Eastern Christianity - Eastern Orthodox Churches

Eastern Orthodox Churches

The Orthodox Church is a Christian body whose adherents are largely based in Russia, Greece, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with a growing presence in the western world. Most Orthodox Christians accept the First seven Ecumenical Councils.

Orthodox Christianity identifies itself as the original Christian church (see early centers of Christianity) founded by Christ and the Apostles, and traces its lineage back to the early church through the process of Apostolic Succession and unchanged theology and practice. Orthodox distinctives (shared with some of the Eastern Catholic Churches) include the Divine Liturgy, Mysteries or Sacraments, and an emphasis on the preservation of Tradition, which it holds to be Apostolic in nature.

Orthodox Churches are also distinctive in that they are organized into self-governing jurisdictions along national, ethnic, and/or linguistic lines. Orthodoxy is thus made up of 15 or 16 national autocephalous bodies. Smaller churches are autonomous and each have a mother church that is autocephalous.

The Orthodox Church includes the following churches:

• Autocephalous Churches
  • The Church of Constantinople
  • The Greek Church of Alexandria
  • The Church of Antioch
  • The Church of Jerusalem
  • Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
  • The Church of Greece
  • The Church of Georgia
  • The Church of Serbia
  • The Church of Romania
  • The Church of Bulgaria
  • The Church of Cyprus
  • The Church of Albania
  • The Church of Poland
  • The Church of Slovakia and the Czech Lands
  • The Orthodox Church in America

• Autonomous Churches
  • The Church of Sinai (Jerusalem Patriarchate)
  • The Orthodox Church of Finland (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
  • The Church of Estonia (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
  • The Church of Japan (Moscow Patriarchate)
  • The Church of Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate)
  • Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Formerly claimed autocephaly, but unification with Russian Orthodox Church achieved on May 17, 2007

• Exceptional churches generally considered to be orthodox in beliefs but otherwise not in communion with all of the above churches.
  • The Church of Ukraine (Kyiv Patriarchate)
  • The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
  • Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric
  • Orthodox Church in Italy

Most Orthodox are united in communion with each other, though unlike the Roman Catholic Church, this is a looser connection rather than a top-down hierarchy (see primus inter pares).

It may also be noted that the Church of Rome was once in communion with the Orthodox Church, but the two were split after the East-West Schism and thus it is no longer in communion with the Orthodox Church.

It is estimated that there are approximately 240 million Orthodox Christians in the world. Today, many adherents shun the term "Eastern" as denying the church's universal character. They refer to Eastern Orthodoxy simply as the Orthodox Church.