.info/pages/statut СТАТУТ ПРО УПРАВЛІННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЇ ЦЕРКВИ КИЇВСЬКОГО ПАТРІАРХАТУ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924085044/https://www.cerkva.info/pages/statut |date=2018-09-24 }} See Chapter I, § 1 and 7.</ref><ref>[http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/221781 After autocephaly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028073716/http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/221781 |date=2018-10-28 }}, [[The Ukrainian Week]] (26 October 2018)<br />{{in lang|uk}} [https://m.gazeta.ua/articles/life/_vselenskij-patriarhat-oprilyudniv-dokumenti-na-pidtrimku-ukrayinskoyi-avtokefaliyi/859088 The Ecumenical Patriarchate unveiled documents in support of Ukrainian autocephaly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508104422/https://gazeta.ua/articles/life/_vselenskij-patriarhat-oprilyudniv-dokumenti-na-pidtrimku-ukrayinskoyi-avtokefaliyi/859088 |date=2022-05-08 }}, [[Gazeta.ua]] (14 September 2018).</ref> These churches were competing with the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] (UOC-MP), the Russian Church in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy War: The Fight for Ukraine's Churches and Monasteries|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2023/04/holy-war-the-fight-for-ukraines-churches-and-monasteries?lang=en|date=11 April 2023|access-date=27 April 2023|website=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]]|language=English|archive-date=25 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525051600/https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2023/04/holy-war-the-fight-for-ukraines-churches-and-monasteries?lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Yearbook of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Year 2022, pp. 1007–1026.</ref>

On 11 October 2018, the [[Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] revoked the Russian Church's letter of issue, allowing them to ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv, re-established a [[wiktionary:stauropegion|stauropegion]] in Kyiv, and lifted the Russian Church's excommunication of members of the UAOC and the UOC-KP. In response, on 15 October, the [[Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church]] severed all ties with the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] and barred all members of the Russian Church from receiving communion or sacraments from any churches with ties to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2018/10/15/news165263/|title=Statement by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the Russian Church|date=15 October 2018|publisher=Russian Orthodox Church|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-16|quote=To admit into communion schismatics and a person anathematized in other Local Church with all the 'bishops' and 'clergy' consecrated by him, the encroachment on somebody else's canonical regions, the attempt to abandon its own historical decisions and commitments – all this leads the Patriarchate of Constantinople beyond the canonical space and, to our great grief, makes it impossible for us to continue the Eucharistic community with its hierarch, clergy and laity. From now on until the Patriarchate of Constantinople's rejection of its anti-canonical decisions, it is impossible for all the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church to concelebrate with the clergy of the Church of Constantinople and for the laity to participate in sacraments administered in its churches.|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502133723/https://mospat.ru/en/2018/10/15/news165263/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/ru/2018/10/16/news165283/|title=Журналы заседания Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви от 15 октября 2018 года |publisher=Russian Orthodox Church|date=16 October 2018|language=ru-RU|trans-title=MINUTES of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 15 October 2018|access-date=16 July 2019|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031065636/https://mospat.ru/ru/2018/10/16/news165283/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 December 2018, the UAOC and UOC-KP voted to merge in the [[Unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine]], forming the restored [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]], with [[Epiphanius of Kyiv]], of the UOC-KP, becoming the first primate of the unified church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/bishop-epiphaniy-dumenko-elected-primate-of-the-orthodox-church-in-ukraine/|last=Jivko Panev|title=Bishop Epiphaniy (Dumenko) elected Primate of the "Orthodox Church in Ukraine"|date=15 December 2018|website=Orthodoxie|language=en-US|access-date=2 October 2023|archive-date=23 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523181207/https://orthodoxie.com/en/bishop-epiphaniy-dumenko-elected-primate-of-the-orthodox-church-in-ukraine/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 5 January 2019, Bartholomew I signed the official [[Tomos (Eastern Orthodox Church)|tomos]] that granted [[autocephaly]] to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/ocu/74190/|title=Ukraine receives Tomos officially and forever|date=6 January 2019|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-date=8 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108031645/https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/ocu/74190/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to severing ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Russian Church has also severed communion with Archbishop [[Ieronymos II of Athens]] primate of the [[Church of Greece]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/10/17/news178948/|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church {{!}} The Russian Orthodox Church|date=17 October 2019|website=Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-19|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080401/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/10/17/news178948/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/77486/|title=ROC Synod disbelieves entire Greek Church could recognize OCU and called not to remember Archbishop Hieronymos for his communion with Epifaniy|date=17 October 2019|website=Religious Information Service of Ukraine|access-date=19 October 2019|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080351/https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/77486/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/statement-of-the-holy-synod-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/|last=Jivko Panev|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church|date=17 October 2019|website=Orthodoxie|language=en-US|access-date=19 October 2019|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019080117/https://orthodoxie.com/en/statement-of-the-holy-synod-of-the-russian-orthodox-church/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria|Patriarch Theodore II]] [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|of Alexandria]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://religionpravda.com.ua/2019/12/26/РПЦ-розірвала-відносини-з-Олександрі/|last=Religion Pravda|title=РПЦ розірвала відносини з Олександрійським Патріархом і вдерлась на його канонічну територію – рішення Синоду|work=Релігійна правда |date=2019-12-26|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814082456/http://religionpravda.com.ua/2019/12/26/%D0%A0%D0%9F%D0%A6-%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B7%D1%96%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%B7-%D0%9E%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%96/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15416|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases liturgical commemoration of patriarch of Alexandria for recognizing new church of Ukraine|date=26 December 2019|website=Interfax Religion|access-date=26 December 2019|archive-date=17 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117004431/http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15416|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=74025|last=Interfax Religion|title=Патриарх Кирилл прекращает поминовение Александрийского патриарха из-за признания им ПЦУ|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226161350/http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=74025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/12/26/news181656/|title=Holy Synod of the Russian Church expresses its deep sorrow over uncanonical actions of Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria who entered into communion with schismatics|publisher=The Russian Orthodox Church|via=Department for External Church Relations|date=26 December 2019|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-27|archive-date=27 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227134626/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/12/26/news181656/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Archbishop [[Chrysostomos II of Cyprus|Chrysostomos II]] of [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода от 20 ноября 2020 года / Официальные документы / Патриархия.ru|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5721952.html|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Патриархия.ru|language=ru|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128143940/http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5721952.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases commemoration of Archbishop of Cyprus|url=https://orthochristian.com/135494.html|access-date=20 November 2020|website=Orthodox Christianity|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120143152/https://orthochristian.com/135494.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=20 November 2020|title=Patriarch Kirill ceases liturgical commemoration of archbishop of Cyprus for backing schism in Ukraine|url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15995|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Interfax-Religion|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120155606/http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15995|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-24|title=Archbishop of Cyprus commemorates Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv for first time (upd)|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-commemorates-metropolitan-epifaniy-of-kyiv-for-first-time/|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Orthodox Times|language=en-US|archive-date=23 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123184817/https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-commemorates-metropolitan-epifaniy-of-kyiv-for-first-time/|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to the severing of ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the [[Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe]] (AROCWE), voted to dissolve itself, although the vote failed, it resulted in a split in AROCWE, with several churches leaving to form the "Vicariate of Russian Tradition of the Metropolis of France", while {{Interlanguage link|John (Renneteau)|lt=John (Renneteau)|ru|Иоанн (Реннето)|WD=}}, head of the AROCWE, personally joined the Russian Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2019/09/14/news177560/|title=The Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod integrates the head of the Archdiocese of the Western European Parishes of Russian Tradition as well as clergy and parishes who wish to follow him|date=14 September 2019|website=Russian Orthodox Church Department of External Relations|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915182943/https://mospat.ru/en/2019/09/14/news177560/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constantinople bishop of France creates Russian Vicariate in place of Russian Exarchate that Synod dissolved |url=http://orthochristian.com/126060.html |website=Orthodox Christianity |date=3 December 2019 |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204072903/http://orthochristian.com/126060.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2018/11/28/its-official-ecumenical-patriarchate-dissolves-russian-archdiocese-of-western-europe/|title=IT'S OFFICIAL: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE DISSOLVES RUSSIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF WESTERN EUROPE|date=2018-11-28|work=ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE|access-date=2018-12-03|archive-date=3 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203143208/https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2018/11/28/its-official-ecumenical-patriarchate-dissolves-russian-archdiocese-of-western-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/25371-apokleistiko-to-oikoumeniko-patriarxeio-katirgise-tin-ejarxia-ton-koinotiton-rosikis-paradoseos|title=ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΟ: Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο κατήργησε την Εξαρχία των Κοινοτήτων Ρωσικής Παραδόσεως|date=27 November 2018|work=ROMFEA|access-date=2018-11-27|language=el-gr|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127193858/https://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/25371-apokleistiko-to-oikoumeniko-patriarxeio-katirgise-tin-ejarxia-ton-koinotiton-rosikis-paradoseos|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://orthodoxie.com/en/the-ecumenical-patriarchate-has-dissolved-the-archdiocese-of-russian-orthodox-churches-in-western-europe/|title=The Ecumenical Patriarchate has dissolved the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe|last=Jivko Panev|date=27 November 2018|website=Orthodoxie|access-date=27 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127233820/https://orthodoxie.com/en/the-ecumenical-patriarchate-has-dissolved-the-archdiocese-of-russian-orthodox-churches-in-western-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> After the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the UOC-MP severed all ties with the Russian Church.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-25 |title=Church of Ukraine: Stops commemoration of Kirill, asks to be deprived of the Patriarchal Throne |work=Orthodox Times |url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/church-of-ukraine-stops-commemoration-of-kirill-asks-to-be-deprived-of-the-patriarchal-throne/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |archive-date=2022-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525233231/https://orthodoxtimes.com/church-of-ukraine-stops-commemoration-of-kirill-asks-to-be-deprived-of-the-patriarchal-throne/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-27 |title=Resolution of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of May 27, 2022 |url=https://news.church.ua/2022/05/27/postanova-soboru-ukrajinskoji-pravoslavnoji-cerkvi-vid-27-travnya-2022-roku/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patrirachate) |language=uk |archive-date=2022-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528095136/https://news.church.ua/2022/05/27/postanova-soboru-ukrajinskoji-pravoslavnoji-cerkvi-vid-27-travnya-2022-roku/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-27 |title=Ukraine's Moscow-backed Orthodox church says cuts ties with Russia |work=Alarabiya News |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/05/27/Ukraine-s-Moscow-backed-Orthodox-church-says-cuts-ties-with-Russia |access-date=2022-05-27 |archive-date=2023-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105205232/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/05/27/Ukraine-s-Moscow-backed-Orthodox-church-says-cuts-ties-with-Russia |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Organisation and leadership ==

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox Church organization}}

{{See also|Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church}}
[[File:Timeline of the History of the main autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches, E. Orthodox point of view (2022).svg|thumb|A timeline showing the main autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, from an Eastern Orthodox point of view, up to 2022]]
[[File:Canonical_territories_of_autocephalous_and_autonomous_Eastern_Orthodox_jurisdictions_(2022).svg|alt=|thumb|The [[Canonical territory|canonical territories]] of the main autocephalous and autonomous Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions as of 2022]]
[[File:St. Nicholas Cathedral (Seoul) 7.jpg|thumb|[[St. Nicholas Cathedral (Seoul)|St. Nicholas Cathedral]] in [[Seoul]], Korea]]
The Eastern Orthodox Church is a fellowship of [[autocephalous]] ({{langx|grc|αὐτοκέφαλος}}; "self-headed") churches, with the [[ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople]] recognised as having ''[[primus inter pares]]'' status. The patriarch of Constantinople has the honour of primacy, but his title is only ''first among equals'' and he has no real authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan church. Rather, his role is limited to defined prerogatives interpreted by the ecumenical patriarch.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|title=Eastern Orthodox Church|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 July 2015|archive-date=10 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510000000/https://web.archive.org/web/20200510092158/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lewis Patsavos|title=The Primacy of the See of Constantinople in Theory and Practice* – Theology – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/the-primacy-of-the-see-of-constantinople-in-theory-and-practice-|access-date=28 October 2023|website=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|archive-date=25 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625192933/https://www.goarch.org/-/the-primacy-of-the-see-of-constantinople-in-theory-and-practice-|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=First Without Equals – A Response to the Text on Primacy of the Moscow Patriarchate|url=https://ocl.org/first-without-equals-a-response-to-the-text-on-primacy-of-the-moscow-patriarchate/|website=Orthodox Christian Laity|date=13 May 2019|access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref> At times, though, the office of the ecumenical patriarch has been accused of Constantinopolitan or Eastern [[papism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orthochristian.com/117117.html|title=Archpriest Vadim Leonov. Constantinople Papism|website=Orthodox Christianity|access-date=28 October 2023|archive-date=15 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015135427/https://orthochristian.com/117117.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orthochristian.com/115685.html|title=Archpriest Andrei Novikov. The Apotheosis of Eastern Papism|website=Orthodox Christianity|access-date=20 October 2023|archive-date=15 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015135919/https://orthochristian.com/115685.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=14 December 2020|title=Ecumenical Patriarch: Allegations spread about "papal claims" of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are completely false|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/ecumenical-patriarch-allegations-spread-about-papal-claims-of-the-ecumenical-patriarchate-are-completely-false/|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Orthodox Times}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox Church considers [[Jesus Christ]] to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body. It is believed that Church authority and the [[grace of God]] is directly passed down to Orthodox [[bishop]]s and other [[clergy]] through the [[laying on of hands]]—a practice started by the [[New Testament apostles]]{{em dash}}and that this unbroken historical link is an essential element of the [[One true church|true church]] ({{Bibleverse|Acts|8:17}}; {{Bibleverse|1 Timothy|4:14}}; {{Bibleverse|Hebrews|6:2}}) The Eastern Orthodox Church asserts that [[apostolic succession]] requires apostolic faith, and bishops without apostolic faith, who are in [[heresy]], forfeit their claim to apostolic succession.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Fr. John |title=An Orthodox Response to the Recent Roman Catholic Declaration on the Nature of the Church |journal=The Word |issue=October 2007 |date=October 2007 |url=http://www.antiochian.org/node/17076 |access-date=22 May 2014 |ref=none |archive-date=2 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802015235/http://antiochian.org/node/17076 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The Eastern Orthodox communion is organised into several regional churches, which are either autocephalous or lower-ranking [[Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy)|autonomous]] ("self-governing") church bodies unified in [[theology]] and worship. These include the fourteen autocephalous churches of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East|Antioch]], [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgia]], [[Church of Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgaria]], [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Serbia]], [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russia]], [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Polish Orthodox Church|Poland]], [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Romania]], [[Albanian Orthodox Church|Albania]], and the [[Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church|Czech Republic and Slovakia]], which were officially invited to the [[Pan-Orthodox Council]] of 2016;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.holycouncil.org/churches|title=The Orthodox Churches – The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church|website=Holy and Great Council|date=19 June 2016|accessdate=14 October 2023|archive-date=10 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010115022/https://www.holycouncil.org/churches|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Orthodox Church in America]] formed in 1970; the autocephalous [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]] created in 2019; the [[Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric]], granted autocephaly by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2022;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Testorides |first1=Konstantin |title=Churches of Serbia, North Macedonia, end decades-old dispute |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/churches-serbia-north-macedonia-end-decades-dispute-84937419 |website=ABC |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525234638/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/churches-serbia-north-macedonia-end-decades-dispute-84937419 |archive-date=25 May 2022}}</ref> and a number of autonomous churches.<ref name="bbc" /> Each church has a ruling [[bishop]] and a [[Holy Synod|holy synod]] to administer its jurisdiction and lead the Eastern Orthodox Church in the preservation and teaching of the apostolic and [[wikt:patristic|patristic]] traditions and church practices.

Each bishop has a territory ([[episcopal see|see]]) over which he governs. His main duty is to make sure the traditions and practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church are preserved. Bishops are equal in authority and cannot interfere in the jurisdiction of another bishop. Administratively, these bishops and their territories are organised into various autocephalous groups or [[synod]]s of bishops who gather together at least twice each year to discuss the state of affairs within their respective sees. While bishops and their autocephalous synods have the ability to administer guidance in individual cases, their actions do not usually set precedents that affect the entire Eastern Orthodox Church. Bishops are almost always chosen from the monastic ranks and must remain unmarried.

=== Church councils ===

[[File:Rylands Nicene Creed papyrus.jpg|thumb|Oldest extant manuscript of the [[Nicene Creed]], dated to the fifth century|256x256px]]

The ecumenical councils followed a democratic form, with each bishop having one vote. Though present and allowed to speak before the council, members of the [[Imperial Roman]]/[[Byzantine]] court, abbots, priests, deacons, monks and laymen were not allowed to vote. The primary goal of these great synods was to verify and confirm the fundamental beliefs of the [[Great Church|Great Christian Church]] as truth, and to remove as heresy any false teachings that would threaten the Christian Church. The [[pope of Rome]] at that time held the position of ''[[primus inter pares]]'' ("first among equals") and, while he was not present at any of the councils, he continued to hold this title until the [[East–West Schism]] of 1054.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin. "First Without Equals"|url=https://orthochristian.com/128964.html|access-date=28 October 2023|website=Orthodox Christianity|archive-date=10 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010115225/https://orthochristian.com/128964.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1,000-Year-Old Schism That Pope Francis Seeks To Heal|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/05/21/314270024/the-1-000-year-old-schism-that-pope-francis-seeks-to-heal|access-date=17 June 2020|website=NPR|date=21 May 2014|last1=Poggioli|first1=Sylvia|archive-date=30 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730221047/https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/05/21/314270024/the-1-000-year-old-schism-that-pope-francis-seeks-to-heal|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Background of Ecumenical Patriarchate|url=http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/history_EP.htm|access-date=28 October 2023|website=Ecumenical Patriarch|archive-date=9 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209092126/https://orthodoxchristian.info/pages/history_EP.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Logan|first=John B.|date=March 1964|title=The Orthodox Church. By Timothy Ware. Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1963. Pp. 352. 6s.|journal=Scottish Journal of Theology|volume=17|issue=1|pages=117–119|doi=10.1017/s0036930600006256|issn=0036-9306}}</ref>

Other councils have helped to define the Eastern Orthodox position, specifically the [[Quinisext Council]], the Synods of [[Constantinople]], [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|879–880]], [[Fifth Council of Constantinople|1341, 1347, 1351]], 1583, 1819, and [[Phyletism|1872]], the [[Synod of Iași]], 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox [[Synod of Jerusalem (1672)|Synod of Jerusalem]], 1672; the [[Pan-Orthodox Council]], held in Greece in 2016, was the only such Eastern Orthodox council in modern times.

According to Eastern Orthodox teaching the position of "first among equals" gives no additional power or authority to the bishop that holds it, but rather that this person sits as organisational head of a council of equals (like a president).<ref>{{Citation|title=Gsell, Most Rev. Francis Xavier (27 Oct. 1872–12 July 1960), RC Bishop of Darwin, 1938–49; Titular Bishop of Paris; assistant at the Pontifical throne, Rome, 1951|date=1 December 2007|work=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u238027}}

"Everywhere following the decrees of the Holy Fathers, and aware of the recently recognized Canon of the one hundred and fifty most God-beloved Bishops who convened during the reign of Theodosius the Great of pious memory, who became emperor in the imperial city of Constantinople otherwise known as New Rome; we too decree and vote the same things in regard to the privileges and priorities of the most holy Church of that same Constantinople and New Rome. And this is in keeping with the fact that the Fathers naturally enough granted the priorities to the throne of Old Rome on account of her being the imperial capital. And motivated by the same object and aim the one hundred and fifty most God-beloved Bishops have accorded the like priorities to the most holy throne of New Rome, with good reason deeming that the city which is the seat of an empire, and of a senate, and is equal to old imperial Rome in respect of other privileges and priorities, should be magnified also as she is in respect of ecclesiastical affairs, as coming next after her, or as being second to her."</ref>

One of the decisions made by the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (the second ecumenical council, meeting in 381) and supported by later such councils was that the Patriarch of Constantinople should be given equal honour to the Pope of Rome since Constantinople was considered to be the "[[New Rome]]". According to the third [[Canon (canon law)|canon]] of the second ecumenical council: "Because [Constantinople] is new Rome, the bishop of Constantinople is to enjoy the privileges of honor after the bishop of Rome".<ref>Christopher M. Bellitto, ''The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-one General Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II'', Paulist Press, 2002, p. 41.</ref>

The 28th canon of the fourth ecumenical council clarified this point by stating: "For the Fathers rightly granted privileges to the throne of Old Rome because it was the royal city. And the One Hundred and Fifty most religious Bishops (i.e. the second ecumenical council in 381) actuated by the same consideration, gave equal privileges to the most holy throne of New Rome, justly judging that the city which is honoured with the Sovereignty and the Senate, and enjoys equal privileges with the old imperial Rome, should in ecclesiastical matters also be magnified as she is."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/the-leadership-of-the-ecumenical-patriarchate-and-the-significance-of-canon-28-of-chalcedon|last=Faculty of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology|title=The Leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Significance of Canon 28 of Chalcedon – Theology – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|website=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|date=30 April 2009|access-date=30 October 2023|archive-date=26 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226210253/https://www.goarch.org/-/the-leadership-of-the-ecumenical-patriarchate-and-the-significance-of-canon-28-of-chalcedon|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because of the schism, the Eastern Orthodox no longer recognise the primacy of the pope of Rome. The patriarch of Constantinople therefore, like the Pope before him, now enjoys the title of "first among equals".

=== Adherents ===
{{Further|Eastern Orthodoxy by country}}
[[File:Eastern-orthodoxy-world-by-country.svg|right|thumb|300px|Distribution of Eastern Orthodoxy in the world by country {{legend|#800000|Dominant religion}} {{legend|#c8ab37|Important minority religion}}]]
<!---This article and hence this section is about Eastern Orthodoxy. Please do not add content/claims about other groups that may be called, more generally, Orthodox in English, as in the case of Oriental Orthodoxy.-->
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The most reliable estimates currently available number Eastern Orthodox adherents at around 220 million,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Siecienski |first=Anthony Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XguXDwAAQBAJ&dq=eastern+orthodox+christians+%22300+million%22&pg=PA105 |title=Orthodox Christianity: A Very Short Introduction |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-088327-0 |language=en |archive-date=2025-11-27 |access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251127025536/https://books.google.com/books?id=XguXDwAAQBAJ&dq=eastern+orthodox+christians+%22300+million%22&pg=PA105 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Orthodox Christianity : a very short introduction {{!}} Western Libraries {{!}} Western Washington University |url=https://library.wwu.edu/orthodox-christianity-very-short-introduction |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=library.wwu.edu |archive-date=2025-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251210224242/https://library.wwu.edu/orthodox-christianity-very-short-introduction |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bitar |first=Heather N. |chapter=Greek Orthodox |series=Cancer Treatment and Research |date=2023 |title=Understanding End of Life Practices: Perspectives on Communication, Religion and Culture |volume=187 |pages=219–229 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-29923-0_15 |issn=0927-3042 |pmid=37851229 |isbn=978-3-031-29922-3 }}</ref><ref name="Peworthodox">{{cite journal |date=8 November 2017 |title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ |url-status=live |journal=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125010533/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="CSGC-2019">{{cite web |title=Status of Global Christianity, 2019, in the Context of 1900–2050 |url=https://www.gordonconwell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2019/04/StatusofGlobalChristianity20191.pdf?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=96d397f91c43baf1f0efde879e1b0adea60b776e-1589431313-0-AcEvCR7cDlLO_2vjuwohYXP4-jn6lSYH7DBCw3OU_ZuL1FXPOaenQONAnapDcyNFl02fetrA4MOi5EIvAPwK5xi9y-zi_DDHvykrxmDnXJu8-W9eIeULFeOy5WExrOA1kpnbsjldIT1OUNdpMWL71DjyyStJWurSriiBmGorozph8A6a-Sqp1MeixVQug_2iGIzXNUZk5yoCsaahaH8cdqGlre3jXT5Eha1tSH8_DajAydE9NQPBO0rZ8rSNWZ27mPVYPbXpelNLDjQm9kTkS8jBFbar0pCkC3fmH1SrVEv5fdlBjIuaELhoz0O3mQhho-zexHmjhA16INJ2vori1lOajghlmLoaQYr3JVLcR4QWpeDkkjPPQMY1xCFPcc76mMGa6aB54lCyGvMQVbeomhRkSDWDEmTAqRZMuIFaC6AA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131651/https://www.gordonconwell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2019/04/StatusofGlobalChristianity20191.pdf?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=96d397f91c43baf1f0efde879e1b0adea60b776e-1589431313-0-AcEvCR7cDlLO_2vjuwohYXP4-jn6lSYH7DBCw3OU_ZuL1FXPOaenQONAnapDcyNFl02fetrA4MOi5EIvAPwK5xi9y-zi_DDHvykrxmDnXJu8-W9eIeULFeOy5WExrOA1kpnbsjldIT1OUNdpMWL71DjyyStJWurSriiBmGorozph8A6a-Sqp1MeixVQug_2iGIzXNUZk5yoCsaahaH8cdqGlre3jXT5Eha1tSH8_DajAydE9NQPBO0rZ8rSNWZ27mPVYPbXpelNLDjQm9kTkS8jBFbar0pCkC3fmH1SrVEv5fdlBjIuaELhoz0O3mQhho-zexHmjhA16INJ2vori1lOajghlmLoaQYr3JVLcR4QWpeDkkjPPQMY1xCFPcc76mMGa6aB54lCyGvMQVbeomhRkSDWDEmTAqRZMuIFaC6AA |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=14 May 2020 |publisher=Center for Study of Global Christianity}}</ref> making Eastern Orthodoxy the second largest Christian [[Koinonia|communion]] in the world after the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="Adherents3">{{cite web|title=Major branches of religions ranked by number of adherents |website=Adherents |url=http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990819112057/http://adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity |url-status=usurped |archive-date=19 August 1999 |access-date=22 May 2014}}</ref>{{Efn|The numerous [[Protestant]] groups in the world, if taken all together, substantially outnumber the Eastern Orthodox, but they differ theologically and do not form a single communion.{{sfn|Diamond|Plattner|Costopoulos|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CTqTeiBfdxEC&pg=PP1 119]}} }}

According to the 2015 Yearbook of International Religious Demography, as of 2010, the Eastern Orthodox population was 4% of the global population, declining from 7.1% in 1910. The study also found a decrease in proportional terms, with Eastern Orthodox Christians making up 12.2% of the world's total Christian population in 2015 compared to 20.4% a century earlier.<ref name="Yearbook">{{cite book|title=Yearbook of International Religious Demography 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DToLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|date=29 June 2015|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-29739-5|page=156}}</ref> A 2017 report by the [[Pew Research Center]] reached similar figures, noting that Eastern Orthodoxy has seen slower growth and less geographic spread than Catholicism and Protestantism, which were driven by [[missionary]] activity across the world.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|last2=|first2=|last3=|first3=|date=8 November 2017|title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|access-date=24 May 2021|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125010533/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Over two-thirds of all Eastern Orthodox members are concentrated in [[Southeast Europe]], [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Asian Russia|Russia]],<ref>Sintia Radu, [https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-12-06/orthodoxism-is-declining-in-the-overall-christian-population Orthodoxism Is Declining in the Overall Christian Population] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208204649/https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-12-06/orthodoxism-is-declining-in-the-overall-christian-population |date=2021-12-08 }} U.S. News (6 December 2017).</ref> with significant minorities in [[Central Asia]] and the [[Levant]]. However, Eastern Orthodoxy has become more globalised over the last century, seeing greater growth in [[Western Europe]], [[New World|the Americas]], and parts of Africa; churches are present in the major cities of most countries.<ref>{{Citation|last=Veronis|first=Luke|title=Orthodox Missions|date=21 March 2011|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-christianity/orthodox-missions-O209?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-christianity&s.q=luke+veronis|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Christianity Online|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=8 December 2021|archive-date=8 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208204649/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-christianity/orthodox-missions-O209?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-christianity&s.q=luke+veronis|url-status=live}}.</ref> Adherents constitute the largest single religious [[faith|community]] in Russia<ref name="Sreda2012">{{cite web|date=19 October 2012|title=Orthodox belonging to Church – 41%|website=SREDA|location=Moscow|url=http://sreda.org/arena?mapcode=code13113|access-date=27 September 2015|archive-date=27 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927004117/http://sreda.org/arena?mapcode=code13113|url-status=live}} Based on a survey of 56,900 people interviewed in 2012, responding 41% yes to the statement: "I am Orthodox, and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church."<!-- This url will not archive correctly for use in archive-url.--></ref>{{efn|According to Roman Lunkin in an interview about the 2012 survey published by {{lang|ru|Среда}} (''{{transliteration|ru|Sreda}}''), about 40% of the [[Russian Federation]] population is Orthodox. However, only 5% belong to a parish or regularly attend Divine Liturgy. Lunkin said that this was long known by experts but a myth persists that 80–90% of the population is Orthodox.<ref>{{cite web| last = Филина | first = Ольга | date = 27 August 2012 | title = Верю – не верю | language = ru | website = kommersant.ru | location = Moscow | publisher = [[Коммерсантъ]] | url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1997068| access-date = 27 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827114409/http://kommersant.ru/doc/1997068| archive-date = 27 August 2012 | url-status = live}}</ref> According to ''The World Factbook'' 2006 estimate, 15–20% are practising Russian Orthodox but there is a large populations of non-practising believers.<ref name="CIAWeb" />}}—which is home to roughly half the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians—and are the majority in [[Ukraine]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /><ref name="Razumkov2006">{{cite web|url=http://razumkov.org.ua/ukr/poll.php?poll_id=300|title = Опитування: Віруючим якої церкви, конфесії Ви себе вважаєте? // Центр Разумкова|author = Sparkle Design Studio|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408220038/http://razumkov.org.ua/ukr/poll.php?poll_id=300|archive-date = 8 April 2014}}</ref> [[Romania]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Belarus]],<ref name="Belarus2011">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.by/upload/pdf/religion_eng.pdf|title=Religion and denominations in the Republic of Belarus by the Commissioner on Religions and Nationalities of the Republic of Belarus from November 2011|access-date=2015-03-06|archive-date=2017-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085840/http://www.mfa.gov.by/upload/pdf/religion_eng.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Greece]],{{efn|Data are estimated, there are no census figures available, Greece is said to be 98% Orthodox by CIA, but additional studies found only 60–80% believe in God, if true, then no more than 80% may be Orthodox.}}<ref name="CIAWeb">{{CIA World Factbook|article=Field listing :: Religions|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/religions/|access-date=22 May 2014}}</ref> [[Serbia]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Bulgaria]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Moldova]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[North Macedonia]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Cyprus]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> and [[Montenegro]];<ref name="CIAWeb" /> communities also dominate the disputed territories of [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]] and [[Transnistria]]. Significant Eastern Orthodox minorities exist in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]],{{Efn|With an absolute majority in the subnational entity of [[Republika Srpska]].}}<ref name="CIAWeb" /> [[Latvia]],<ref name="Tieslietu">{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.gov.lv/lv/labumi/TM.docx |title = Tieslietu ministrija iesniegtie religisko organizaciju parskati par darbibu 2011. gada |language = lv |access-date = 25 July 2012 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126013327/http://www.tm.gov.lv/lv/labumi/TM.docx |archive-date = 26 November 2012}}</ref> [[Estonia]],<ref>"Statistical database: Population Census 2000 – Religious affiliation". Statistics Estonia. 22 October 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2011.</ref> [[Kazakhstan]],<ref>[http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/data-tables/total-by-topic.aspx Table 28, 2013 Census Data – QuickStats About Culture and Identity – Tables] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122042347/http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/data-tables/total-by-topic.aspx |date=2017-11-22 }}.</ref> [[Kyrgyzstan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5598.htm |title=Kyrgyzstan |publisher=U.S. Department of State Archive |access-date=17 April 2010 |archive-date=4 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004232759/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5598.htm/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Lebanon]] and <ref name="freedom">[https://web.archive.org/web/20101123103408/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148830.htm Lebanon – International Religious Freedom Report 2010] U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 14 February 2010.</ref> [[Syria]],<ref name="CIAWeb" /> 

Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a growing religion in certain Western countries, primarily through labour migration, from Eastern Europe, and to a much lesser degree conversion.<ref name="Hämmerli" /> Ireland saw a doubling of its Eastern Orthodox population between 2006 and 2011.<ref name="Hämmerli">{{cite book|author1=Maria Hämmerli|author2=Jean-François Mayer|title=Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2H3fBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA229|date=28 August 2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-6754-0|page=229|quote=according to the 2011 census, Orthodox Christianity is the fastest growing religious grouping in Ireland, showing&nbsp;...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Arthur Aughey|author2=John Oakland|title=Irish Civilization: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YZiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99|date=17 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-67850-2|page=99|quote=However, the fastest-growing church is the Orthodox Church …}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=1 November 2012|title=Number of Orthodox Christians in Ireland doubled over five years|website=Orthodox Christianity|location=Moscow|publisher=Sretensky Monastery|url=http://www.orthochristian.com/57148.htm|access-date=23 May 2014}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{tertiary source|biblio=yes|date=September 2015}}</ref> Spain and Germany have the [[Eastern Orthodoxy by country|largest communities in Western Europe]], at roughly 1.5 million each,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Rodríguez Pardo | first = María del Mar | title = La diversidad religiosa en España: presencia y distribución de las confesiones minoritarias | journal = CENTRA: Journal of Social Sciences | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | year = 2022 | pages = 45–68 | url = https://www.centracs.es/revista/article/download/114/203/2500 | language = es | archive-date = 2025-12-22 | access-date = 2025-12-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20251222230036/https://www.centracs.es/revista/article/download/114/203/2500 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen/orthodoxie/|title=REMID — Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst – Mitgliederzahlen: Orthodoxe, Orientalische und Unierte Kirchen|date=2017|language=de|access-date=2025-12-05|archive-date=2019-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421171716/https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen/orthodoxie/|url-status=live}}</ref>
followed by Italy with around 900,000 and France with between 500,000 and 700,000.

In the [[Americas]], four countries have over 100,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians: Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States; all but the latter had fewer than 20,000 at the turn of the 20th century.<ref name="pewforum.org">{{Cite web|date=8 November 2017|title=Orthodox Christianity's geographic center remains in Central and Eastern Europe|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianitys-geographic-center-remains-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|access-date=24 May 2021|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=25 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225000348/http://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianitys-geographic-center-remains-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> The U.S. has seen its community more than quadruple since 1910, from 460,000 to 1.8 million as of 2017;<ref name="pewforum.org" /> consequently, the number of Eastern Orthodox parishes has been growing, with a 16% increase between 2000 and 2010.<ref name="Jones2010">{{cite news|last=Jones|first=Whitney|date=6 October 2010|title=Report finds strong growth in U.S. Orthodox Churches|website=Huffington Post|agency=Religion News Service|location=New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/report-finds-strong-growt_n_753447.html|url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010060113/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/report-finds-strong-growt_n_753447.html|archive-date=10 October 2010}}</ref>{{efn|According to Alexei Krindatch, "the total number of Orthodox parishes" increased by 16% from 2000 to 2010 in the United States, from this, he wrote that Orthodox Churches are growing.<ref name=Krindatch2010>{{cite web|last = Krindatch |first = Alexei D. |date = 2010 |title = {{interp|Highlights from the}} 2010 US Orthodox Christian census |website = Hartford Institute |location = Hartford, CT |publisher = Hartford Institute for Religion Research |url=http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/research/2010-USOrthodox-Census.pdf |access-date = 26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523173437/http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/research/2010-USOrthodox-Census.pdf |archive-date = 23 May 2011 |url-status = dead}} Conducted as part of the Religious Congregations and Membership Study 2010.</ref>{{rp|page=2}} Krindatch did not provide figures about any change in the membership over that same period in his 2010 highlight.}}{{efn|According to Oliver Herbel, in ''Turning to Tradition'', the 2008 US Religious Landscape Survey "suggests that if there is growth, it is statistically insignificant."<ref name=Herbel2014>{{cite book|last=Herbel|first=Oliver|year=2014|title=Turning to tradition: converts and the making of an American Orthodox church|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-932495-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-SZnAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|access-date=20 February 2016}}</ref>{{rp|page=9}} The 2014 US Religious Landscape Survey also shows, within the survey's ±9.2% margin of sampling error corresponding to the sample size of the ''Orthodox Christian'' category being 186 people, a statistically insignificant decline within the category "Orthodox Christians" as the percentage of population from 2007 to 2014.<ref name=PewRLS2015>{{cite book|author = Pew Research Center|date = 12 May 2015|title = America's changing religious landscape|location = Washington, DC|publisher = Pew Research Center|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/05/RLS-08-26-full-report.pdf|access-date = 26 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905170741/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/05/RLS-08-26-full-report.pdf|archive-date = 5 September 2015|url-status = live}} Based on 2014 Religious Landscape Survey.</ref>{{rp|pages=4, 21, 36, 93}} But only 53% of people who were Orthodox Christian as children still self identify as Orthodox Christian in 2014.<ref name=PewRLS2015/>{{rp|page=39}} The ''Orthodox Christian'' category "is most heavily made up of immigrants and the children of immigrants."<ref name=PewRLS2015/>{{rp|page=53}}}}

Turkey, which for centuries once had one of the largest Eastern Orthodox communities, saw its overall Christian population fall from roughly one-fifth in 1914 to 2.5% in 1927.<ref>{{cite journal|last=İçduygu|first=Ahmet|author2=Toktaş, Şule|author3=Soner, B. Ali|date=1 February 2008|title=The politics of population in a nation-building process: emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=31|issue=2|pages=358–389|doi=10.1080/01419870701491937|s2cid=143541451 |issn = 0141-9870|hdl=11729/308|hdl-access=free}}</ref> This was predominantly due to the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]], which saw most Christian territories become independent nations. The remaining Christian population was reduced further by large-scale genocides against the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]], [[Greek genocide|Greek]], [[Assyrian genocide|Assyrian communities]]; subsequent [[population exchanges between Greece and Turkey]]<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Chapter ''The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930)'' in "''Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας''", ΟΕΔΒ (''"Topics from Modern Greek History"''). 8th edition|url=http://ebooks.edu.gr/modules/ebook/show.php/DSGL-C102/79/644,2337/|publisher=Nikolaos Andriotis|format=PDF}}</ref> and Bulgaria and Turkey; and associated [[Christian emigration|emigration of Christians]] to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and [[the Americas]]).<ref>{{cite journal|year=2001|title='Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East|journal=Middle East Quarterly|url=http://www.meforum.org/487/editors-introduction-why-a-special-issue|access-date=11 June 2013|publisher=Editors' Introduction|format=PDF|last1=Quarterly|first1=Middle East|archive-date=11 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511085730/http://www.meforum.org/487/editors-introduction-why-a-special-issue|url-status=live}}</ref> Today, only 0.2% of Turkey's population represent [[Christianity in Turkey|various Christian denominations]] (320,000).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|title=Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=2022-04-14|archive-date=2019-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801204254/https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CIAWeb" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! '''Denomination'''
! '''Canonical Territory'''
! '''Number of Members''' (minimum)
! '''Number of Members''' (maximum)
! '''Year'''
|-
| [[Russian Orthodox Church]]
| Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan  
Disputed: China, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine
| 110,000,000
| 164,100,000
| 2018–2021<ref name="Ruo">{{cite book|last1=Alfeyev|first1=Hilarion|last2=Korytko|first2=Oleg|last3=Vasechko|first3=Valentin|title=History of Religions|year=2018|page=244|publisher=LitRes |isbn=978-5-04-118995-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRVgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/russian-orthodox-church-moscow-patriarchate|title=Russian Orthodox Church|date=March 7, 2021|accessdate=18 December 2025|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927091202/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/russian-orthodox-church-moscow-patriarchate|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Romanian Orthodox Church]]
| Romania  
Disputed: Moldova
| 16,000,000
| 19,000,000
| 2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Christian Database |url=https://worldchristiandatabase.com/data/ |website=worldchristiandatabase.com |publisher=Brill |access-date=2026-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Romanian Orthodox Church |date=January 1961 |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/romanian-orthodox-church |publisher=World Council of Churches |access-date=2026-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Romanian Orthodox Church |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/romanian-orthodox-church |website=EBSCO Research Starters |access-date=2 January 2026 |quote=The Romanian Orthodox Church is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches, second only to the Russian Orthodox Church, with approximately 19 million members, predominantly in Romania. |archive-date=24 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251224043724/https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/romanian-orthodox-church |url-status=live }}</ref> 
|-
| [[Church of Greece]]
| Greece (excluding territories [[Greece in the Balkan Wars|annexed 1912–1913]])
| colspan="2" | 10,003,402
| 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-greece|title=Church of Greece|date=February 19, 2021|accessdate=18 December 2025|archive-date=4 December 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251204234223/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-greece|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Serbian Orthodox Church]]
| Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia
| colspan="2" | 8,000,000
| 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/serbian-orthodox-church|title=Serbian Orthodox Church|date=March 8, 2021|accessdate=18 December 2025|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724101938/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/serbian-orthodox-church|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]]
| Bulgaria
| colspan="2" | 7,000,000
| 2013<ref name="ProOrientePatriarchateOfAllBulgaria">{{cite web|title=Patriarchate of All Bulgaria|url=https://www.pro-oriente.at/en/easternchurches/the-orthodox-church/patriarchate-of-bulgaria|website=PRO ORIENTE|publisher=PRO ORIENTE (Vienna)|access-date=19 December 2025|language=en|archive-date=16 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251116132507/https://www.pro-oriente.at/en/easternchurches/the-orthodox-church/patriarchate-of-bulgaria|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]]
| Turkey (except the southeastern part of the country) and Greece (only the territories annexed by the country in the [[Greece in the Balkan Wars|Balkan Wars]] between 1912 and 1913)
| colspan="2" | 5,255,000
| 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/ecumenical-patriarchate|title=Ecumenical Patriarchate|date=January 1948|accessdate=18 December 2025|archive-date=12 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212225240/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/ecumenical-patriarchate|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch]]
| Syria, Lebanon, Turkey (SW), Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Armenia, Azerbaijan
| 1,500,000
| 4,320,000
| 2018–2021<ref name="Ruo"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-antioch-and-all-the-east|title=Patriarchate of Antioch|date=January 1948|accessdate=18 December 2025|archive-date=24 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224232213/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-antioch-and-all-the-east|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]
| Georgia
| colspan="2" | 3,500,000
| 2011–2018<ref name="Ruo"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Grdzelidze|first=Tamara|year=2011|chapter=Georgia, Patriarchal Orthodox Church of|editor-last=McGuckin|editor-first=John Anthony|title=The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=275|isbn=978-1-4443-3731-0}}</ref>
|-
| [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]]
| All Africa
| 500,000
| 1,500,000
| 2012–2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-alexandria-and-all-africa|title=Patriarchate of Alexandria|date=January 1948|accessdate=18 December 2024|archive-date=3 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403200502/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-alexandria-and-all-africa|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.snf.org/en/grants/grantees/g/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-alexandria-and-all-africa-(1)/construction-(1)/|title=Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa – Stavros Niarchos Foundation|access-date=2025-12-19|archive-date=2021-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517034101/https://www.snf.org/en/grants/grantees/g/greek-orthodox-patriarchate-of-alexandria-and-all-africa-(1)/construction-(1)/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Church of Cyprus]]
| Cyprus
| colspan="2" | 654,000
| 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-cyprus|title=Church of Cyprus|date=January 1948|accessdate=18 December 2024|archive-date=27 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227043514/https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-cyprus|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Polish Orthodox Church]]
| Poland
| 151,648
| 503,996 
| 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stat.gov.pl/spisy-powszechne/nsp-2021/|title=Poland Census 2021|accessdate=18 December 2024|archive-date=20 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120130952/https://stat.gov.pl/spisy-powszechne/nsp-2021/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rozkrut |first=Dominik |title=Mały Rocznik Statystyczny Polski |publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny |location=Warsaw |year=2021 |page=119 |issn=1640-3630 |language=pl}}</ref>
|-
| [[Albanian Orthodox Church]]
| Albania
| colspan="2"| 500,000
| 2010<ref>{{cite book|author=John Anthony McGuckin|title=The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLIFfmipXcoC&pg=PA72|access-date=8 June 2012|date=28 December 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-3731-0|page=72|quote=The Orthodox currently represent about half a million faithful, worshipping in 909 parishes.}}</ref>
|-
| [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]]
| Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Sinai (Egypt)
| 200,000
| 500,000
| 2008–2010<ref>{{cite book |last=Baumann |first=Martin |title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, second Edition [6 volumes] |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=9781598842043 |page=1255 |quote=Total membership is estimated at 200,000, with no more than 3,500 remaining in Jerusalem itself.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=World Christianity in the 20th Century| first= Martin|last=Conway|year= 2008| isbn= 9780334040439| page =98|publisher=Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd|quote=Greek Orthodox Church, with a membership of around 500,000, is the largest church in Israel / Palestine.}}</ref>
|-
| [[Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia]]
| Czech Republic, Slovakia
| colspan="2" | 75,000
| 2021<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/orthodox-church/the-autocephalous-churches/the-orthodox-church-in-czech-and-slovak-republics/?highlight=Orthodox%20Church%20of%20the%20Czech%20Lands%20and%20Slovakia |title=CNEWA - Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, retrieved 2023-08-28 |access-date=2025-12-20 |archive-date=2025-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250707203925/https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/orthodox-church/the-autocephalous-churches/the-orthodox-church-in-czech-and-slovak-republics/?highlight=Orthodox%20Church%20of%20the%20Czech%20Lands%20and%20Slovakia |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Eastern Orthodox Church'''  
(only universally recognized autocephalous churches)
| 163,339,050
| 224,911,398
| 2008–2022
|-
| [[Macedonian Orthodox Church]]
| North Macedonia
| colspan="2" | 2,000,000
| 2022
|-
| [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]]
| Ukraine (disputed)
| colspan="2" | 21,300,000
| 2022<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sapiens.com.ua/publications/socpol-research/215/Release_IS_war_fin_6_04_church_language_ENG.pdf|title=Religious self-identification during the war|publisher=Info Sapiens|date=April 2022|accessdate=30 April 2022|archive-date=16 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416034429/https://sapiens.com.ua/publications/socpol-research/215/Release_IS_war_fin_6_04_church_language_ENG.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Orthodox Church in America]]
| United States, Canada (disputed)
| colspan="2" | 80,000
| 2021
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Eastern Orthodox Church'''  
(including partially recognized autocephalous churches)
| 186,719,050
| 248,291,398
| 2008–2022
|}

== Theology ==

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox Christian theology}}

=== Trinity ===
[[File:Andrey Rublev - Св. Троица - Google Art Project.jpg |alt=|thumb|304x304px|''[[Trinity (Andrei Rublev)|The Trinity]]'' by Russian icon painter [[Andrei Rublev]], early 15th century]]
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in the [[Trinity]], three distinct, divine persons (''[[hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostases]]''), without overlap or [[Sabellianism|modality]] among them, who each have the same divine [[essence]] (''ousia'', Greek: οὐσία)—uncreated, immaterial, and [[God and eternity|eternal]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=208–211}} These three persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The [[God the Father|Father]] is eternal and not begotten and does not proceed from any, the [[God the Son|Son]] is eternal and begotten of the Father, and the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] is eternal and proceeds from the Father.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010">{{cite book |author-last=Theokritoff |author-first=Elizabeth |year=2010 |orig-date=2008 |chapter=Part I: Doctrine and Tradition – Creator and creation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jP2vivMSezMC&pg=PA63 |editor1-last=Cunningham |editor1-first=Mary B. |editor2-last=Theokritoff |editor2-first=Elizabeth |title=The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=63–77 |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521864848.005 |isbn=9781139001977}}</ref> Orthodox doctrine regarding the Trinity is summarised in the [[Nicene Creed#Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed|Nicene Creed]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=202}}

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in a [[monotheistic]] [[God in Christianity|conception of God]] (God is only one), which is both [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and [[immanent]] (involved in the material universe).<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/>

In discussing God's relationship to his creation, Eastern Orthodox theology [[Essence–Energies distinction|distinguishes]] between God's eternal essence, which is totally transcendent, and his ''uncreated energies'', which is how he reaches humanity.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> The God who is transcendent and the God who touches mankind are one and the same.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> That is, these energies are not something that proceed from God or that God produces, but rather they are God himself: distinct, yet inseparable from God's inner being.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=67–69}} This view is often called [[Palamism]].

In understanding the [[Trinity]] as "one God in three persons", "three persons" is not to be emphasised more than "one God", and vice versa. While the three persons are distinct, they are united in one divine essence, and their oneness is expressed in community and action so completely that they cannot be considered separately. For example, their salvation of mankind is an activity engaged in common: "Christ became man by the good will of the Father and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Christ sends the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit forms Christ in our hearts, and thus God the Father is glorified." Their "communion of essence" is "indivisible". Trinitarian terminology—essence, hypostasis, etc.—are used "philosophically", "to answer the ideas of the heretics", and "to place the terms where they separate error and truth."{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=128–130}} The words do what they can do, but the nature of the Trinity in its fullness is believed to remain beyond man's comprehension and expression, a holy mystery that can only be experienced.

=== Sin, salvation, and the incarnation ===
[[File:Hosios Loukas (narthex) - East wall, right (Harrowing of Hell) 03.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Harrowing of Hell]], mosaic in the Monastery of [[Osios Loukas]], 11th century|273x273px]]

When Eastern Orthodox Christians refer to fallen nature they are not saying that human nature has become evil in itself. Human nature is still formed in the image of God; humans are still God's creation, and God has never created anything evil, but fallen nature remains open to evil intents and actions. It is sometimes said among Eastern Orthodox that humans are "inclined to sin"; that is, people find some sinful things attractive. It is the nature of temptation to make sinful things seem the more attractive, and it is the fallen nature of humans that seeks or succumbs to the attraction. Orthodox Christians reject the [[Augustinianism|Augustinian position]] that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the original sin of their ancestors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matusiak |first1=Fr. John |title=Original Sin |publisher=Orthodox Church in America |url=http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=3&SID=3 |access-date=23 May 2014 |ref=none |archive-date=7 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607095648/http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=3&SID=3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the fall of man, then, it has been mankind's dilemma that no human can restore his nature to union with God's grace; it was necessary for God to effect another change in human nature. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Christ Jesus was both God and Man absolutely and completely, having two natures indivisibly: eternally begotten of the Father in his divinity, he was born in his humanity of a woman, Mary, by her consent, through descent of the Holy Spirit. He lived on earth, in time and history, as a man. As a man he also died, and went to the place of the dead, which is [[Christian views on Hades|Hades]]. But being God, neither death nor Hades could contain him, and he rose to life again, in his humanity, by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus destroying the power of Hades and of death itself.{{sfn|Chrysostom|400|loc=[[Paschal Homily]]}}

Through Christ's destruction of Hades' power to hold humanity hostage, he made the path to salvation effective for all the righteous who had died from the beginning of time—saving many, including Adam and Eve, who are remembered in the church as saints.{{sfn|St. Athanasius|1982|loc=Ch. 2–3, p. 318}}

=== Resurrection of Christ ===

The Eastern Orthodox Church understands the death and resurrection of Jesus to be real historical events, as described in the gospels of the [[New Testament]].

=== Christian life ===
[[File:1006 Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Meteora Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg|thumb|[[Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Meteora|Monastery of the Holy Trinity]] in Greece.]]

Church teaching is that Eastern Orthodox Christians, through baptism, enter a new life of salvation through repentance whose purpose is to share in the life of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Orthodox Christian life is a spiritual pilgrimage in which each person, through the [[imitation of Christ]] and ''[[hesychasm]]'',{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=234–237,(241=Glossary)}} cultivates the practice of unceasing prayer. Each life occurs within the life of the church as a member of the [[body of Christ]].{{sfn|George|2006|p=[http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/theosis-english.pdf 34]}} It is then through the fire of God's love in the action of the Holy Spirit that each member becomes more holy, more wholly unified with Christ, starting in this life and continuing in the next.{{sfn|Oxford Dict Christian Church|3rd ed}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Fr. Thomas |title=Spirituality |publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |year=2014 |url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7114 |access-date=15 May 2014 |ref=none |archive-date=29 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329012245/http://goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7114 |url-status=live }}</ref> The church teaches that everyone, being born in God's image, is called to [[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|theosis]], fulfilment of the image in likeness to God. God the creator, having divinity by nature, offers each person participation in divinity by cooperatively accepting His gift of grace.{{sfn|George|2006|p=[http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/theosis-english.pdf 21]}}

The Eastern Orthodox Church, in understanding itself to be the [[Body of Christ]], and similarly in understanding the Christian life to lead to the unification in Christ of all members of his body, views the church as embracing all Christ's members, those now living on earth, and also all those through the ages who have passed on to the heavenly life. "In general," Eastern Orthodox Christianity sees the Church "as a purely mystical body, the understanding of which cannot be attained through the development of a rational or [[natural theology]]."<ref name="RF">{{Cite book |last=Salamone |first=Frank A. |title=Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-94180-6 |editor-last=Levinson |editor-first=David |location=New York |pages=304}}</ref>

The church includes the Christian saints from all times, and also judges, prophets and righteous Jews of the first covenant, Adam and Eve, even the angels and heavenly hosts.{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=25–30}} In Eastern Orthodox services, the earthly members together with the heavenly members worship God as one community in Christ, in a union that transcends time and space and joins heaven to earth. This unity of the church is sometimes called the ''communion of the saints''.{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|p=23}}

==== Eastern Orthodox Order of Saint Benedict ====
The Order of Saint Benedict is an affiliation of monastics of the Eastern Orthodox Church who strive to live according to the [[Rule of St Benedict]]. The equivalent monastic order in the [[Catholic Church]] is known as the [[Order of Saint Benedict]], abbreviated as OSB.

Within the United States, the [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America]] has at least one Benedictine monastery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=News & Events – the Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence |url=http://www.saintlaurenceosb.org/news--events.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015639/http://www.saintlaurenceosb.org/news--events.html |archive-date=2015-11-17 |access-date=2015-11-15}}</ref>

Several Benedictine monastic houses, ''[[skete]]s'' and hermitages fit within the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia, all of which are [[Stauropegic monastery|''stavropegial'']] directly under the Metropolitan. An oblate programme exists for Orthodox laity Saint Benedict Russian Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russian Orthodox Oklahoma – Only the finest russian orthodox oklahoma |url=http://www.russianorthodoxoklahoma.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128055347/http://www.russianorthodoxoklahoma.org/ |archive-date=2019-01-28 |access-date=2020-04-26}}</ref>

=== Virgin Mary and other saints ===

{{multiple image
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Virgin of Vladimir.jpg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = The [[Theotokos of Vladimir]], one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the [[Virgin Mary]]
| image2            = Johndamascene.jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = [[John of Damascus]]
}}

The Eastern Orthodox Church believes death and the separation of body and soul to be unnatural—a result of the [[Fall of Man]]. They also hold that the congregation of the church comprises both the living and the dead. All persons currently in heaven are considered to be [[saint]]s, whether their names are known or not. There are, however, those saints of distinction whom God has revealed as particularly good examples. When a saint is revealed and ultimately recognised by a large portion of the church a service of official recognition ([[glorification]]) is celebrated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=slife |date=2022-09-06 |title=Eastern Orthodoxy |url=https://slife.org/eastern-orthodoxy/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=The Spiritual Life |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517061020/https://slife.org/eastern-orthodoxy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

This does not "make" the person a saint; it merely recognises the fact and announces it to the rest of the church. A day is prescribed for the saint's celebration, hymns composed and icons created. Numerous saints are celebrated on each day of the year. They are venerated (shown great respect and love) but not worshipped, for worship is due God alone (this view is also held by the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] and [[Catholic church]]es). In showing the saints this love and requesting their prayers, the Eastern Orthodox manifest their belief that the saints thus assist in the process of salvation for others.

Pre-eminent among the saints is the [[Virgin Mary]] (commonly referred to as ''Theotokos'' or ''Bogoroditsa'': "[[Mother of God]]"). In [[Eastern Orthodox theology]], the Mother of God is the fulfilment of the Old Testament archetypes revealed in the [[Ark of the Covenant]] (because she carried the New Covenant in the person of Christ) and the [[burning bush]] that appeared before [[Moses]] (symbolising the Mother of God's carrying of God without being consumed).<ref>{{cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=Gregory of Nyssa; transl., introduction and notes by Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson; preface by John|title=The life of Moses|year=1978|publisher=Paulist Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8091-2112-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/gregoryofnyssa00abra/page/59 59]|url=https://archive.org/details/gregoryofnyssa00abra/page/59|access-date=4 October 2013}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that Christ, from the moment of his conception, was both fully God and fully human. Mary is thus called the ''Theotokos'' or ''Bogoroditsa'' as an affirmation of the divinity of the one to whom she gave birth. It is also believed that her virginity was not compromised in conceiving God-incarnate, that she was not harmed and that she remained forever a virgin. Scriptural references to "brothers" of Christ are interpreted as kin, given that the word "brother" was used in multiple ways, as was the term "father". Due to her unique place in salvation history, Mary is honoured above all other saints and especially venerated for the great work that God accomplished through her.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=257–258}}

The Eastern Orthodox Church regards the bodies of all saints as holy, made such by participation in the holy mysteries, especially the communion of Christ's holy body and blood, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the church. Indeed, that persons and physical things can be made holy is a cornerstone of the doctrine of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], made manifest also directly by God in Old Testament times through his dwelling in the Ark of the Covenant. Thus, physical items connected with saints are also regarded as holy, through their participation in the earthly works of those saints. According to church teaching and tradition, God himself bears witness to this holiness of saints' [[relic]]s through the many miracles connected with them that have been reported throughout history since biblical times, often including healing from disease and injury.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=234}}

=== Eschatology ===

{{main|Christian eschatology}}

[[File:Mosaic of the Last Judgment of Santa Maria Assunta (Torcello)1.jpg |thumb|upright=0.9|''Last Judgment'': 12th-century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] mosaic from [[Torcello]] Cathedral]]

Orthodox Christians believe that when a person dies the soul is temporarily separated from the body. Though it may linger for a short period on Earth, it is ultimately escorted either to paradise ([[Abraham's bosom]]) or the darkness of [[Christian views on Hades|Hades]], following the [[Particular judgment|Temporary Judgment]]. Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of [[Purgatory]], which is held by Catholicism. The soul's experience of either of these states is only a "foretaste"—being experienced only by the soul—until the [[Final Judgment]], when the soul and body will be reunited.<ref>[http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm ''The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church''], an Orthodox catechism from 1830, by [[Metropolitan Philaret]]. Start with item 366 or 372. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171158/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm |date=3 July 2007 }}</ref><ref name=soul>Rose, Father Seraphim, ''The Soul After Death'', St. Herman Press, Platina, CA, c. 1980.</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that the state of the soul in Hades can be affected by the love and prayers of the righteous up until the Last Judgment.<ref>[http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm ''The Longer Catechism''], Item 377. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171158/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm |date=3 July 2007 }}</ref> For this reason the church offers a special [[prayer for the dead]] on the third day, ninth day, fortieth day, and the one-year anniversary after the death of an Orthodox Christian. There are also several days throughout the year that are set aside for general commemoration of the departed, sometimes including nonbelievers. These days usually fall on a Saturday, since it was on a Saturday that Christ lay in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre|Tomb]].<ref name=soul/>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that after the Final Judgment:
* All souls will be reunited with their [[Resurrection of the Dead|resurrected bodies]].
* All souls will fully experience their spiritual state.
* Having been perfected, the saints will forever progress towards a deeper and fuller love of God, which equates with eternal happiness.<ref name=soul/>

=== Bible ===

[[File:Letter of Eusebius to Karpianis. Alaverdi Gospels, A-484, 1, 1054.jpg|thumb|[[Alaverdi Gospels]], an 11th-century [[Georgian language|Georgian]] [[illuminated manuscript]] [[Gospel Book]]]]

The official Bible of the Eastern Orthodox Church contains the [[Septuagint]] text of the [[Old Testament]], with the [[Book of Daniel]] given in the translation by [[Theodotion]]. The [[Patriarchal Text]] is used for the [[New Testament]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last = Collins |editor1-first = John Joseph |editor2-last = Flint |editor2-first = Peter W. |editor3-last = VanEpps |editor3-first = Cameron |page = 586 |date = 2002 |title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception |volume = 2 |chapter = The Textual History of Septuagint-Daniel and Theodotion Daniel |first = Alexander A. |last = Di Lella |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA586|publisher = Brill |isbn = 9780391041288}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1 = Geisler |first1 = Norman L. |last2 = Nix |first2 = William E. |date = 2012 |title = From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible |publisher = Moody Publishers |isbn = 9780802428820}}</ref> Orthodox Christians hold that the Bible is a verbal icon of Christ, as proclaimed by the [[Second Council of Nicaea|7th ecumenical council]].{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=209}} They refer to the Bible as [[holy scripture]], meaning writings containing the foundational truths of the Christian faith as revealed by Christ and the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] to its divinely inspired human authors. Holy scripture forms the primary and authoritative written witness of [[holy tradition]] and is essential as the basis for all Orthodox teaching and belief.{{sfn |Ware|1991|p=209 (quoting [[John Chrysostom]]): "It is impossible for a man to be saved if he does not read the Scriptures."}}

Once established as holy scripture, there has never been any question that the Eastern Orthodox Church holds the full list of books to be venerable and beneficial for reading and study,<ref>Pomazansky, Michael, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, pp. 33–34.</ref> even though it informally holds some books in higher esteem than others, the four gospels highest of all. Of the subgroups significant enough to be named, the "[[Anagignoskomena]]" (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read") comprises ten of the Old Testament books rejected in the [[Protestant canon]],<ref>including the [[deuterocanonical books]]</ref> but deemed by the Eastern Orthodox worthy to be read in worship services, even though they carry a lesser esteem than the 39 books of the [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew canon]].<ref>{{cite book| author = S.T. Kimbrough | title = Orthodox And Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding And Practice | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q-vhwjamOioC&pg=PA23| year = 2005 | publisher = St Vladimir's Seminary Press | isbn = 978-0-88141-301-4| page = 23 | access-date = 20 February 2016 }}</ref> The lowest tier contains the remaining books not accepted by either Protestants or Catholics, among them, [[Psalm 151]]. Though it is a psalm, and is in the book of psalms, it is not classified as being within the Psalter (the first 150 psalms).<ref>Orthodox Study Bible, St. Athanasius Academy of Theology, 2008, p. 778, commentary.</ref>

In a very strict sense, it is not entirely orthodox to call the holy scripture the "Word of God". That is a title the Eastern Orthodox Church reserves for Christ, as supported in the scriptures themselves, most explicitly in the [[John 1|first chapter of the Gospel of John]]. God's Word is not hollow, like human words. "God said, 'let there be light'; and there was light."<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:3|NKJV}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not subscribe to the Protestant doctrine of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. The church has defined what Scripture is; it also interprets what its meaning is.<ref>Ware, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy), [http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx ''How to Read the Bible''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201235402/http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx |date=2022-02-01 }}, retrieved 11 June 2013.</ref> Christ promised: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth".<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|John|16:13|NKJV}}</ref>

Scriptures are understood to contain historical fact, poetry, idiom, metaphor, simile, moral fable, parable, prophecy and [[wisdom literature]], and each bears its own consideration in its interpretation. While divinely inspired, the text still consists of words in human languages, arranged in humanly recognisable forms. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not oppose honest critical and historical study of the Bible.<ref name="Ware1991">{{harvnb|Ware|1991|pp=210–215}}.</ref>

== Liturgy ==

{{Main|Byzantine Rite|Eastern Orthodox worship|Western Rite Orthodoxy}}

[[Image:Meister der Palastkapelle in Palermo 003.jpg|thumb|[[Icon]] of Ss. [[Basil the Great]] (left) and [[John Chrysostom]], ascribed authors of the two most frequently used Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgies, c. 1150 ([[mosaic]] in the [[Cappella Palatina|Palatine Chapel]], [[Palermo]]).]]

=== Church calendar ===

Lesser cycles also run in tandem with the annual ones. A weekly cycle of days prescribes a specific focus for each day in addition to others that may be observed.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Five Cycles |work=Orthodox Worship |publisher=The Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania, Orthodox Church in America |url=http://doepa.org/about_orthodoxy.html |access-date=24 June 2015 |archive-date=13 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713125935/http://doepa.org/about_orthodoxy.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{blockquote|text=Each day of the Weekly Cycle is dedicated to certain special memorials. Sunday is dedicated to [[Christ's Resurrection]]; Monday honours the holy bodiless powers (angels, archangels, etc.); Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and especially the greatest of the prophets, [[John the Baptist|John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord]]; Wednesday is consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honours the holy apostles and hierarchs, especially [[Saint Nicholas|Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia]]; Friday is also consecrated to the Cross and recalls the day of the Crucifixion; Saturday is dedicated to All Saints, especially the [[Mother of God]], and to the memory of all those who have departed this life in the hope of resurrection and eternal life.}}

=== Church services ===

{{See also|Canonical hours#Byzantine Rite usage}}

The main service offered in the church is the [[Divine Liturgy]]. Most parishes offer this service on Sunday mornings and on major feast days, though it can be offered almost any day of the year.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Time Visitors |url=https://stkatherineaz.org/first-time-visitors#:~:text=In%20the%20Orthodox%20church%20the,soon%20as%20the%20previous%20ends. |website=Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church |access-date=26 November 2024}}</ref> Additional services include [[Orthros]] and [[Vespers]]; prayer services in the morning and evening, respectively. The celebration of the feasts are distinguished according to their various degrees of solemnity. The great feasts are celebrated with an All Night Vigil. Lesser feasts will have a vigil according to the feast's custom.<ref name="CS">{{Cite web |title=Church Services |url=https://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/church_services.htm |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=www.fatheralexander.org}}</ref>

Church service books are used in divine services, like the Gospel, the Epistle, and the Psalter. These books, often called ''divine service books'', were composed in accordance with the scriptures and traditions of the Church Fathers and teachers of the Orthodox Church. During fasting, in the middle of the week Holy Communion is given at all church services, without removing the characteristics of Orthodox Lent.<ref name="CS" />

==== Chanting ====

[[File:Patriarchate Constantinopolis.jpg|thumb|Chanters singing on the [[kliros]] at the [[Church of St. George, Istanbul|Church of St. George]], [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]]]]

Chanting is not considered "music" by Orthodox Christians, but rather sacred melody and prayer. An [[Divine Service (Eastern Orthodoxy)|Orthodox Divine Service]] is chanted in its entirely by the clergy, the choir, and the congregation from the start of the service to the end.<ref name="HD">{{Cite web |title=History and Development of Orthodox Liturgical Chant |url=http://holywisdomorthodox.com/liturgical/choir/liturgical_tradition.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=holywisdomorthodox.com |archive-date=2025-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330223603/http://holywisdomorthodox.com/liturgical/choir/liturgical_tradition.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Early Christian forms of chanting began with ancient Judaic traditions of chanting the Psalms. As the Church grew, many new forms of hymns began to appear.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liturgical Chant |url=https://www.saintbarbara.org/our_faith/orthodox_worship/liturgical-chant |access-date=2025-03-25|website=St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church |language=en}}</ref>

Liturgies contain the reading and chanting of prayers, headed by a bishop or priest.<ref name="CS" /> Various liturgies include different forms of chanting services (for example, the [[Liturgy of Saint Basil|Liturgy of St. Basil the Great]] has chanting of longer duration and the priest privately reads his prayers at the altar). For the composition of religious chant, the [[Octoechos]], an eight-[[Mode (music)|tone (mode)]] system, analogous to the [[Gregorian mode]]s in the West, and to other ancient Christian musical systems, is used. [[Byzantine music]] is [[Microtonal music|microtonal]].

Byzantine chants are associated with the Eastern Roman Empire's period (AD 330 to 1453) and developed from Jewish and Syrian traditions in the early Christian Church. This continued to evolve until the 16th century.<ref name="HD" />

Northern Slav have used simpler tonal systems evolved through the local types of [[Znamenny chant]]; today [[Western culture#Music|Western music]], often with [[four-part harmony]], and the "tones" are simply sets of melodies. Russian liturgical chants (including those of some Ukrainian and Balkan churches) evolved from the Kievan Rus people after AD 988. Byzantine melodies adapted to the patterns of the [[Old Church Slavonic]] language. In the 14th century, Russian elements began to be used in the church. By the 16th century, Russian chants had many links to the Byzantine style.<ref name="HD" />

There are numerous versions and styles that are traditional and accepted and these vary a great deal between cultures.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=238}}

== Traditions ==

=== Art and architecture ===

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox church architecture}}

[[File:Orthodox-Church-interior.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|An illustration of the traditional interior of an Orthodox church]]

The [[Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity]] on New York City's [[Upper East Side]] is the largest Orthodox Christian church in the [[Western Hemisphere]].<ref name="StudentEd">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_F5yntZocGIC&q=%22holy+trinity%22+cathedral+greek++74&pg=PA147 |title=The Orthodox Church: Student Edition |author=Thomas E. FitzGerald |access-date=5 January 2013 |isbn=978-0-275-96438-2 |year=1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>

=== Icons and symbols ===

{{See also|Christian symbolism}}

==== Icons ====

{{Further|Icon}}
[[File:Ushakov Nerukotvorniy.jpg |thumb|left|upright 0.75|''Image of the Saviour [[Acheiropoieta|Not Made by Hand]]'': a traditional Orthodox [[iconography]] in the interpretation of [[Simon Ushakov]] (1658).]]
Aspects of the [[iconography]] borrow from the pre-Christian [[Roman art|Roman]] and [[Hellenistic art]]. [[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]] wrote, "In this instinct there was a measure of truth. The representations of Christ as the Almighty Lord on his judgment throne owed something to pictures of Zeus. Portraits of the Mother of God were not wholly independent of a pagan past of venerated mother-goddesses. In the popular mind the saints had come to fill a role that had been played by heroes and deities."<ref>Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, 283.</ref>

Icons can be found adorning the walls of churches and often cover the inside structure completely.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=271}} Most Eastern Orthodox homes have an area set aside for family prayer, usually an eastern facing wall, where are hung many icons. Icons have been part of Orthodox Christianity since the beginning of the church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/things/icons.htm |title=Icons – Orthodox Christianity – Religion Facts |access-date=5 March 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322064748/http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/things/icons.htm |archive-date=22 March 2015 }}</ref>

==== Iconostasis ====

{{Main|Iconostasis}}

[[File:Iconostasis (People's Salvation Cathedral - Bucharest).jpg |thumb |Iconostasis of the [[Romanian People's Salvation Cathedral]]]]

An ''iconostasis'', also called the ''templon'', is a wall of [[icons]] and religious paintings, separating the [[nave]] from the [[sanctuary]] in a [[church (building)|church]]. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The modern iconostasis evolved from the [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] [[templon]] in the 11th century. The evolution of the iconostasis probably owes a great deal to 14th-century [[Hesychasm|Hesychast]] [[mysticism]] and the wood-carving genius of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].

The first ceiling-high, five-leveled Russian iconostasis was designed by [[Andrey Rublyov]] in the [[cathedral of the Dormition]] in [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] in 1408.

==== Cross ====
{{multiple image
| total_width       = 200
| image1            = Greek cross.svg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = [[Greek Cross|Greek cross]]
| image2            = Symbol of Orthodoxy.svg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = [[Russian Orthodox cross|Orthodox cross]]
}}

On the Russian Orthodox cross, the small top crossbar represents the sign that [[Pontius Pilate]] nailed above Christ's head. It often is inscribed with an acronym, "INRI", {{langx|la|Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum}} for "[[INRI|Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews]]" or "INBI", [[Koine Greek]]: Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεύς τῶν Ἰουδαίων for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Binz|first=Stephen J.|title=The Names of Jesus|publisher=Twenty-Third Publications|year=2004|isbn=9781585953158|location=New London|pages=81–82}}</ref>

Other crosses associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church are the more traditional single-bar crosses, budded designs, the [[Greek cross]], the [[Latin cross]], the [[Jerusalem cross]] (cross pattée), [[Celtic cross]]es, and others.{{efn|
A good explanation of the three-bar cross was written by Orthodox symbologist Alexander Roman. 
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110930131044/http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/questions/2010/threeBarCross.php The Three-Bar Cross] (accessed 21 December 2025)}} A common symbolism of the slanted foot stool is the foot-rest points up, toward Heaven, on Christ's right hand-side, and downward, to Hades, on Christ's left. "Between two thieves Thy Cross did prove to be a balance of righteousness: wherefore one of them was dragged down to Hades by the weight of his blasphemy ''[the balance points downward]'', whereas the other was lightened of his transgressions unto the comprehension of theology ''[the balance points upward]''. O Christ God, glory to Thee."<ref>{{cite web|title = An Explanation of the Traditional Russian Orthodox Three-bar Cross|url = http://www.synaxis.info/old-rite/0_oldbelief/instructional_eng/cross_symbolism.html|website = www.synaxis.info|access-date = 17 October 2015|archive-date = 4 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150704065215/http://www.synaxis.info/old-rite/0_oldbelief/instructional_eng/cross_symbolism.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Local customs ===

[[File:Broken vases on Holy Saturday in Corfu.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Shards of pottery vases on the street, after being thrown from the windows of nearby houses. A [[Holy Saturday]] tradition in [[Corfu]].|alt=]]

Locality is also expressed in regional terms of churchly jurisdiction, which is often also drawn along national lines. Many Orthodox churches adopt a national title (e.g. [[Albanian Orthodox]], [[Bulgarian Orthodox]], [[Antiochian Orthodox]], [[Georgian Orthodox]], [[Greek Orthodox]], [[Romanian Orthodox]], [[Russian Orthodox]], [[Serbian Orthodox]], [[Orthodoxy in Ukraine|Ukrainian Orthodox]], etc.) and this title can identify which language is used in services, which bishops preside, and which of the typica is followed by specific [[wikt:congregation|congregations]]. In the Middle East, Orthodox Christians are usually referred to as ''Rum'' ("Roman") Orthodox, because of their historical connection with the [[Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire]].{{sfn|Binns|2002|p=3}}

== Holy mysteries (sacraments) ==

The [[Byzantine Rite]] is used for the administration of the "Holy mysteries" or seven sacraments in [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]]; among these are [[Holy Communion]] (the most direct connection), [[baptism]], [[Chrismation]], [[Confession (religion)|confession]], [[unction]], [[Marriage in the Eastern Orthodox Church|matrimony]], and [[ordination]], as well as [[Benediction|blessings]], [[Exorcism in Christianity|exorcisms]], and other occasions.<ref name=oupbr>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-866262-4| title = The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages| chapter = Byzantine rite| access-date = 2018-07-25| date = 2010-01-01| chapter-url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001/acref-9780198662624-e-1083| archive-date = July 25, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122812/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001/acref-9780198662624-e-1083| url-status = live}}</ref>

While the Catholic Church numbers seven sacraments, and many Protestant groups list two (baptism and the Eucharist) or even none, the Eastern Orthodox do not limit the number. However, for the sake of convenience, [[catechism]]s of the Eastern Orthodox Church will often speak of the "seven great mysteries". The term "sacrament" also properly applies to other sacred actions such as [[Eastern Christian monasticism|monastic]] [[tonsure]] or the blessing of [[Holy water in Eastern Christianity|holy water]], and involves [[Religious fasting#Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy|fasting]], [[Alms#In Eastern Christianity|almsgiving]], or an act as simple as lighting a candle, [[Religious use of incense#Christianity|burning incense]], praying or asking God's blessing on food.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=274–277}}

=== Baptism ===
[[File:GreekOrthodoxBaptism1.jpg|thumb|right|An Eastern Orthodox baptism]]

[[Baptism]] is the mystery which transforms the old and sinful person into a new and pure one; the old life, the sins, any mistakes made are gone and a clean slate is given. Through baptism a person is united to the [[Body of Christ]] by becoming a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. During the service, [[Holy water in Eastern Christianity|water]] is blessed. The catechumen is fully immersed in the water three times in the name of the Trinity. This is considered to be a death of the "old man" by participation in the crucifixion and burial of Christ, and a rebirth into new life in Christ by participation in his resurrection.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=277–278}}

Properly, the mystery of baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, [[Emergency baptism|in emergencies any Eastern Orthodox Christian can baptise]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=278}}

=== Chrismation ===

[[Chrismation]] (sometimes called [[confirmation]]) is the mystery by which a baptised person is granted the gift of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] through anointing with Holy [[Chrism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=52 |title=The Orthodox Faith |author=Fr. Thomas Hopko |year=1981 |publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025114723/http://oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=52 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=278–279}} It is normally given immediately after baptism as part of the same service, but is also used to receive lapsed members of the Eastern Orthodox Church.{{sfn|Harakas|1987|pp=56–57}} As baptism is a person's participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, so Chrismation is a person's participation in the coming of the Holy Spirit at [[Pentecost]].<ref name=ware1993p279>{{harvnb|Ware|1993|p=279}}.</ref>

A baptised and chrismated Eastern Orthodox Christian is a full member of the church and may receive the Eucharist regardless of age.<ref name=ware1993p279/>

The creation of Chrism may be accomplished by any bishop at any time, but usually is done only once a year, often when a synod of bishops convenes for its annual meeting. Some autocephalous churches get their chrism from others. Anointing with it substitutes for the laying-on of hands described in the [[New Testament]], even when an instrument such as a brush is used.{{sfn|Harakas|1987|p=57}}

=== Holy Communion (Eucharist) ===
[[File:Liturgy St James 1.jpg|thumb|Eucharistic elements prepared for the Divine Liturgy|alt=]]

[[Holy Communion]] is given only to baptised and chrismated Eastern Orthodox Christians who have prepared by fasting, prayer and confession. The priest will administer the gifts with a spoon, called a "cochlear", directly into the recipient's mouth from the chalice.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=287}} From baptism young infants and children are carried to the chalice to receive holy communion.<ref name="ware1993p279" />

=== Marriage ===
{{main|Marriage in the Eastern Orthodox Church}}

[[File:Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna by Laurits Tuxen (1895-6, Royal coll.).jpg |thumb|upright=1.15|The wedding of Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] by [[Laurits Tuxen]]]]

From the Eastern Orthodox perspective, marriage is one of the holy mysteries or sacraments. As well as in many other Christian traditions, for example in Catholicism, it serves to unite a woman and a man in eternal union and love before God, with the purpose of following Christ and his Gospel and raising up a faithful, holy family through their holy union.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_02021994_families_en.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405033300/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_02021994_families_en.html|url-status=dead|title=Letter to Families by Pope John Paul II|archive-date=5 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author = John Meyendorff | title = Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YSSCUO1tonkC&pg=PA13| year = 1975 | publisher = St. Vladimir's Seminary Press | isbn = 978-0-913836-05-7| page = 13 | access-date = 20 February 2016 }}</ref> The church understands marriage to be the union of one man and one woman, and certain Orthodox leaders have spoken out strongly in opposition to the civil institution of [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://saintandrew.net/documents/FINALOrthodoxBishopsProp8Statement.pdf |title = Statement of Orthodox Christian Bishops |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610200407/http://saintandrew.net/documents/FINALOrthodoxBishopsProp8Statement.pdf |archive-date = 10 June 2011 |url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oca.org/news/590 |title=OCA Reaffirms SCOBA Statement in Wake of Massachusetts Same-Sex Marriage Ruling |date=17 May 2004 |access-date=4 August 2010 |archive-date=22 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622082955/http://www.oca.org/news/590 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Greek Orthodox wedding in Tripodes, Naxos, 119259.JPG|thumb|upright=1.15|Greek Orthodox wedding]]
Jesus said that "when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven" (Mk 12:25). For the Orthodox Christian this passage should not be understood to imply that Christian marriage will not remain a reality in the Kingdom, but points to the fact that relations will not be "fleshy", but "spiritual".<ref name=meyendorff70/> Love between wife and husband, as an icon of relationship between Christ and church, is eternal.<ref name=meyendorff70>{{cite book| author = John Meyendorff | title = Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YSSCUO1tonkC&pg=PA18| year = 1975 | publisher = St. Vladimir's Seminary Press | isbn = 978-0-913836-05-7| page = 18 | access-date = 20 February 2016 }}</ref>

The church does recognise that there are rare occasions when it is better that couples do separate, but there is no official recognition of civil divorces. For the Eastern Orthodox, to say that marriage is indissoluble means that it should not be broken, the violation of such a union, perceived as holy, being an offence resulting from either adultery or the prolonged absence of one of the partners. Thus, permitting remarriage is an act of compassion of the church towards sinful man.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/athenagoras_remarriage.htm|title=Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Orthodox Church: Economia and Pastoral Guidance|publisher=The Orthodox research Institute|author=Mgr. Athenagoras Peckstadt, Bishop of Sinope|date=18 May 2005|access-date=19 November 2008|archive-date=20 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120133149/http://orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/athenagoras_remarriage.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Holy orders ===

[[Image:Kheirotonia.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Eastern Orthodox [[subdeacon]] being ordained to the [[diaconate]]. The [[bishop]] has placed his [[omophorion]] and right hand on the head of the candidate and is reading the ''Prayer of [[Christian laying on of hands|Cheirotonia]]''.]]

Widowed priests and [[deacon]]s may not remarry and it is common for such members of the clergy to retire to a monastery (see [[clerical celibacy]]). This is also true of widowed wives of clergy, who do not remarry and become nuns when their children are grown. Only men are allowed to receive [[holy orders]], although [[deaconess]]es had both liturgical and pastoral functions within the church.<ref name="Karras">{{cite journal |last= Karras |first= Valerie A. |title= Female Deacons in the Byzantine Church |pages= 272–316 |date= June 2004 |journal= Church History |volume= 73 |issue= 2 |doi= 10.1017/S000964070010928X |s2cid= 161817885 |issn= 0009-6407
}}</ref> Women had been ordained as deacons or deaconesses in the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Byzantine Church]] through the 9th century CE after which the practice fell into disuse.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Karras |first=Valerie A. |date=2004 |title=Female Deacons in the Byzantine Church |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146526 |journal=Church History |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=272–316 |doi=10.1017/S000964070010928X |jstor=4146526 |issn=0009-6407 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |access-date=2025-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305131943/http://www.jstor.org/stable/4146526 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taft |first=Robert F. |date=1998 |title=Women at Church in Byzantium: Where, When-And Why? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291777 |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=52 |pages=27–87 |doi=10.2307/1291777 |jstor=1291777 |issn=0070-7546 |archive-date=2025-11-15 |access-date=2025-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115003653/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291777 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In 2004, the Holy Synod of the [[Church of Greece]] voted to permit the consecration of women as 'deaconesses', without using the word 'ordination,' but only within monastic communities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zagano |first=Phyllis |date=February 7, 2005 |title='Grant Her Your Spirit': The restoration of the female diaconate in the Orthodox Church of Greece |url=https://sites.hofstra.edu/phyllis-zagano/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2021/11/2005-Grant-Her-Sour-Spirit-America.pdf |work=Hofstra University |pages=18–21 |archive-date=July 9, 2024 |access-date=December 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709073426/https://sites.hofstra.edu/phyllis-zagano/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2021/11/2005-Grant-Her-Sour-Spirit-America.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2016, the Holy Synod of the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]] voted to reinstate the [[Deaconess|female diaconate]]; in the following year, it ordained six sub-deaconesses in the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]]. In 2024 the Patriarchate ordained its first female deacon, [[Angelic Molen]], in Zimbabwe, making her the first female deacon in the modern history of the Eastern Orthodox Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://international.la-croix.com/religion/breaking-with-tradition-greek-orthodox-church-ordains-first-woman-deacon-in-africa|title=Breaking with tradition, Greek Orthodox Church ordains first woman deacon in Africa|date=13 May 2024|website=La croix international|access-date=13 May 2024|archive-date=13 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513152621/https://international.la-croix.com/religion/breaking-with-tradition-greek-orthodox-church-ordains-first-woman-deacon-in-africa|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Barillas |first=Martin |date=2024-05-09 |title=Orthodox Church Ordains Female Deacon |url=https://www.ncregister.com/cna/orthodox-church-ordains-female-deacon |access-date= |website=[[National Catholic Register]] |language=en |archive-date=2024-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515065543/https://www.ncregister.com/cna/orthodox-church-ordains-female-deacon |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/news/eastern-orthodox-church-ordains-zimbabwean-woman-its-first-deaconess|title=Eastern Orthodox Church ordains Zimbabwean woman as its first deaconess|website=The Christian Century|access-date=2024-05-13|archive-date=2024-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513150744/https://www.christiancentury.org/news/eastern-orthodox-church-ordains-zimbabwean-woman-its-first-deaconess|url-status=live}}</ref> This move was met with criticism from other autocephalous Orthodox church leaders, such as the [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]]'s [[Saba Esber|Metropolitan Saba Esber]],<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2052 |first= Saba |last= Isper |title= What is the Goal? |website= [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]] |archive-date= 2024-07-07 |access-date= 2024-07-07 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240707051354/https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2052 |url-status= live }}</ref> and Archpriest John Whiteford of the [[ROCOR]],<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://orthochristian.com/160402.html |website= [[Pravoslavie.ru|Orthochristian.com]] |title= DEACONESSES, FEMALE DEACONS, AND THE AGENDA OF THE ST. PHOEBE CENTER |first= John |last= Whiteford}}</ref> who criticized the move as being politically motivated and did not accurately reflect the historical use of deaconesses in the Eastern Orthodox Church.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://youtube.com/video/UkclE1KD5fw |website= YouTube |title= Female Priests? Women Deacons Refuted by Fr John Whiteford -Jay Dyer|date= 17 October 2023 }}</ref>

== Interfaith relations ==

[[File:Fond-du-lac-circus.preview.jpg|thumb|The consecration of [[Reginald Heber Weller]] as an Anglican bishop at the [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Fond du Lac|Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle]] in the [[Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac]], with Anthony Kozlowski of the [[Polish National Catholic Church]] and [[Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon, then Bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska]] (along with his chaplains [[John Kochurov]] and [[Sebastian Dabovich]]) of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] present]]
[[File:Pope Franciscus & Patriarch Bartholomew I in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (1).JPG|thumb|[[Pope Francis]] and [[Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I]] in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], Jerusalem, 2014]]

=== Relations with other Christians ===

In 1920, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, published an encyclical "addressed 'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded [[League of Nations]]".<ref name="Ware1993">{{harvnb|Ware|1993|p=322}} "From the beginning of the twentieth century the Ecumenical Patriarchate has shown a special concern for Christian reconciliation. At his accession in 1902, Patriarch Joachim III sent an encyclical letter to all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, asking in particular for their opinion on relations with other Christian bodies. In January 1920 the Ecumenical Patriarchate followed this up with a bold and prophetic letter addressed 'To all the Churches of Christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated Christians, and suggesting a 'League of Churches', parallel to the newly founded League of Nations. Many of the ideas in this letter anticipate subsequent developments in the WCC. Constantinople, along with several of the other Orthodox Churches, was represented at the Faith and Order Conferences at Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The Ecumenical Patriarchate also participated in the first Assembly of the WCC at Amsterdam in 1948, and has been a consistent supporter of the work of the WCC ever since."</ref> This gesture was instrumental in the foundation of the [[World Council of Churches]] (WCC);<ref name="Fuchs2008">{{cite book|last=Fuchs|first=Lorelei F.|title=Koinonia and the Quest for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology|year=2008|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4023-3|page=162|quote=Addressed "to all the Churches of Christ, wheresoever they be", the letter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate opens the words anticipating the spirit of the ecclesial bodies which would later form the World Council of Churches.}}</ref> as such, almost all Eastern Orthodox churches are members of the WCC and "Orthodox ecclesiastics and theologians serve on its committees".<ref name="Benz2008">{{cite book|last=Benz|first=Ernst|title=The Eastern Orthodox Church|date=31 July 2008|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-0-202-36575-6|page=197|quote=A large number of Orthodox Churches are members of the World Council of Churches; Orthodox ecclesiastics and theologians serve on its committees and attend its conferences.}}</ref> In 1922, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican]], [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]], [[Old Catholic Church|Old Catholic]], and [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] churches possessed "the same validity" of Holy Orders and apostolic succession.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Battenhouse |first=Roy W. |date=1948 |title=ORTHODOX STATEMENTS ON ANGLICAN ORDERS Edited by E. R. HardyJr. New York: Morehouse-Gorham, 1946. Pp. xxiii. 72. $1.00. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/church-history/article/abs/orthodox-statements-on-anglican-orders-edited-by-e-r-hardyjr-new-york-morehousegorham-1946-pp-xxiii-72-100/9675D79E2D3C65094711172690C9FD17 |journal=Church History |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=149–150 |doi=10.2307/3160495 |jstor=3160495 |issn=1755-2613 |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2025-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251102144352/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/church-history/article/abs/orthodox-statements-on-anglican-orders-edited-by-e-r-hardyjr-new-york-morehousegorham-1946-pp-xxiii-72-100/9675D79E2D3C65094711172690C9FD17 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Geffert |first=Bryn |date=2006 |title=Anglican Orders and Orthodox Politics |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/abs/anglican-orders-and-orthodox-politics/99F91C388D2070CFD2625A1EBBBF82C4 |journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History |language=en |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=270–300 |doi=10.1017/S0022046905006251 |issn=1469-7637 |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=2025-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115171338/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/abs/anglican-orders-and-orthodox-politics/99F91C388D2070CFD2625A1EBBBF82C4 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the Ecumenical Patriarchate were the autocephalous churches of Alexandria, Jerusalem, Romania, and Cyprus as well as the autonomous church of Sinai.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monks |first=James |date=1948 |title=RELATIONS BETWEEN ANGLICANS AND ORTHODOX: THEIR THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT |url=https://theologicalstudies.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/7.3.3.pdf |journal=Weston College |pages=410 |via=ATLAS |archive-date=2025-10-09 |access-date=2025-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251009120836/https://theologicalstudies.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/7.3.3.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Van Dusen |first=Duncan |date=1959 |title=Some Relations Between the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42972717 |journal=Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=40–65 |issn=0018-2486}}</ref> However, in 1948, the Russian Orthodox Church declined to recognize the validity of Anglican Orders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monks |first=James |date=1948 |title=THE ORTHODOX CHURCHES ON ANGLICAN ORDERS |url=https://theologicalstudies.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/10.1.4.pdf |journal=Weston College |pages=65–66 |via=Theological Studies |archive-date=2025-11-25 |access-date=2025-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251125104851/https://theologicalstudies.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/10.1.4.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Kallistos Ware]], a British metropolitan bishop of the Orthodox Church, has stated that [[ecumenism]] "is important for Orthodoxy: it has helped to force the various Orthodox churches out of their comparative isolation, making them meet one another and enter into a living contact with non-Orthodox Christians."{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=322}}

[[Hilarion Alfeyev]], then the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, stated that Orthodox and [[Evangelical Protestant]] Christians share the same positions on "such issues as [[pro-life|abortion]], the [[Family values#Conservative definitions|family]], and [[Christian views on marriage|marriage]]" and desire "vigorous grassroots engagement" between the two [[Communion (Christian)|Christian communions]] on such issues.<ref name="Communions">{{cite magazine|url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/may/fromrussialove.html?start=1|title = From Russia, with Love |quote = Many evangelicals share conservative positions with us on such issues as abortion, the family, and marriage. Do you want vigorous grassroots engagement between Orthodox and evangelicals? Yes, on problems, for example, like the destruction of the family. Many marriages are split. Many families have either one child or no child. |magazine = [[Christianity Today]] | access-date = 31 December 2007}}</ref>
    
In that regard, the differences between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communions have not been improved in any relevant way. Dogmatic and [[liturgical]] polarities have been significant, even and especially in recent times. A pertinent point of contention between the monarchically papal, administratively centralised Catholic Church and the decentralised confederation of Orthodox churches is the theological significance of the [[Virgin Mary]].<ref>Orthodox Christian Information Center. [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/theotokos.aspx ''An Orthodox View of the Virgin Mary'']. Retrieved 10 November 2016.</ref> During his visit to [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] in October 2016, [[Pope Francis]] was snubbed by most Orthodox Christians as he led mass before a practically empty [[Mikheil Meskhi Stadium]] in [[Tbilisi]].<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/orthodox-church-snubs-pope-francis-georgia-161001161658569.html Orthodox Church snubs Pope Francis in Georgia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111123014/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/orthodox-church-snubs-pope-francis-georgia-161001161658569.html |date=2016-11-11 }}. ''Al Jazeera News''. Retrieved 10 November 2016.</ref>

The Oriental Orthodox Churches are not in [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] with the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite their similar names. Slow dialogue towards restoring communion between the two churches began in the mid-20th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sor.cua.edu/Ecumenism/20010317oomtg4.html|title=Middle Eastern Oriental Orthodox Common Declaration – March 17, 2001|last=OONS|website=Syrian Orthodox Resources|access-date=March 2, 2017|archive-date=June 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626020037/http://sor.cua.edu/Ecumenism/20010317oomtg4.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and, notably, in the 19th century, when the Greek Patriarch in Egypt had to absent himself from the country for a long period of time; he left his church under the guidance of the Coptic [[Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://suscopts.org/stgeorgedaytona/coptic_church.html |title=Saint George Coptic Church |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States |access-date=3 April 2014 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203233529/https://suscopts.org/stgeorgedaytona/coptic_church.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, the Primate of the [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine|OCU]] [[Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine|Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine]] [[Epiphanius of Kyiv|Epiphanius]] stated that "theoretically" the [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]] and the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] could in the future unite into a united church around the Kyiv throne.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://espreso.tv/article/2019/05/11/epifaniy|title=Предстоятель ПЦУ Епіфаній: Найперше мусимо зберегти свою незалежність|access-date=2021-01-01|archive-date=2021-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504160929/https://espreso.tv/article/2019/05/11/epifaniy|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, the Primate of the UGCC, [[Lists of leaders of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia]] [[Sviatoslav Shevchuk|Sviatoslav]], stated that every effort should be made to restore the original unity of the Kyivan Church in its Orthodox and Catholic branches, saying that the restoration of Eucharistic communion between [[Catholic Church|Rome]] and [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]] is not a utopia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://synod.ugcc.ua/data/blazhennishyy-svyatoslav-vidnovlennya-vharystiynogo-spilkuvannya-mizh-rymom-i-konstantynopolem-ne-utopiyu-315/|title=Блаженніший Святослав: "Відновлення євхаристійного спілкування між Римом і Константинополем не є утопією"|access-date=2021-01-01|archive-date=2021-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413125342/https://synod.ugcc.ua/data/blazhennishyy-svyatoslav-vidnovlennya-vharystiynogo-spilkuvannya-mizh-rymom-i-konstantynopolem-ne-utopiyu-315/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Notwithstanding certain overtures by both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leaders, the majority of Orthodox Christians, as well as Catholics, are not in favour of communion between their churches, with only a median of 35 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, claiming support.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

=== Relations with Islam ===

[[Image:1821 atrocities Constantinople.jpg|thumb|The [[Constantinople Massacre of 1821|Constantinople Massacre of April 1821]]: a religious persecution of the Greek population of [[Constantinople]] under the Ottomans. Patriarch [[Gregory V of Constantinople]] was executed.]]

In 2007, Metropolitan [[Hilarion Alfeyev|Alfeyev]] expressed the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Islam and [[Christianity]] in Russia, as the two religions have never had religious wars in Russia.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/may/fromrussialove.html?start=4 | title = From Russia, with Love | quote = If we speak about Islam (and of course if we mean moderate Islam), then I believe there is the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Islam and Christianity. This is what we have had in Russia for centuries, because Russian Islam has a very long tradition. But we never had religious wars. Nowadays we have a good system of collaboration between Christian denominations and Islam. | magazine = [[Christianity Today]] | access-date = 31 December 2007 | archive-date = 17 October 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121017171827/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/may/fromrussialove.html?start=4 | url-status = live }}</ref>

== Constituencies ==
{{See also|Eastern Orthodox Church organization|label 1=List of the current autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and their dependencies}}

The various [[autocephalous]] and autonomous [[synods]] of the Eastern Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture, but for the most part exist in [[full communion]] with one another. However, there have been varying instances in the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church where communion has been broken between member churches for short periods, particularly over autocephaly issues or disagreements over [[ecumenism]] with other Christian denominations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Orthodox Schism in the Shadow of Empire |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/orthodox-schism-shadow-empire |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies |date=19 October 2018 |language=en |last1=Mankoff |first1=Jeffrey |archive-date=2022-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228014131/https://www.csis.org/analysis/orthodox-schism-shadow-empire |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ecumenical Council of Florence (1438-1445) |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/ecumenical-council-of-florence-1438-1445-1461 |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moscow patriarchate against the union of Rome and Constantinople |url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Moscow-patriarchate-against-the-union-of-Rome-and-Constantinople-53531.html |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=AsiaNews.it |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Tara Isabella |date=2018-10-17 |title=The Eastern Orthodox Churches may split. It's the biggest crisis for these churches in centuries. |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/10/17/17983566/russia-constantinople-ukraine-eastern-orthodox-schism-autocephaly |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=2022-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228014120/https://www.vox.com/2018/10/17/17983566/russia-constantinople-ukraine-eastern-orthodox-schism-autocephaly |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, some schismatic churches not in any communion exist, with all three groups identifying as Eastern Orthodox.

[[File:Παρουσία_του_Υπουργού_Εξωτερικών_Ν._Κοτζιά_στην_Αγία_και_Μεγάλη_Σύνοδο_της_Ορθόδοξης_Εκκλησίας,_Κρήτη,_16-27-6-2016_(27614224782).jpg|thumb|The [[Pan-Orthodox Council]], Kolymvari, Crete, Greece, June 2016]]

Another group of non-mainstream Eastern Orthodox Christians are referred [[True Orthodoxy]] or [[Old Calendarists]]; they are those who, without authority from their parent churches, have continued to use the old [[Julian calendar]], and split from their parent church.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=2017-09-01|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|pages=498–9, 355|language=en|chapter=|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|orig-date=1999|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.|archive-date=2021-11-07|access-date=2021-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107062420/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405166584|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] (ROCOR) has [[Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate|united in 2007 with the Moscow Patriarchate]]; these two churches had separated from each other in the 1920s due to the subjection of the latter to the hostile [[Soviet Union|Soviet regime]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burlacioiu|first=Ciprian|date=April 2018|title=Russian Orthodox Diaspora as a Global Religion after 1918|journal=Studies in World Christianity|language=en|volume=24|issue=1|pages= 4–24|doi=10.3366/swc.2018.0202|issn=1354-9901}}</ref>

Another group, called the [[Old Believers]], [[Raskol|separated in 1666]] from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church rite reforms introduced by [[Patriarch Nikon of Moscow]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia and Ukraine in the age of the Counter-Reformation|last1=Crummey|first1=Robert O.|date=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=320–321}}</ref>

=== Main communion ===

[[File:AlexGreekCathedralFront.jpg|thumb|[[Cathedral of Evangelismos]], [[Alexandria]]]]The Eastern Orthodox Church is a [[Full communion|communion]] of 15 [[autocephalous]]—that is, administratively completely independent—regional churches,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ec-patr.org/dioceses.php?lang=en&id=99|title=Ecumenical Patriarchate|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=28 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028103533/http://www.ec-patr.org/dioceses.php?lang=en&id=99|url-status=live}}</ref> plus the [[Orthodox Church in America]] and two [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Orthodox Churches]]. The Orthodox Church in America is recognised as autocephalous only by the Russian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Polish and Czech-Slovak churches. In December 2018, representatives of two unrecognised Ukrainian Orthodox churches, along with two [[Metropolitan bishop|metropolitans]] of the recognised, but self-declared autocephalous [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate]], [[Unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine|proclaimed the formation of the unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine]]. On 5 January 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine received its ''[[Tomos (Eastern Orthodox Church)|tomos]]'' of autocephaly (decree which defines the conditions of a church's independence) from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and thus received a place in the [[Diptych#Ecclesiastical|diptych]].[[File:Manastir Pecka Patrijarsija 2.jpg|thumb|[[Patriarchate of Peć (monastery)|Patriarchate of Peć]] in [[Kosovo]], the seat of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] from the 14th century, when its status was upgraded into a patriarchate]]

Each church has defined geographical boundaries of its jurisdiction and is ruled by its council of bishops or synod presided by a senior bishop–its [[Primate (bishop)|primate]] (or first hierarch). The primate may carry the honorary title of patriarch, metropolitan (in the Slavic tradition) or archbishop (in the Greek tradition).

Each regional church consists of constituent [[eparchies]] (or dioceses) ruled by a bishop. Some churches have given an eparchy or group of eparchies varying degrees of [[Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy)|autonomy]] (self-government). Such autonomous churches maintain varying levels of dependence on their [[mother church]], usually defined in a [[Tomos (Eastern Orthodox Church)|''tomos'']] or other document of autonomy.

Below is a list of the 15 autocephalous Orthodox churches forming the main body of Orthodox Christianity, all of which are titled equal to each other, but the Ecumenical Patriarchate is titled the ''first among equals''. Based on the definitions, the list is in the order of precedence and alphabetical order where necessary, with some of their constituent autonomous churches and exarchates listed as well. The liturgical title of the primate is in italics.

{{divcol}}
* [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] (''Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and First Among Equals Patriarch'')
** Autonomous [[Orthodox Church of Finland]] (''Archbishop of Helsinki and All Finland'', formerly ''Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland'')
** Self-governing Orthodox [[Church of Crete]] (''Archbishop of Crete'')
** Self-governing [[monastic community of Mount Athos]]
** Self-governing [[Orthodox Church of Korea]] (''Metropolitan of Seoul and All Korea'')
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]] (''the Pope and Patriarch of the Great City of [[Alexandria]], [[Libya]], [[Pentapolis (North Africa)|Pentapolis]], [[Ethiopia]], all the land of [[Egypt]], and all Africa'')
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch]] (''Patriarch of Antioch and all the East'')
** Self-governing [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Archdiocese of North America]] (Metropolitan of North America and Archbishop of New York)
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] (''Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Holy Land, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Sacred Zion'')
** Autonomous [[Church of Sinai|Church of Mount Sinai]] (''Archbishop of Choreb, Sinai, and Raitha'')
* [[Russian Orthodox Church]] (''Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia'')
** Autonomous [[Orthodox Church in Japan]] (''Archbishop of Tokyo and Metropolitan of All Japan'')
** [[Belarusian Orthodox Church|Exarchate of Belarus]] (''Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus'')
** Self-governing [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] (''Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian church abroad'')
* [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] (''Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch'')
* [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] (''Metropolitan of Sofia and Patriarch of All Bulgaria'')
* [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] (''Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrudja, Locum Tenens of the Throne of Caesarea of Cappadocia, and Patriarch of Romania'')
** Autonomous [[Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas]] (''Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of the United States of America and Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas'')
* [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] (''Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan bishop of Abkhazia and Pitsunda'')
* [[Church of Cyprus]] (''Archbishop of New Justiniana and all Cyprus'')
* [[Church of Greece]] (''Archbishop of Athens and all Greece'')
* [[Albanian Orthodox Church]] (''Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania'')
* [[Polish Orthodox Church]] (''Metropolitan of Warsaw and all Poland'' or ''Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland){{efn|The primate of the Polish Orthodox Church is referred to as ''Archbishop of [[Warsaw]] and Metropolitan of All Poland'', but the Polish Orthodox Church is officially a Metropolis<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orthodox.pl/administracja/metropolia/|title=Orthodox {{!}} Metrolopolia|website=www.orthodox.pl|access-date=5 January 2019|archive-date=20 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320193044/https://www.orthodox.pl/administracja/metropolia/|url-status=live}}</ref>|name=|group=}}''
* [[Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia]] (''Archbishop of Prague, the Metropolitan of Czech lands and Slovakia or the Archbishop of Presov, the Metropolitan of Czech lands and Slovakia'')
* [[Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric]] (''Metropolitan of Skopje and Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia and of Justiniana Prima'')

{{divcolend}}
Within the main body of Eastern Orthodoxy there are unresolved internal issues as to the autonomous or autocephalous status or legitimacy of the following Orthodox churches, particularly between those stemming from the Russian Orthodox or Constantinopolitan churches:

{{divcol}}
* [[Orthodox Church in America]] (''Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada'') – Autocephaly not recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
* Self-governing [[Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church]] (''Metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia'') – Recognised only by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, opposed only by the Russian Orthodox Church.
* Self-governing [[Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate]] (''Metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia'') – Declared itself autocephalous in 2024; not recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
* Autonomous [[Bessarabian Orthodox Church]] in Moldova (''Archbishop of Chișinău, Metropolitan of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Territories'') of the Romanian Orthodox Church – Territory claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
* Autonomous [[Moldovan Orthodox Church]] (''Metropolitan of Chișinău and all Moldova'') of the Russian Orthodox Church – Jurisdiction disputed by the Romanian Orthodox Church.
* [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]] (''Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine'') – Recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Church of Greece, Church of Cyprus, and Patriarchate of Alexandria<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eleftherostypos.gr/ellada/472832-ektakto-i-ekklisia-tis-ellados-anagnorise-tin-ekklisia-tis-oykranias/|title=Η Εκκλησία της Ελλάδος αναγνώρισε την Αυτοκέφαλη Εκκλησία της Ουκρανίας|date=12 October 2019|website=eleftherostypos.gr|publisher=Eleutheros Typos|trans-title=The Church of Greece recognised the Autocephalous Church of Ukraine|access-date=12 October 2019|archive-date=12 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012114523/https://www.eleftherostypos.gr/ellada/472832-ektakto-i-ekklisia-tis-ellados-anagnorise-tin-ekklisia-tis-oykranias/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/the-church-of-greece-has-recognized-the-autocephalous-church-of-ukraine/|title=The Church of Greece has recognized the Autocephalous Church of Ukraine (upd)|date=12 October 2019|website=Orthodox Times|access-date=12 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theorthodoxworld.com/its-official-church-of-greece-recognizes-the-autocephaly-of-the-orthodox-church-in-ukraine/|title=It's Official: Church of Greece Recognizes the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine|date=12 October 2019|work=The Orthodox World|access-date=12 October 2019|archive-date=12 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012141412/https://theorthodoxworld.com/its-official-church-of-greece-recognizes-the-autocephaly-of-the-orthodox-church-in-ukraine/|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=24 October 2020|title=Archbishop of Cyprus commemorates Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv for first time (upd)|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-commemorates-metropolitan-epifaniy-of-kyiv-for-first-time/|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Orthodox Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Кіпрська Церква визнала Православну Церкву України|url=https://risu.ua/kiprska-cerkva-viznala-pravoslavnu-cerkvu-ukrayini_n112864|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Релігійно-інформаційна служба України|language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=24 October 2020|title=Archbishop of Cyprus: My decision to commemorate Metropolitan Epifaniy first serves Orthodoxy|url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/archbishop-of-cyprus-my-decision-to-commemorate-metropolitan-epifaniy-first-serves-orthodoxy/|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Orthodox Times}}</ref> as of October 2020, opposed by the Russian, Antiochian, Czech and Slovak, Serbian and Polish Orthodox Churches, and the Orthodox Church in America.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ru:Митрополит Киевский Епифаний заявил, что в ближайшее время еще несколько поместных православных церквей признают ПЦУ |url=https://nv.ua/ukraine/politics/epifaniy-eshche-neskolko-pomestnyh-pravoslavnyh-cerkvey-priznayut-pcu-novosti-ukrainy-50057519.html |work=НВ (Новое Время) |language=ru |date=5 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/statements/holy-synod/archpastoral-letter-on-ukraine|title = Holy Synod – Encyclicals – Archpastoral Letter on Ukraine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=24 October 2020|title=Αρχιεπίσκοπος Κύπρου: ''Η απόφασή μου αυτή υπηρετεί την Ορθοδοξία''|url=https://www.ekklisiaonline.gr/nea/archiepiskopos-kyprou-i-apofasi-mou-afti-ypireti-tin-orthodoxia/|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Εκκλησια Online|language=el}}</ref>
* [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]], self-governing by declaration which later was approved and recognised by the Georgian Orthodox Church<ref>{{cite web |title=Georgian Patriarch Ilia II addressed the Patriarch of Constantinople in relation to the situation around the UOC |url=https://news.church.ua/2023/03/27/georgian-patriarch-ilia-ii-addressed-the-patriarch-of-constantinople-in-relation-to-the-situation-around-the-uoc/?lang=en |website=Ukrainian Orthodox Church | date=27 March 2023 |access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref> – jurisdiction disputed with the [[Orthodox Church of Ukraine]], which nearly all Churches continued to recognise as part of ROC.
* [[Latvian Orthodox Church]] (''Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia'') – holding autocephaly prior to 1941, forcibly integrated in 1941 as a result of the [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|Soviet occupation and annexation of the Baltic states]] to become a self-governing part of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], with the Ecumenical Patriarchate accepting this situation in 1978; in 2022, the Latvian Parliament (the [[Saeima]]) declared the restoration of autocephaly of the LOC from the ROC, due to security reasons. {{divcolend}}

=== Traditionalist groups ===

==== True Orthodox ====

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox Church organization#True Orthodox}}

[[True Orthodoxy]] has been separated from the mainstream communion over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform since the 1920s.<ref name=politika2>{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Ko-su-ziloti-pravoslavni-fundamentalisti.lt.html|title=Ko su ziloti, pravoslavni fundamentalisti|author=Beoković, Jelena|date=1 May 2010|publisher=[[Politika]]|trans-title=Who are Zealots, Orthodox Fundamentalists|access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> The movement rejects the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Moscow Patriarchate, and all churches which are in communion with them, accusing them of heresy and placing themselves under bishops who do the same thing. They adhere to the use of the [[Julian calendar]], claiming that the [[Revised Julian calendar|calendar reform in the 1920s]] is in contradiction with the ecumenical councils. There is no official communion of True Orthodox; and they often are local groups and are limited to a specific bishop or locality.

==== Old calendarists ====

{{Main|Old Calendarists}}

[[Old Calendarists]] are traditionalist groups of [[Eastern Orthodox Christians]] that separated from mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches because [[New Calendarists|some of the latter]] [[Council of Constantinople (1923)|adopted]] the [[revised Julian calendar]] while Old Calendarists remained committed to the [[Julian calendar]].''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Kallistos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-71s8jEHWJsC |title=Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-85065-705-7 |editor-last=Clogg |editor-first=Richard |pages=2–4 |chapter=Old Calendarists |author-link=Kallistos (Ware)}}</ref><ref name=":13"/>'' Old Calendarists are not in [[Full communion|communion]] with any mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-10-23|title=Independent Orthodox Churches or the Other Orthodox Family of Churches|url=https://theorthodoxchurch.info/main/non-canonical-orthodox-churches/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE - Media Network|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-09-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906110732/https://theorthodoxchurch.info/main/non-canonical-orthodox-churches/}}</ref> "Old Calendarists" is another name for the [[True Orthodox]] movement in [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Greece]] and [[Cyprus]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=2017-09-01|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|pages=498–9|language=en|chapter=True Orthodox church|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|orig-date=1999|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.}}</ref> In 1999, it was estimated that "[t]here are probably over one million Old Calendarists in Romania, somewhat fewer in Greece, and considerably fewer in [[Bulgaria]], [[Cyprus]], and the Eastern Orthodox [[diaspora]]."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|date=2017-09-01|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken|location=Oxford, UK|page=499|language=en|chapter=True Orthodox church|doi=10.1002/9781405166584|editor-last2=Melling|editor-first2=David J.|editor-last3=Brady|editor-first3=Dimitri|editor-last4=Griffith|editor-first4=Sidney H.|editor-last5=Healey|editor-first5=John F.}}</ref>

==== Old Believers ====

{{Main|Old Believers#Old Believer churches}}

[[File:Crucession_Davidovo-Elizarovo_Guslitci_Moscow_reg_8504.jpg|thumb|Traditional [[Easter|Paschal]] procession by [[Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church]]]]

[[Old Believers]] are groups which do not accept the liturgical reforms which were carried out within the Russian Orthodox Church by [[Patriarch Nikon of Moscow]] in the 17th century. Although all of the groups of Old Believers emerged as a result of opposition to the Nikonian reforms, they do not constitute a single monolithic body. Despite their emphasis on invariable adherence to the pre-Nikonian traditions, the Old Believers feature a great diversity of groups which profess different interpretations of church tradition and they are often not in communion with each other (some groups even practise re-baptism before admitting a member of another group into their midst).

=== Churches not in communion with other churches ===

{{Main|Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church#Churches that are not recognised despite wanting to}}

Churches existing with irregular or unresolved canonical status are entities that have carried out [[Episcopi vagantes|episcopal consecrations outside of the norms of canon law]], or whose bishops have been excommunicated by one of the mainstream autocephalous churches. These include nationalist and other schismatic bodies such as the [[Abkhazian Orthodox Church]] and [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]].

== See also ==

{{Div col}}
* [[Byzantine art]]
* [[Byzantine literature]]
* [[Byzantine dress]]
* [[Byzantine music]]
* [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
* [[Ecclesiastical differences between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
* [[Theological differences between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
* [[Emanation (Eastern Orthodox Christianity)|Emanation (Eastern Orthodoxy)]]
* [[Greek Orthodox Christianity in Lebanon]]
* [[History of Christianity]]
* [[History of Christian theology]]
* [[History of Eastern Orthodox Christian theology]]
* [[Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy]]
* [[List of Eastern Orthodox churches in Australia]]
* [[List of Eastern Orthodox Christians]]
* [[Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece (33–717)]]
* [[Timeline of autocephaly of Eastern Orthodox churches]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

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==Further reading==
{{See also|Bibliography of Russian history (1223–1613)#Religion|Bibliography of Russian history (1613–1917)#Religion}}
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book|last=Adeney|first=Walter F.|title=The Greek and Eastern Churches|year=1908|location=New York|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|url=https://archive.org/download/greekeasternchu00aden/greekeasternchu00aden.pdf}}
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{{refend}}

* [http://www.kurskroot.com/orthodox_dictionary.html Orthodox Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018083709/http://www.kurskroot.com/orthodox_dictionary.html |date=2018-10-18 }} at Kursk Root Hermitage of the Birth of the Most Holy Theotokos
* [http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/10/1.aspx An Online Orthodox Catechism] published by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]
* {{cite journal |title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century |journal=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |date=8 November 2017 |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/}}

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100823224531/http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/repos.htm A repository with scientific papers on various aspects of the Byzantine Orthodox Church in English and in German]

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