History of the Eastern Orthodox Church

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Eastern Orthodox Church
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Structure Theology (History of theology) Liturgy Church history Holy Mysteries View of salvation View of Mary View of icons
Background Crucifixion / Resurrection / Ascension of Jesus Christianity Christian Church Apostolic succession Four Marks of the Church Orthodoxy
Organization Autonomy Autocephaly Patriarchate Ecumenical Patriarch Episcopal polity Canon law Clergy Bishops Priests Deacons Monasticism Degrees Bratstvo
Autocephalous jurisdictions Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion: Constantinople Alexandria Antioch Jerusalem Russia Serbia Romania Bulgaria Georgia Cyprus Greece Poland Albania Czech Lands and Slovakia North Macedonia Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure: America Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Ukraine (OCU) Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Ukraine (UOC)
Autonomous jurisdictions Sinai Finland Estonia (EP) Japan (MP) China (MP) Americas (RP) Bessarabia (RP) Moldova (MP) Semi-Autonomous: Crete (EP) Estonia (MP) ROCOR (MP)
Episcopal assemblies Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania Austria Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg Canada France Germany Great Britain and Ireland Italy and Malta Latin America Scandinavia Spain and Portugal Switzerland and Liechtenstein United States of America
Noncanonical jurisdictions Old Believers Spiritual Christianity True Orthodoxy Catacomb Church Old Calendarists American Orthodox Catholic Church American World Patriarchs National churches: Abkhazia Belarus Italy Latvia Montenegro Turkey UOC–KP Evangelical Orthodox
Ecumenical councils First Seven Ecumenical Councils: First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Other possible ecumenical councils: Eighth Ninth Other important councils: Quinisext Council Jassy Moscow Jerusalem Constantinople (1872)
History Church Fathers Pentarchy Byzantine Empire Christianization of Georgia Christianization of Bulgaria Christianization of Kievan Rus' Great Schism Russia Ottoman Empire North America Moscow–Constantinople schism 15th–16th c. 1996 2018
Theology History of Eastern Orthodox theology (20th century (Neo-Palamism)) Apophaticism Chrismation Contemplative prayer Essence vs. Energies Hesychasm Holy Trinity Hypostatic union Icons Metousiosis Mystical theology Nicene Creed Nepsis Oikonomia vs Akribeia Ousia Palamism Philokalia Phronema Sin Theosis Theotokos Differences from the Catholic Church Opposition to the Filioque Opposition to papal supremacy
Liturgy and worship Divine Liturgy Divine Services Akathist Apolytikion Artos Ectenia Euchologion Holy Water Iconostasis Jesus Prayer Kontakion Liturgical entrances Liturgical fans Lity Memorial service Memory Eternal Omophorion Eastern Orthodox bowing Eastern Orthodox marriage Praxis Paraklesis Paschal greeting Paschal Homily Paschal troparion Prayer rope Prosphora Russian bell ringing Semantron Sign of the cross Sticheron Troparion Vestments Use of incense
Liturgical calendar Paschal cycle 12 Great Feasts Other feasts: Feast of Orthodoxy Intercession of the Theotokos The four fasting periods: Nativity Fast Great Lent Apostles' Fast Dormition Fast
Major figures Athanasius of Alexandria Ephrem the Syrian Basil of Caesarea Cyril of Jerusalem Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa John Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria John Climacus Maximus the Confessor John of Damascus Theodore the Studite Kassiani Cyril and Methodius Photios I of Constantinople Gregory Palamas
Other topics Architecture Folk Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs Eastern Orthodox cross Saint titles Statistics by country
v t e

The history of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the formation, events, and transformation of the Eastern Orthodox Church through time. According to the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church is traced back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The Apostles appointed successors, known as bishops, and they in turn appointed other bishops in a process known as Apostolic succession. Over time, five Patriarchates were established to organize the Christian world, and four of these ancient patriarchates remain Orthodox today. Orthodox Christianity reached its present form in late antiquity (in the period from the 3rd to the 8th century), when the ecumenical councils were held, doctrinal disputes were resolved, the Fathers of the Church lived and wrote, and Orthodox worship practices settled into their permanent form (including the liturgies and the major holidays of the Church).

In the

Orthodox churches in Southern and Eastern Europe.

The Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions with the largest number of adherents in modern times are the

Early Christianity

Apostolic era

The original church or community of the East before the Great Schism comprised:

• the Greek churches founded by Saint Paul
• the
  Asia Minor churches founded by Saint Peter
• the Coptic (or Egyptian) churches founded by Saint Mark (including, at the time, the Ethiopians of Abyssinia)
• the Syriac churches in Upper Mesopotamia
• the
  Saint Andrew and Saint Nino
• the Armenian church, traditionally founded by Saint Jude and Saint Bartholomew
• the
  Saint James, as well as the churches of Samaria and Judea, together comprising "the Holy Land".^[1]

The church of Rome by tradition was founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Systematic

in Jerusalem.

Patristic Age

Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure, clarifying true from false teachings was done by the bishops of the church. Their works are referred to as Patristics. This tradition of clarification can be seen as established in the saints of the Orthodox Church referred to as the Apostolic Fathers, bishops themselves established by apostolic succession. This also continued into the age when the practice of the religion of Christianity became legal (see the Ecumenical Councils).

The

The early Christians had no way to have a copy of the works that later became the canon and other church works accepted but not canonized. Much of the original church liturgical services functioned as a means of learning these works. Orthodox Church services today continue to serve this educational function. The issue of collecting the various works of the eastern churches and compiling them into a canon, each being confirmed as authentic text was a long protracted process. Much of this process was motivated by a need to address various heresies. In many instances, heretical groups had themselves begun compiling and disseminating text that they used to validate their positions, positions that were not consistent with the text, history and traditions of the Orthodox faith.

Divine Liturgy

Liturgical services, especially the Eucharist service, are based on repeating the actions of Jesus ("do this in remembrance of me"), using the bread and wine, and saying his words (known as the words of the institution). The church has the rest of the liturgical ritual being rooted in Jewish Passover, Siddur, Seder, and synagogue services, including the singing of hymns (especially the Psalms) and reading from the Scriptures (Old and New Testament). The final uniformity of liturgical services became solidified after the church established a Biblical canon, being based on the Apostolic Constitutions and Clementine literature.

Bible

In the Orthodox view, the Bible represents those texts approved by the church for the purpose of conveying the most important parts of what it already believed. The oldest list of books for the canon is the Muratorian fragment dating to c. 170 (see also Chester Beatty Papyri). The oldest complete canon of the Christian Bible was found at Saint Catherine's Monastery (see Codex Sinaiticus) and later sold to the British by the Soviets in 1933.^[6] Parts of the codex are still considered stolen by the Monastery even today.^[6] These texts (as a whole) were not universally considered canonical until the church reviewed, edited, accepted and ratified them in 368 AD (also see the Council of Laodicea). Salvation or Soteriology from the Orthodox perspective is achieved not by knowledge of scripture but by being a member of the church or community and cultivating phronema and theosis through participation in the church or community.^[7][8]

Pentarchy

By the 5th century, Christian

), with a settled order of precedence. The first four of the patriarchs were located in the largest cities of the Roman Empire, while the fifth was in Jerusalem, a city deriving its importance from being the place where the Christian Church was founded, despite its relatively small size. All five locations also had Christian communities who traced their lineage back to one or several Apostles.

Thus, in order of precedence, the five patriarchates (and the Apostles claimed as founders by each patriarchate) were as follows:

• Rome (founded by Sts. Peter and Paul), currently in Italy. This was the only Pentarch in the Western Roman Empire, and is now better known as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Andrew), currently Istanbul
  in Turkey
• Alexandria (St. Mark), currently in Egypt
• Antioch (St. Peter), currently in Syria
• James), currently in Israel

Two patriarchates are noted to have been founded by St Peter, the patriarchate of Rome and the patriarchate of Antioch. The Eastern churches accept Antioch as the church founded by St Peter (see the

).

Byzantine period

It was in the establishment of the

doctrine.

Legalization included the calling of the

In the 530s the second Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) was built in Constantinople under emperor Justinian I, to become the center of the ecclesiastical community for the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium. The first church had been destroyed during the Nika riots.

Ecumenical councils

These Pre Ecumenical councils include the

The tradition of councils within the church started with the apostolic

and later definitions of an ecumenical council to conform to this sole Biblical council.

The

), which the Orthodox recognize as the definitive interpretation of Christian dogma.

First Council of Nicaea (Nicaea, 325)

convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine, condemning the view of Arius that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father.

Second Ecumenical Council

(Constantinople, 381)

defining the nature of the Holy Spirit against those asserting His inequality with the other persons of the Trinity. Under Theodosius I this council marks the end of the Arian conflict in the Eastern Roman Empire.

Third Ecumenical Council

(Ephesus 431)

affirmed that Mary is truly "Birth giver" or "Mother" of God (Theotokos), contrary to the teachings of Nestorius.

Fourth Ecumenical Council

(Chalcedon, 451)

affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly man, without mixture of the two natures, contrary to Monophysite teaching.

Fifth Ecumenical Council

(Constantinople, 553)

interpreting the decrees of Chalcedon and further explaining the relationship of the two natures of Jesus; it also condemned the teachings of Origen on the pre-existence of the soul, and Apocatastasis.

Sixth Ecumenical Council

(Constantinople, 681)

declaring that Christ has two wills of his two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the Monothelites.

Seventh Ecumenical Council

(Nicea, 787)

called under the

Empress Regnant Irene, it affirmed the making and veneration of icons, while also forbidding the worship of icons and the making of three-dimensional statuary. It reversed the declaration of an earlier council that had called itself the Seventh Ecumenical Council and also nullified its status (see separate article on Iconoclasm). That earlier council had been held under the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V. It met with more than 340 bishops at Constantinople and Hieria in 754, declaring the making of icons of Jesus or the saints an error, mainly for Christological

reasons.

The Orthodox Church also recognizes the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 879 as Ecumenical, and continues to participate in dogmatically binding councils.

Confronting Arianism

The

or substantia).

The first council did not end the conflict. When Emperor

better source needed

]

Iconoclasm

The

: the people of God are not to create idols and then worship them.

Tensions with the Papacy

Furthermore, the loss of the

.

Two basic problems—the primacy of the bishop of Rome and the procession of the Holy Spirit—were involved. These doctrinal differences were first openly discussed during the patriarchate of Photius I.

Rome interpreted her primacy among the Pentarchy of five sees in terms of sovereignty, as a God-given right involving universal jurisdiction in the Church. Some churches of the East believed that the Roman See had a primacy of honour but not supremacy, i.e. the Pope being the first among equals, not an absolute authority with the ability to make infallible statements.^{[19][20][21][22]}

Photian schism

Photius refused to accept the supremacy of the pope in Orthodox matters, or accept the Filioque clause that had been added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin church, and was later the theological breaking point in the ultimate Great Schism in the 11th century. The controversy also involved ecclesiastical jurisdictional rights in the Bulgarian church.

Photios did provide concession on the issue of jurisdictional rights concerning Bulgaria, and the papal legates made do with his return of Bulgaria to Rome. This concession, however, was purely nominal, as Bulgaria's return to the Byzantine rite in 870 had already secured for it an autocephalous church. Without the consent of Boris I of Bulgaria, the papacy was unable to enforce any of its claims.

Mission to Great Moravia

In Great Moravia, the two brothers

, and committing to linguistic and cultural uniformity. They insisted on the use of the Latin liturgy, and regarded Moravia as their rightful mission field.

Conversion of Eastern and Southern Slavs

In the 9th and 10th centuries, Christianity made great inroads into Eastern Europe: first in Bulgaria and Serbia, then followed by Kievan Rus'. For a period of time, there was a real possibility that all of the newly baptized South Slav nations, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Croats would join the Western church, but in the end, only the Croats joined.

The Serbs were baptised during the reign of Heraclius (610–641) by "elders of Rome" according to

The forming of Christianity as .

A Serbian bishopric (Diocese of Ras) may have been founded in

The Serbs and Bulgarians adopt the Old Slavonic liturgy instead of the Greek.^[23][26]

In 863, a mission from the Patriarch of Constantinople converted King Boris I of Bulgaria to Christianity. Boris realized that the Christianization of his subjects by the Byzantine mission would facilitate the undesired spread of Byzantine influence in Bulgaria, as the liturgy was carried out in the Greek language, and the newly established Bulgarian Church was subordinate to the Church of Constantinople. A popular revolt against the new religion prompted the King to request that the Bulgarian Church be granted independence, which was refused by Constantinople. Boris turned to the Pope, and the arrival of the Roman clerical mission concluded the activity of the Byzantine mission, which was ordered by the King to leave Bulgaria.

Constantinople nervously watched the events taking place in their northern neighbour, because a pro-Rome Bulgaria threatened its immediate interests. A religious council was held in the summer of 867 in the Byzantine capital, during which the Roman Church's behaviour was harshly condemned. As a personal culprit, Pope Nicholas I was anathematized. In a letter to Boris, the Byzantine emperor Michael III expressed his disapproval of Bulgaria's religious reorientation and used offensive language against the Roman Church. The old rivalry between the two Churches burned with new power.

The Roman mission's efforts were met with success and King Boris asked Pope Nicholas I to appoint Formosa of Portua as Bulgarian Archbishop. The Pope refused, and his successor Pope Adrian II turned out to be even more disinclined to comply, so Boris turned again to Constantinople. This resulted in the creation of an autonomous national (Bulgarian) Archbishopric. In the next 10 years, Pope Adrian II and his successors made desperate attempts to reclaim their influence in Bulgaria, but their efforts ultimately failed.

The foundations of the Bulgarian national Church had been set. The next stage was the implementation of the

as the official language of the Bulgarian Church and State.

Great Schism

In the 11th century the

The Orthodox Byzantine Greeks perceived the Papacy as taking on monarch type characteristics that were not inline with the Church's historical tradition as can be seen in the words of Archbishop Niketas of Nicomedia of the 12th century:

My dearest brother, we do not deny to the Roman Church the primacy among the five sister patriachates and we recognize her right to the most honorable seat at the Ecumenical Council. But she has separated herself from us by her own deeds when through pride she assumed a monarchy which does not belong to her office ... How shall we accept decrees from her that have been issued without consulting us and even without our knowledge? If the Roman pontiff seated on the lofty throne of his glory wished to thunder at us and, so to speak, hurl his mandates at us from on high and if he wishes to judge us and even to rule us and our churches, not by taking counsel with us but at his own arbitrary pleasure what kind of brotherhood, or even what kind of parenthood can this be? We should be the slaves not the sons, of such a church and the Roman see would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard and imperious mistress of slaves

— Archbishop Nicetas of Nicomedia of the Twelfth Century^[28]

Hesychast controversy

Under church tradition the practice of Hesychasm has it beginnings in the bible, Matthew 6:6 and the

Around the year 1337,

).

On the Hesychast side, the controversy was taken up by

Essence-Energies distinction

was established as the doctrine of the Orthodox Church.

One of Barlaam's friends, Gregory Akindynos, who originally was also a friend of Gregory's, later took up the controversy. Another opponent of Palamism was Manuel Kalekas who sought to reconcile the Eastern and Western Churches. Following the decision of 1351, there was strong repression against anti-Palamist thinkers, who ultimately had no choice but to emigrate and convert to Catholicism. This exodus of highly educated Greek scholars, later reinforced by refugees following the Fall of Constantinople of 1453, had a significant influence on the first generation (that of Petrarca and Boccaccio) of the incipient Italian Renaissance.

Eastern monastic or ascetic tradition

With the elevation of Christianity to the status of a legal religion within the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, with the edict of Milan (313), many Orthodox felt a new decline in the ethical life of Christians. In reaction to this decline, many refused to accept any compromises and fled the

respectively.

Crusades

Main articles:

Swedish-Novgorodian Wars

Conquest of the Orthodox city of Constantinople

by the crusaders in 1204

Battle of the Ice

in 1242 (20th century work)

The final breach between Greeks and Latins is often considered to have arisen after the capture and sacking of

The

In 2004,

.

Establishment of the Roman Catholic Latin Empire

After the

was established, which was later to be the origin of the Greek monarchy that defeated the Latin forces of Europe and re-established Orthodox Monarchy in Constantinople and Asia Minor.

Ottoman period

In 1453AD, the city of

and then finally reconquered by the Ottoman Muslims in 1517.

Under Ottoman rule, the

Greek Orthodox Church

acquired power as an autonomous millet. The ecumenical patriarch was the religious and administrative ruler of the entire "Orthodox nation" (Ottoman administrative unit), which encompassed all the Orthodox subjects of the Empire, but was dominated by ethnic Greeks.

Under the Ottoman Empire, violence against non-Muslims was common. One of the worst such episodes occurred under

Religious rights

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The Orthodox Church was an accepted institution under the Ottomans, in contrast to Catholicism which was associated with enemy Austria, and actually grew in size during Ottoman rule.

Fall of the Ottoman Empire

The fall of the Ottoman was precipitated by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox disputed possession of the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. During the early 1850s, the two sides made demands which the Sultan could not possibly satisfy simultaneously. In 1853, the Sultan adjudicated in favour of the French, despite the vehement protestations of the local Orthodox monks.

The ruling Ottoman siding with Rome over the Orthodox provoked outright war (see the

in 1850 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

Persecution by the "Young Turks"

Systematic massacres took place in 1894–1896 when Sultan Abdul killed 300,000 Armenians throughout the provinces. In 1909 government troops killed, in the towns of Adana alone, over 20,000 Christian Armenians. Also, in the first two decades of the 20th century, there were massacres of Greeks, Slavs, and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, culminating in the

Republic of Turkey

During the

Eastern Thrace

) were expelled to Turkey, and Greek Orthodox people in Turkey (save the ones in Istanbul) were expelled to Greece.

In September 1955, a pogrom was directed primarily at Istanbul's 100,000-strong Greek minority.^[44][45] In 1971, the Halki seminary in Istanbul was closed along with other private higher education institutions in Turkey.^[46]

Other Muslim-majority states

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)

Orthodoxy under the Palestinian National Authority (including Gaza). Orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan (see Melkite and Kurdish Christians).

Jerusalem

The

constructed in 335 AD.

Russia

Kizhi

Transfiguration church

The success of the conversion of the Bulgarians facilitated the conversion of the East Slavs. By the beginning of the 11th century most of the Slavic world, including, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia had converted to Orthodox Christianity. Bulgaria's Church was officially recognized as a Patriarchate by Constantinople in 927, Serbia's in 1346, and Russia's in 1589.

Through a series of Wars with the World of Islam the church did indeed establish itself as the protector of Orthodoxy (see the

).

Under Mongol rule

Russia lay under

period in Russian history. This period led to great calamity for the internal structure of Russia. Much of Russia was ruled by Mongols, and the Russian princes were subordinated to the Mongols.

The eventual end of the reign of the Golden Horde is said to have begun with the Battle of Kulikovo on 8 September 1380, which involves the famous Orthodox legend of the Russian monk and champion Alexander Peresvet and his death that mark the beginning of the battle. The final face-off that formally ended Mongol rule in Russia was the Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480.

Synodal period

Balchug

The

himself.

The church was involved in various campaigns of

The Church, like the Tsarist state was seen as an

Bolsheviks

and other Russian revolutionaries.

Soviet Union

The Russian Orthodox Church

) after the October Revolution. This may have further strengthened the Bolshevik animus against the church.

Before and after the October Revolution of 7 November 1917 (October 25 Old Calendar) there was a movement within the Soviet Union to unite all of the people of the world under Communist rule (see Communist International). This included the Eastern European bloc countries as well as the Balkan States. Since some of these Slavic states tied their ethnic heritage to their ethnic churches, both the peoples and their church were targeted by the Soviets and its form of state atheism.^[57][58] The Soviets' official religious stance was one of "religious freedom or tolerance", though the state established atheism as the only scientific truth.^[59][60][61] Criticism of atheism was strictly forbidden and sometimes resulted in imprisonment.^[62]

It is estimated that some 20 million Christians (17 million Orthodox and 3 million Roman Catholic) died or were interned in gulags.^[63] Some actions against Orthodox priests and believers along with

The result of state sponsored atheism was to transform the Church into a persecuted and martyred Church. In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed.^[66]

Christ the Savior Cathedral Moscow

after reconstruction

In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the Russian Republic fell from 29,584 to less than 500. Between 1917 and 1940, 130,000 Orthodox priests were arrested. The widespread persecution and internecine disputes within the church hierarchy led to the seat of the

In the Soviet Union, in addition to the methodical closing and destruction of churches, the charitable and social work formerly done by ecclesiastical authorities was taken over by the state. As with all private property, Church owned property was confiscated into public use. This persecution continued, even after the death of Stalin until the

New Martyrs

as saints.

Other Eastern Orthodox Churches under communist rule

China

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2019)

Eastern Catholic or "Byzantine Rite" churches

The

, from whom they are separated by a number of theological differences, or the Eastern Orthodox churches, from whom they are separated primarily by differences in understanding of the role of the Bishop of Rome within the College of Bishops.

The Eastern Catholic churches were located historically in Eastern Europe, the Asian Middle East, Northern Africa and India, but are now, because of migration, found also in Western Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

Origins

The

]

The movement to reestablish communion with the See of Rome within East-Central Europe was started with the 1598–1599 Union of Brest, by which the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'" entered into relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.

A century later, a similar movement occurred in Romania, as described on the website of Delia Despina Dumitrica.^[71]

Conflict between Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox

Since the beginnings of the Uniate movement, there have been periodic conflicts between the Orthodox and Uniate in Poland and Western Russia.

).

The Eastern Catholic churches consider themselves to have reconciled the East and West Schism by keeping their prayers and rituals similar to those of Eastern Orthodoxy, while also accepting the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.

Some Orthodox charge that joining in this unity comes at the expense of ignoring critical doctrinal differences and past atrocities. From the perspective of many Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholicism is a ploy by Roman Catholicism to undermine and ultimately destroy their church by undermining its legitimacy and absorbing it into the Roman Catholic Church. It is feared that this ploy would diminish the power to the original eastern Patriarchs of the church and would require the acceptance of rejected doctrines and Scholasticism over faith. ^[73][74]

In the 20th century, there have been conflicts which involved forced conversions both by the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox. In Croatia, the Ustaše forced the conversion of Orthodox to Roman Catholicism. Other forced conversions included the Roman Catholics inside the USSR and Eastern Bloc after the October Revolution.^[75]

Modern history

This section needs expansion with: 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism. You can help by adding to it. (October 2018)

The various autocephalous and autonomous churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture, but for the most part exist in

.

Autocephalous

national churches

Further information:

Eastern Orthodox Church organization

• Greek Orthodoxy
  • St Peter and then given to St Ignatius, in what is now Turkey. However, in the 15th century, it was moved to Damascus
    in response to the Ottoman invasion of Antioch. Its traditional territory includes Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Turkey, while there is a large autonomous diaspora diocese in North America. The current Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East which is considered by the other bishops of the Orthodox Church to be the sole legitimate heir to the See of Antioch.
  • Church of Greece.
  • Church of Cyprus. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Church of Cyprus has been engaged in a struggle between rejoining the mainland Church of Greece, being reunited with the Turkish state and independence.
  • Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria claims succession from the Apostle Mark the Evangelist who founded the Church in the 1st century, and therefore the beginning of Christianity in Africa. It is one of the five ancient patriarchates of the early Church, called the Pentarchy. Sometimes called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. In Egypt, members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate were also called Melkite, because the favorable orientation of the Byzantine Emperor towards the Council of Chalcedon. The term Melkite is currently used to describe the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
    members. Since the schism occurring as a result of the political and Christological controversies at the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Greek Orthodox have liturgically been Greek-speaking. After the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the Orthodox were a minority even among Christians, and remained small for centuries. Today, the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt comprises some 300,000 Orthodox Christians, the highest number since the Roman Empire.
• Apostolic See of Antioch. The Georgian Orthodox Church become autocephalous (independent) in 466 when the Patriarchate of Antioch elevated the Bishop of Mtskheta to the rank of "Catholicos of Kartli". On March 3, 1990, the Patriarch of Constantinople re-approved the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church (which had in practice been exercised or at least claimed since the 5th century) as well as the Patriarchal honour of the Catholicos. Today the Georgian Orthodox Church has around 5 million members around the world (of whom about 3,670,000 live within Georgia) and administers, as of 2007^[update], 35 eparchies
  (dioceses).
• The Bulgarian Orthodox Church lost its autocephalous status after the fall of Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire. Bulgarian autocephaly was restored in 1953.

• Serbian Orthodox Church gained autocephaly in 1219, patriarchate status in 1345, while it was abolished in long periods during the Ottoman period. The Patriarchate was reunited in 1919–22.
• Romanian Orthodox Church. Today the largest self-governing Church after Russia, it was declared autocephalous in 1885 and became a patriarchate in 1925.

Relationship with Oriental Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church is often referred to as Eastern Orthodox Church in order to distinguish it from Oriental Orthodoxy (despite the fact that eastern and oriental are synonyms).

The (Eastern) Orthodox Church strives to keep the faith of the seven

All official representatives of the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox reached agreement in these dialogues that the Christological differences between the two communions are more a matter of emphasis than of substance. Although elements in a number of the Eastern Orthodox Churches have criticized the apparent consensus reached by the representatives at Chambesy, the patriarch and holy synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church welcomed the agreements as positive moves towards a sharing in the Love of God, and a rejection of the hatred of insubstantial division. As recommended in the Second Chambesy Agreement of 1990, the Antiochian (Eastern) Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV formally met with the Syriac (Oriental) Orthodox Patriarch, Ignatius Zakka I, on 22 July 1991.^[citation needed] At that meeting, the two patriarchs signed a pastoral agreement which called for "complete and mutual respect between the two churches".^[78] It also prohibited the passing of faithful from one church to the other, envisaged joint meetings of the two holy synods when appropriate, and provided for future guidelines for inter-communion of the faithful and Eucharistic concelebration by the clergy of the two churches. The Church of Antioch expects these guidelines to be issued when the faithful of both churches are ready, but not before. Patriarch Ignatius has also overseen participation in a bilateral commission with the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which is exploring ways of healing the 18th century schism between the Melkite Catholics and the Antiochian Orthodox. In an unprecedented event, Melkite Patriarch Maximos V addressed a meeting of the Orthodox holy synod in October 1996. The members of the holy synod of Antioch continue to explore greater communication and more friendly meetings with their Syriac, Melkite, and Maronite brothers and sisters, who all share a common heritage.^{[citation needed]}

Minority communities

European minorities

The Orthodox Churches in

and declared its independence (autocephaly) in 1922. The recognition of the primate by Constantinople came in 1937.

Churches in Asia

Main article:

History of Eastern Christianity in Asia

Judging from the New Testament account of the rise and expansion of the early church, during the first few centuries of Christianity, the most extensive dissemination of the gospel was not in the West but in the East. In fact, conditions in the Parthian empire (250 BC – AD 226), which stretched from the Euphrates to the Indus rivers and the Caspian to the Arabian seas, were in some ways more favourable for the growth of the church than in the Roman world. And though opposition to Christianity increasingly mounted under successive Persian and Islamic rulers, Christian communities were eventually established in the vast territory which stretches from the Near to the Far East possibly as early as the first century of the church.

• Chinese Orthodox Church
• Japanese Orthodox Church
• Korean Orthodox Church
• Philippine Orthodox Church

See also

• Christian Church
• Church Fathers
• Eastern Orthodox Christian theology
• History of Arab Christians
• History of Christianity
• History of Eastern Christianity
• Pentarchy
• Seven Ecumenical Councils
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece
• Western Rite Orthodoxy
• Eastern Orthodoxy in North America
• Timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America

Other Eastern apostolic churches:

• Oriental Orthodoxy
• History of Oriental Orthodoxy
• Church of the East
• Eastern Rite Roman Catholicism

Historical writers:

• Metropolitan
  Hilarion (Alfeyev)
• James H. Billington
• Jaroslav Pelikan
• Sergey Solovyov
• Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)

References

Sources

• Baán, István (1997). "The Foundation of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa: The Byzantine Origin of the Second Archdiocese in Hungary". Early Christianity in Central and East Europe. Warszawa: Semper. pp. 67–74.
  ISBN 9788386951338
  .
• Baán, István (1999). "The Metropolitanate of Tourkia: The Organization of the Byzantine Church in Hungary in the Middle Ages". Byzanz und Ostmitteleuropa 950–1453. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 45–53.
  ISBN 9783447041461
  .
• Barry, David Sheldon (1976). The Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the fifth and sixth centuries. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
• ISBN 9780521815390
  .
• Dowling, Theodore Edward (1913). The Orthodox Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem. London: Society for promoting Christian knowledge.
• ISBN 0472081497
  .
• ISBN 0472082604
  .
• ISBN 0472025600
  .
• Frazee, Charles A. (2006) [1983]. Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the Ottoman Empire 1453–1923. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 9780521027007
  .
• Hage, Wolfgang (2007). Das orientalische Christentum. Stuttgart:
  ISBN 9783170176683
  .
• The Orthodox Church; 455 Questions and Answers. Harakas, Stanley H. Light and Life Publishing Company, 1988. (
  ISBN 0-937032-56-5
  )
• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC.
  ISBN 9781434458766
  .
• Koszta, László (2014). "Byzantine Archiepiscopal Ecclesiastical System in Hungary?". The Carpathian Basin, the Hungarians and Byzantium. Szeged: Szegedi Tudományegyetem. pp. 127–143.
• Kursar, Vjeran (2013). "Non-Muslim Communal Divisions and Identities in the Early Modern Ottoman Balkans and the Millet System Theory". Power and Influence in South-Eastern Europe, 16th–19th century. Berlin: LIT Verlag. pp. 97–108.
  ISBN 9783643903310
  .
• Laurent, Vitalien (1968). "Les premiers patriarches de Constantinople sous la domination turque (1454–1476): Succession et chronologie d'après un catalogue inédit". Revue des études byzantines. 26: 229–263.
  doi:10.3406/rebyz.1968.1407
  .
• Madgearu, Alexandru (2008). "The Mission of Hierotheos: Location and Significance". Byzantinoslavica. 66: 119–138.
• Madgearu, Alexandru (2017). "Further Considerations on Hierotheos' Mission to the Magyars". Acta Musei Napocensis. 54 (2): 1–16.
• ISBN 9780881410563
  .
• ISBN 9780881411348
  .
• Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Peri, Oded (2001). Christianity Under Islam in Jerusalem: The Question of the Holy Sites in Early Ottoman Times. Brill.
  ISBN 9004120424
  .
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise Exposition, by
  ISBN 0938635-69-7
  )
• History of the Orthodox Church in the History of Russian
  ISBN 0-88141-179-5
  )
• Radojević, Mira; Mićić, Srđan B. (2015). "Serbian Orthodox Church cooperation and frictions with Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Bulgarian Exarchate during interwar period". Studia academica šumenesia. 2: 126‒143.
• ISBN 9780521313100
  .
• The Spirituallity of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook by
  ISBN 0-87907-879-0
• Thomas, John P. (1987). Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine Empire. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks.
  ISBN 9780884021643
  .
• Véghseő, Tamás (2015). "Reflections on the Background to the Union of Uzhhorod / Ungvár (1646)" (PDF). Eastern Theological Journal. 1 (1): 147–181.
• The Orthodox Church. Ware, Timothy. Penguin Books, 1997. (
  ISBN 0-14-014656-3
  )

External links

• Orthodox Research Institute
• List of most patriarchates
• The Orthodox Tradition
• Orthodox Tradition and the Liturgy
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Directory of Orthodox Internet Resources
• Orthodox Library: History, Doctrine, Practices, Saints
• Background information on the Orthodox Church
• Orthodox Life Info Portal: catalog of resources