Eastern Orthodox Church

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Not to be confused with Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Christianity, or Eastern
Catholic Churches.
"Eastern Orthodoxy" and "Orthodox Catholic Church" redirect here. For other uses,
see Orthodox (disambiguation).

Eastern Orthodox Church

Saint George's Cathedral

Type Eastern Christian

Scripture Septuagint, New Testament

Theology Eastern Orthodox theology

Polity Episcopal

Structure Communion

Primus inter pares Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

Region Southeast Europe, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Georgia,

[1]
 Siberia, and large communities in the Eastern

Mediterranean and in the Middle East

Language Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, vernacular[2][3][4]

Liturgy Byzantine (nearly ubiquitous); also Western

Headquarters Constantinople[5]

Founder Jesus Christ according to holy tradition

Origin 1st century

Judea, Roman Empire

Separations Old Believers (17th century)

True Orthodoxy (1920s)

Members 220 million[6]

Other name(s) Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christian Church

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Eastern Orthodox Church

Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia

Overview

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 Theology (History of theology)
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  Church history
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Background

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Organization

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Autocephalous jurisdictions

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Noncanonical jurisdictions

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Ecumenical councils

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History

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Theology

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Liturgy and worship

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Liturgical calendar

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Major figures

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Christ Pantocrator, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, 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,[7][8][9][10] is

the second-largest Christian church,[a][11] with approximately 220 million baptised
members.[12][6][13] It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed
by its bishops in local synods.[13] Roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in the
territory of the former Soviet Union, most of those living in Russia.[14][15] The church has no
central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the bishop of Rome (Roman
Catholic Pope), but the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all
as primus inter pares ("first among equals") of the bishops. As one of the oldest
surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a
prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe,
the Caucasus, and the Near East.[16]
Eastern Orthodox theology is based on holy tradition which incorporates the dogmatic
decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Scriptures, and the teaching of
the Church Fathers. The church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and
apostolic church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission,[17] and that its
bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles.[18] It maintains that it practises the
original Christian faith, as passed down by holy tradition. Its patriarchates, reminiscent
of the pentarchy, and other autocephalous and autonomous churches reflect a variety
of hierarchical organisation. It recognises seven major sacraments, of which
the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in synaxis. The church teaches
that through consecration invoked by a 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 God-bearer, honoured in devotions.
The Eastern Orthodox Church shared communion with the Roman Catholic Church in
the state church of Rome until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly
the authority of the pope. Before the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 the Church of the
East also shared in this communion, as did the Oriental Orthodox Churches before
the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, all separating primarily over differences
in Christology.
The majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians live mainly in Southeast and Eastern
Europe, Cyprus, Georgia and other communities in the Caucasus region, and
communities in Siberia reaching the Russian Far East. There are also smaller
communities in the former Byzantine regions of Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and
in the Middle East, where it is decreasing due to forced migration because of
increased religious persecution in recent years.[19][20] There are also many in other parts of
the world, formed through diaspora, conversions, and missionary activity.

Contents

 1Name and characteristics

o 1.1Orthodoxy
o 1.2Catholicity
 2Organisation and leadership
o 2.1Church councils
o 2.2Adherents
 3Theology
o 3.1Trinity
o 3.2Sin, salvation, and the incarnation
o 3.3Resurrection of Christ
o 3.4Christian life
o 3.5Virgin Mary and other saints
o 3.6Eschatology
o 3.7Bible
o 3.8Holy tradition and the patristic consensus
o 3.9Territorial expansion and doctrinal integrity
 4Worship
o 4.1Church calendar
o 4.2Church services
o 4.3Fasting
o 4.4Almsgiving
 5Traditions
o 5.1Monasticism
o 5.2Icons and symbols
o 5.3Art and architecture
o 5.4Local customs
 6Holy mysteries (sacraments)
 o 6.1Baptism
o 6.2Chrismation
o 6.3Holy Communion (Eucharist)
o 6.4Repentance (Confession)
o 6.5Marriage
o 6.6Holy orders
o 6.7Unction
 7History
o 7.1Early Church
o 7.2Ecumenical councils
o 7.3Roman/Byzantine Empire
o 7.4Early schisms
o 7.5Conversion of South and East Slavs
o 7.6Great Schism (1054)
o 7.7Greek Church under Ottoman rule
o 7.8Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire
o 7.9Orthodox churches under Communist rule
 8Interfaith relations
o 8.1Relations with other Christians
o 8.2Relations with Islam
 9Present
o 9.1Main communion
o 9.2Traditionalist groups
o 9.3Churches not in communion with other churches
 10See also
 11Notes
 12References
o 12.1Citations
o 12.2Sources
 13Further reading
 14External links

Name and characteristics[edit]

In keeping with the church's teaching on universality and with the Nicene Creed,
Orthodox authorities such as Saint Raphael of Brooklyn have insisted that the full name
of the church has always included the term "Catholic", as in "Holy Orthodox Catholic
Apostolic Church".[21][22][23] The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the
"Orthodox Catholic Church".[7][8][9][10] It is the name by which the church refers to itself in its
liturgical or canonical texts,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] in official publications,[32][33] and in official contexts
or administrative documents.[34][35] Orthodox teachers refer to the church as Catholic.[36]
[37]
 This name and longer variants containing "Catholic" are also recognised and
referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. [38][39][40][41][42][43]
The common name of the church, "Eastern Orthodox Church", is a shortened
practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use. 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 "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 Rome. This identification with Greek, however, became increasingly
confusing with time. Missionaries brought 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 Rome, which then also used "Greek Catholic" to
indicate their continued use of the Byzantine rites. Today, many of those same
churches remain, while a very large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national
origin, and do not use Greek as the language of worship. [44] "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.[45] There are additional Christian churches in the east that are in
communion with neither Rome nor Constantinople, who tend to be distinguished by the
category named "Oriental Orthodox". While the church continues officially to call itself
"Catholic", for reasons of universality, the common title of "Eastern Orthodox Church"
avoids casual confusion with the Roman Catholic Church.
Orthodoxy[edit]

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, c. 1000)

The first known use of the phrase "the catholic Church" (he katholike ekklesia) occurred
in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another (Saint Ignatius of
Antioch to the Smyrnaeans). 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."[46] Thus, almost from the beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the
"one, holy, catholic (from the Greek καθολική, "according to the whole, universal" [47]) and
apostolic Church".[17] 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 Roman Catholic
Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox. In
the Eastern Orthodox view, the Assyrians and Orientals 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. 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. The Church of
England separated from the Catholic Church, not directly from the Eastern Orthodox
Church, for the first time in the 1530s (and, after a brief reunion in 1555, again finally in
1558). Thus, though it was united to Orthodoxy when established through the work
of Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the early 7th century, its separation from Orthodoxy
came about indirectly through the See of Rome.
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 "Orthodox" itself, a union of 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"). [48]
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.[49][50] The Bulgarian and all the Slavic churches use the title Pravoslavie (Cyrillic:
Православие), meaning "correctness of glorification", to denote what is in
English Orthodoxy, while the Georgians use the title Martlmadidebeli. Several other
churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa also came to use Orthodox in their titles, but are
still distinct from the Eastern Orthodox Church as described in this article.
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".[45]
What unites Orthodox Christians is the catholic faith as carried through holy tradition.
That faith is expressed most fundamentally in scripture and worship, [51] and the latter
most essentially through baptism and in the Divine Liturgy.[52] Orthodox Christians
proclaim the faith lives and breathes by God's energies in communion with the church.
Inter-communion is the litmus test by which all can see that two churches share the
same faith; lack of inter-communion (excommunication, literally "out of communion") is
the sign of different faiths, even though some central theological points may be shared.
The sharing of beliefs can be highly significant, but it is not the full measure of the faith
according to the Orthodox.
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.[53] And as in the ancient church persecutions,
the aftermath of persecutions of Christians in communist nations has left behind both
some governance and some faith issues that have yet to be completely resolved. [54]
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. [55] 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. [56]
The shared beliefs of Orthodoxy, and its theology, exist within holy tradition and cannot
be separated from it, for their meaning is not expressed in mere words alone. [57] Doctrine
cannot be understood unless it is prayed. [58] Doctrine must also be lived in order to be
prayed, for without action, the prayer is idle and empty, a mere vanity, and therefore the
theology of demons.[59] According to these teachings of the ancient Church, no
superficial belief can ever be orthodox. Similarly, reconciliation and unity are not
superficial, but are prayed and lived out.
Catholicity[edit]
An icon of Saint John the Baptist, 14th century, North Macedonia

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The Eastern Orthodox Church considers itself to be both orthodox and catholic. 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 Καθολικότης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας) is used in its original sense, as a
designation for the Universality of the Church, centered around Christ. Therefore, the
Eastern Orthodox notion of catholicity is not centered around any singular see, unlike
the Catholic Church which has one earthly center.
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.[60] 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. Just as Christ is
indivisible, so are union with him and faith in him, whereby the Church is "universal",
unseparated, and comprehensive, including all who share that faith. Orthodox
bishop Kallistos Ware has called that "simple Christianity".[61] That is the sense of early
and patristic usage wherein the church usually refers to itself as the "Catholic Church", [62]
[63]
 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, the churches in
Rome and Constantinople each viewed the other as having departed from the 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.

Organisation and leadership[edit]

Main article: Eastern Orthodox Church organization
The religious authority for Eastern Orthodoxy is not a patriarch or the bishop of Rome
as in Catholicism, nor the Bible as in Protestantism, but the scriptures as interpreted by
the seven ecumenical councils of the Imperial Roman Church. The Eastern Orthodox
Church is a fellowship of "autocephalous" (Greek for self-headed) churches, with
the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople being the only autocephalous head who
holds the title primus inter pares, meaning "first among equals" in Latin. The Patriarch of
Constantinople has the honor of primacy, but his title is only first among equals and has
no real authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan and set out
prerogatives interpreted by the ecumenical patriarch, [64][65][66][67] though at times the office of
the ecumenical patriarch has been accused of Constantinopolitan or Eastern papism. [68][69]
[70]
 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 authority and the grace of God is
directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands—a
practice started by the apostles, and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an
essential element of the true Church (Acts 8:17, 1 Tim 4:14, Heb 6:2). The Orthodox
Church asserts that apostolic succession requires apostolic faith, and bishops without
apostolic faith, who are in heresy, forfeit their claim to apostolic succession. [71]
The Eastern Orthodox communion is organised into several regional churches, which
are either autocephalous ("self-headed") or lower-ranking autonomous (the Greek term
for "self-governing") church bodies unified in theology and worship. These include the
fourteen autocephalous churches
of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia, R
ussia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Albania, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which
were officially invited to the Pan-Orthodox Council of 2016,[72] the Orthodox Church in
America formed in 1970, the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine created in
2019, as well as a number of autonomous churches. [64] Each church has a
ruling bishop and a holy synod to administer its jurisdiction and to lead the Orthodox
Church in the preservation and teaching of the apostolic and patristic traditions and
church practices.
Each bishop has a territory (see) over which he governs.[65] His main duty is to make
sure the traditions and practices of the 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 synods of bishops who gather together at least twice a
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[edit]

Oldest extant manuscript of the Nicene Creed, dated to the 5th Century

There have been a number of times when alternative theological ideas arose to
challenge the Orthodox faith. At such times the Orthodox communion deemed it
necessary to convene a general or "great" council of all available bishops throughout
the world. The Orthodox Church holds that seven ecumenical councils, held between
the 4th and the 8th centuries, are authoritative.
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 Christian Church as truth, and to remove as heresy
any false teachings that would threaten the 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.[73]
[74][75][76]

Other councils have helped to define the Eastern Orthodox position, specifically
the Quinisext Council, the Synods of Constantinople, 879–880, 1341, 1347, 1351, 1583,
1819, and 1872, the Synod of Iași, 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox 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 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). [77] His words and opinions
carry no more insight or wisdom than any other bishop. It is believed that the Holy Spirit
guides the Eastern Orthodox Church through the decisions of the entire council, not one
individual. Additionally it is understood that even the council's decisions must be
accepted by the entire Orthodox Church in order for them to be valid.
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 honor to the Pope of Rome since
Constantinople was considered to be the "New Rome". According to the third 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." [78] This
means that both enjoy the same privileges because they are both bishops of the
imperial capitals, but the bishop of Rome will precede the bishop of Constantinople
since Old Rome precedes New Rome.
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." [79]
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[edit]

Percentage distribution of Eastern Orthodox Christians by country

Further information: Eastern Orthodoxy by country

Politics, wars, persecutions, oppressions, and related potential threats [80] can make
precise counts of Orthodox membership difficult to obtain at best in some regions.
Historically, forced migrations have also altered demographics in relatively short periods
of time. The most reliable estimates currently available number Orthodox adherents at
around 220 million worldwide,[6] making Eastern Orthodoxy the second largest Christian
communion in the world after the Catholic Church.[81] The numerous Protestant groups in
the world, if taken all together, substantially outnumber the Eastern Orthodox, [82] but they
differ theologically and do not form a single communion. [81] According to the 2015
Yearbook of International Religious Demography, the Eastern Orthodox population in
2010 decreased to 4% of the global population from 7.1% of the global population in
1910. According to the same source, in terms of the total Christian population, the
relative percentages were 12.2% and 20.4% respectively. [83]
Most members today are concentrated in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and Asian
Russia, in addition to significant minorities in Central Asia and the Levant, although
Eastern Orthodoxy has spread into a global religion towards Western Europe and
the New World, with churches in most countries and major cities. The adherents
constitute the largest single religious faith in the world's largest country—Russia,[84]
[b]
 where roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live. They are the majority religion
in Ukraine,[86][87] Romania,[86] Belarus,[88] Greece,[c][86] Serbia,[86] Bulgaria,[86] Moldova,[86] Georgi
a,[86] North Macedonia,[86] Cyprus,[86] and Montenegro;[86] they also dominate in the disputed
territories of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. Significant minorities of Eastern
Orthodox are present in Bosnia and Herzegovina (absolute majority in Republika
Srpska),[86] Latvia,[89] Estonia,[90] Kazakhstan,[91] Kyrgyzstan,[92] Lebanon,[93] Albania, Syria,[86] a
nd many other countries.
The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 19 percent in 1914 to 2.5 percent in
1927,[94] predominantly due to persecution, including the Armenian Genocide, the Greek
genocide, the Assyrian genocide and subsequent population exchange between Greece
and Turkey,[95] population exchanges between Bulgaria and Turkey, and
associated emigration of Christians to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the
Americas).[96] Today there are more than 160,000 people (about 0.2%) of
different Christian denominations.[86]
Through mostly labor migration from Eastern Europe and some conversion, Orthodox
Christianity is the fastest growing religious grouping in certain Western countries, for
example in the Republic of Ireland,[97][98][99] but Orthodoxy is not "a central marker of
minority identity" for the migrants.[97] In the United States, the number of Orthodox
parishes is growing.[100][d][e]

Theology[edit]
Main article: Eastern Orthodox Christian theology
Trinity[edit]
Orthodox Christians believe in the Trinity, three distinct, divine persons (hypostases),
without overlap or modality among them, who each have one
divine essence (ousia Greek οὐσία)—uncreated, immaterial and eternal.[104] These three
persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The Father is eternal
and not begotten and does not proceed from any, the Son is eternal and begotten of the
Father, and the Holy Spirit is eternal and proceeds from the Father. Orthodox doctrine
regarding the Trinity is summarised in the Nicene Creed.[105]
In discussing God's relationship to his creation, Orthodox
theology distinguishes between God's eternal essence, which is totally transcendent,
and his uncreated energies, which is how he reaches humanity. The God who is
transcendent and the God who touches mankind are one and the same. 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. [106]
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."[107] 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[edit]

John of Damascus

According to the Eastern Orthodox faith, at some point in the beginnings of human
existence, humanity was faced with a choice: to learn the difference between good and
evil through observation or through participation. The biblical story of Adam and
Eve relates this choice by mankind to participate in evil, accomplished through
disobedience to God's command. Both the intent and the action were separate from
God's will; it is that separation that defines and marks any operation as sin. The
separation from God caused the loss of (fall from) his grace, a severing of mankind from
his creator and the source of his life. The end result was the diminishment of human
nature and its subjection to death and corruption, an event commonly referred to as the
"fall of man".
When 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 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 Augustinian position that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the
original sin of their ancestors.[108] But just as any species begets its own kind, so fallen
humans beget fallen humans, and from the beginning of humanity's existence people lie
open to sinning by their own choice.
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. 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 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.
[109]
 Through God's participation in humanity, Christ's human nature, perfected and
unified with his divine nature, ascended into heaven, there to reign in communion with
the Father and Holy Spirit.
By these acts of salvation, Christ provided fallen mankind with the path to escape its
fallen nature. The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that through baptism into Christ's
death, and a person's death unto sin in repentance, with God's help mankind can also
rise with Christ into heaven, healed of the breach of man's fallen nature and restored to
God's grace. To Orthodox Christians, this process is what is meant by "salvation," which
consists of the Christian life. The ultimate goal is theosis an even closer union with God
and closer likeness to God than existed in the Garden of Eden. This process is
called Deification or "God became man that man might become 'god'". However, it must
be emphasised that Orthodox Christians do not believe that man becomes God in his
essence, or a god in his own nature. More accurately, Christ's salvific work enables man
in his human nature to become "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4); that is to
say, man is united to God in Christ.
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.
[110]

The Eastern Orthodox reject the idea that Christ died to give God "satisfaction" as
taught by Anselm, or as a punitive substitute as taught by the Reformers. Sin
(separation from God, who is the source of all life) is its own punishment, capable of
imprisoning the soul in an existence without life, without anything good, and without
hope: hell by any measure. Life on earth is God's gift, to give humankind opportunity to
make their choice real: separation or union.[citation needed]
Resurrection of Christ[edit]

A 17th-century Russian Orthodox icon of the Resurrection

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. Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is believed to, according to Orthodox teaching, in his humanity be (that
is, in history) crucified, and died, descending into Hades (Sheol), the place of the dead,
as all humans do. But he, alone among humans, has two natures, one human, one
divine, which are indivisible and inseparable from each other through the mystery of
the incarnation. Hades could not restrain the infinite God. Christ in his divine
nature captured the keys of Hades and broke the bonds which had imprisoned the
human souls who had been held there through their separation from God.
Neither could death contain the Son of God, the Fountain of Life, who arose from death
even in his human nature. Not only this, but he opened the gates of Hades to all the
righteous dead of past ages, rescuing them from their fallen human nature and restoring
them to a nature of grace with God, bringing them back to life, this time in God's
heavenly kingdom. And this path he opened to all who choose to follow him in time yet
to come, thus saving the human race. Thus the Eastern Orthodox proclaim each year at
the time of Pascha (Easter), that Christ "trampled down death by death, and on those in
the tombs bestowed life."
The celebration of the Resurrection of Christ at Pascha is the central event in
the liturgical year of the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to Orthodox tradition,
each human being may partake of this immortality, which would have been impossible
without the Resurrection; it is the main promise held out by God in the New Testament.
Every holy day of the Eastern Orthodox liturgical year relates to the Resurrection
directly or indirectly. Every Sunday is especially dedicated to celebrating the
Resurrection and the triune God, representing a mini-Pascha. In the liturgical
commemorations of the Passion of Christ during Holy Week there are frequent allusions
to the ultimate victory at its completion.
Christian life[edit]
Church teaching is that 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,[111] cultivates the
practice of unceasing prayer. Each life occurs within the life of the church as a member
of the body of Christ.[112] 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.[113][114] The church teaches that everyone, being born in
God's image, is called to theosis, fulfillment 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.[115]
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. 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.[116] In 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.[117]
Virgin Mary and other saints[edit]

Our Lady of Tinos is the major Marian shrine in Greece.

The Theotokos of Vladimir, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary

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 saints, 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.
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 Orthodox and Catholic Churches).
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 Orthodox theology, the Mother of
God is the fulfillment 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 (symbolizing the Mother of God's carrying
of God without being consumed).[118] Accordingly, the Eastern Orthodox consider Mary to
be the Ark of the New Covenant and give her the respect and reverence as such. The
Theotokos, in Orthodox teaching, was chosen by God and she freely co-operated in that
choice to be the Mother of Jesus Christ, the God-man.
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.[119]
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,
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' relics through the many miracles connected with them that have been reported
throughout history since Biblical times, often including healing from disease and injury.
[120]

Eschatology[edit]
Main article: Christian eschatology

Last Judgment: 12th-century 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 Hades, following
the 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.[121][122]
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. [123] 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 Tomb.[122]

Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Patmos, where the Book of Revelation was written

While the Eastern Orthodox consider the text of the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) to

be a part of Scripture, it is also regarded to be a holy mystery. Speculation on the
contents of Revelation are minimal and it is never read as part of the regular order of
services.[citation needed] Those theologians who have delved into its pages tend to
be amillennialist in their eschatology, believing that the "thousand years" spoken of in
biblical prophecy refers to the present time: from the Crucifixion of Christ until
the Second Coming.
While it is not usually taught in church it is often used as a reminder of God's promise to
those who love him, and of the benefits of avoiding sinful passions. Iconographic
depictions of the Final Judgment are often portrayed on the back (western) wall of the
church building to remind the departing faithful to be vigilant in their struggle against sin.
Likewise it is often painted on the walls of the Trapeza (refectory) in a monastery where
monks may be inspired to sobriety and detachment from worldly things while they eat.
The Eastern Orthodox believe that Hell, though often described in metaphor as
punishment inflicted by God, is in reality the soul's rejection of God's infinite love which
is offered freely and abundantly to everyone.
The Eastern Orthodox believe that after the Final Judgment:

 All souls will be reunited with their 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.[122]
Bible[edit]
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.[124][125] Orthodox Christians hold that the
Bible is a verbal icon of Christ, as proclaimed by the 7th ecumenical council.[126] 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 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. [127] The
Bible provides the only texts held to be suitable for reading in Orthodox worship
services. Through the many scriptural quotations embedded in the worship service texts
themselves, it is often said that the Eastern Orthodox pray the Bible as well as read it.

David glorified by the women of Israel from the Paris Psalter, example of the Macedonian art
(Byzantine) (sometimes called the Macedonian Renaissance)

St. Jerome completed the well-known Vulgate Latin translation only in the early 5th

century, around the time the accepted lists of scripture were resolved in the west. The
east took up to a century longer to resolve the lists in use there, and ended by accepting
a few additional writings from the Septuagint that did not appear in the lists of the west.
The differences were small and were not considered to compromise the unity of the
faith shared between east and west. They did not play a role in the eventual schism in
the 11th century that separated the See of Rome and the West from the See of
Constantinople and the other apostolic Orthodox churches, and remained as defined
essentially without controversy in the East or West for at least one thousand years. It
was only in the 16th century that Reformation Protestants challenged the lists,
proclaiming a canon that rejected those Old Testament books that did not appear in the
3rd-century Hebrew Bible. In response, the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches
reaffirmed their accepted scriptural lists in more formal canons of their own.
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,[128] 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,[129] 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 canon. [130] 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),[131] and hence does not participate in the various liturgical and prayer
uses of the Psalter.
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 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."[132] This is the Word which spoke the universe into being, and resonates in
creation without diminution throughout all history, a Word of divine power.
As much as the Eastern Orthodox Church reveres and depends on the scriptures, they
cannot compare to the Word of God's manifest action. But the Eastern Orthodox do
believe that the holy scriptures testify to God's manifest actions in history, and that
through its divine inspiration God's Word is manifested both in the scriptures themselves
and in the cooperative human participation that composed them. It is in that sense that
the Eastern Orthodox refer to the scriptures as "God's Word".
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.[133] Christ promised: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all
truth".[134] The Holy Spirit, then, is the infallible guide for the church to the interpretation of
Scripture. The church depends upon those saints who, by lives lived in imitation of
Christ, achieving theosis, can serve as reliable witnesses to the Holy Spirit's guidance.
Individual interpretation occurs within the church and is informed by the church. It is
rational and reasoned, but is not arrived at only by means of deductive reasoning.
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 stills 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. [135] In biblical
interpretation, it does not use speculations, suggestive theories, or incomplete
indications, not going beyond what is fully known.
Holy tradition and the patristic consensus[edit]
"That faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all", the faith taught by
Jesus to the apostles, given life by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and passed down to
future generations without additions and without subtractions, is known as holy tradition.
[136][137]
 Holy tradition does not change in the Eastern Orthodox Church because it
encompasses those things that do not change: the nature of the one God in Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the history of God's interactions with his peoples, the Law
as given to the Israelites, all Christ's teaching as given to the disciples and Jews and
recorded in scripture, including the parables, the prophecies, the miracles, and his own
example to humanity in his extreme humility. It encompasses also the worship of the
church, which grew out of the worship of the synagogue and temple and was extended
by Christ at the last supper, and the relationship between God and his people which that
worship expresses, which is also evidenced between Christ and his disciples. It includes
the authority that Christ bestowed on his disciples when he made them apostles, [138] for
the preserving and teaching of the faith, and for governing the organisation and conduct
of the church (in its administration by bishops).
Holy tradition is firm, even unyielding, but not rigid or legalistic; instead, it lives and
breathes within the church.[139] For example, the New Testament was entirely written by
the early church (mostly the apostles). The whole Bible was accepted as scripture by
means of holy tradition practised within the early church. The writing and acceptance
took five centuries, by which time the holy scriptures themselves had become in their
entirety a part of holy tradition.[140] But holy tradition did not change, because "that faith
which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all" remained consistent, without
additions, and without subtractions. The historical development of the Divine Liturgy and
other worship services and devotional practices of the church provide a similar example
of extension and growth "without change". [141]
The continuity and stability of Orthodox worship throughout the centuries is one means
by which holy tradition expresses the unity of the whole church throughout time. Not
only can the Eastern Orthodox of today visit a church in a place that speaks a language
unknown to the visitors yet have the service remain familiar and understandable to
them, but the same would hold true were any able to visit past eras. The church strives
to preserve holy tradition "unchanging" that it may express the one unchanging faith for
all time to come as well.
Besides these, holy tradition includes the doctrinal definitions and statements of faith of
the seven ecumenical councils, including the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and
some later local councils, patristic writings, canon law, and icons. [135] Not all portions of
holy tradition are held to be equally strong. Some—the holy scriptures foremost, certain
aspects of worship, especially in the Divine Liturgy, the doctrines of the ecumenical
councils, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed—possess a verified authority that
endures forever, irrevocably.[135] However, with local councils and patristic writings, the
church applies a selective judgement. Some councils and writers have occasionally
fallen into error, and some contradict each other. [135]
In other cases, opinions differ, no consensus is forthcoming, and all are free to choose.
With agreement among the Church Fathers, though, the authority of interpretation
grows, and full patristic consensus is very strong. With canon law (which tends to be
highly rigorous and very strict, especially with clergy) an unalterable validity also does
not apply, since canons deal with living on earth, where conditions are always changing
and each case is subject to almost infinite variation from the next. [135] Even when and
where they were once used with full strictness, their application was not absolute, and
was carried out for individuals under the pastoral care of their bishop, who had the
authority to decide when individual discipline had been satisfied. This too is a part of the
holy tradition.
By tradition, the Eastern Orthodox Church, when faced with issues that are larger than a
single bishop can resolve, holds a local council. The bishops and such others as may
attend convene (as St. Paul called the Corinthians to do) to seek the mind of the church.
[142]
 A council's declarations or edicts then reflect its consensus (if one can be found). An
ecumencial council is only called for issues of such import or difficulty or pervasiveness
that smaller councils are insufficient to address them. Ecumenical councils' declarations
and canons carry binding weight by virtue of their representation across the whole
church, by which the mind of the church can be readily seen. However, not all issues
are so difficult as to require an ecumenical council to resolve. Some doctrines or
decisions, not defined in a formal statement or proclaimed officially, nevertheless are
held by the church unshakably and unanimously without internal disturbance, and
these, also reflecting the mind of the church, are just as firmly irrevocable as a formal
declaration of an ecumenical council. Lack of formality does not imply lack of authority
within holy tradition.[135] An example of such unanimity can be found in the acceptance in
the 5th century of the lists of books that comprise holy scripture, a true canon without
official stamp.
Territorial expansion and doctrinal integrity[edit]
During the course of the early church, there were numerous followers who attached
themselves to the Christ and his mission here on Earth, as well as followers who
retained the distinct duty of being commissioned with preserving the quality of life and
lessons revealed through the experience of Jesus living, dying, resurrecting and
ascending among them. As a matter of practical distinction and logistics, people of
varying gifts were accorded stations within the community structure— ranging from the
host of agape meals (shared with brotherly and fatherly love), to prophecy and the
reading of Scripture, to preaching and interpretations and giving aid to the sick and the
poor. Sometime after Pentecost the Church grew to a point where it was no longer
possible for the Apostles to minister alone. Overseers (bishops) [143] and assistants
(deacons and deaconesses)[144] were appointed to further the mission of the Church.
The church recognised the gathering of these early church communities as being
greatest in areas of the known world that were famous for their significance on the world
stage—either as hotbeds of intellectual discourse, high volumes of trade, or proximity to
the original sacred sites. These locations were targeted by the early apostles, who
recognised the need for humanitarian efforts in these large urban centers and sought to
bring as many people as possible into the church—such a life was seen as a form of
deliverance from the decadent lifestyles promoted throughout the eastern and western
Roman empires.
As the church increased in size through the centuries, the logistic dynamics of operating
such large entities shifted: patriarchs, metropolitans, archimandrites, abbots and
abbesses, all rose up to cover certain points of administration. [145]
As a result of heightened exposure and popularity of the philosophical schools
(haereseis) of Greco-Roman society and education, synods and councils were forced to
engage such schools that sought to co-opt the language and pretext of the Christian
faith in order to gain power and popularity for their own political and cultural expansion.
As a result, ecumenical councils were held to attempt to rebuild solidarity by using the
strength of distant orthodox witnesses to dampen the intense local effects of particular
philosophical schools within a given area.
While originally intended to serve as an internal check and balance for the defense of
the doctrine developed and spread by the apostles to the various sees against faulty
local doctrine, at times the church found its own bishops and emperors falling prey to
local conventions. At these crucial moments in the history of the church, it found itself
able to rebuild on the basis of the faith as it was kept and maintained by monastic
communities, who subsisted without reliance on the community of the state or popular
culture and were generally unaffected by the materialism and rhetoric that often
dominated and threatened the integrity and stability of the urban churches.
In this sense, the aim of the councils was not to expand or fuel a popular need for a
clearer or relevant picture of the original apostolic teaching. Rather, the theologians
spoke to address the issues of external schools of thought who wished to distort the
simplicity and neutrality of the apostolic teaching for personal or political gain. The
consistency of the Eastern Orthodox faith is entirely dependent on the holy tradition of
the accepted corpus of belief–the decisions ratified by the fathers of the seven
ecumenical councils, and this is only done at the beginning of a consecutive council so
that the effects of the decisions of the prior council can be audited and verified as being
both conceptually sound and pragmatically feasible and beneficial for the church as a
whole.

Worship[edit]
Main articles: Byzantine Rite, Eastern Orthodox worship, and Western Rite Orthodoxy

Fresco of Basil the Great, in the church of Saint Sophia, Ohrid. The saint is

shown consecrating the Gifts during the Divine Liturgy which bears his name.

Church calendar[edit]
One part of the autocephalous Orthodox churches follows the Julian calendar, while the
other part follows the Revised Julian calendar. The autonomous Church of Finland of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as parts of the Church of the Czech Lands and
Slovakia, use the Gregorian calendar.[citation needed] Many church traditions, including the
schedules of services, feasts, and fasts, are structured by the church's calendar, which
provides a strictly observed intermingled set of cycles of varying lengths. The fixed
annual cycle begins on 1 September and establishes the times for all annual
observances that are fixed by date, such as Christmas. The annual Paschal cycle is
established relative to the varying date of Pascha each year and affects the times for
such observances as Pascha itself, Great Lent, Holy Week, and the feasts
of Ascension and Pentecost.
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. [146]
Each day of the Weekly Cycle is dedicated to certain special memorials. Sunday is
dedicated to Christ's Resurrection; Monday honors the holy bodiless powers (angels,
archangels, etc.); Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and especially the greatest of
the prophets, St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord; Wednesday is
consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honors the holy
apostles and hierarchs, especially St. 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[edit]
Main article: Canonical hours §  Byzantine Rite usage
The services of the church are conducted each day according to the church calendar.
Parts of each service remain fixed, while others change depending on the observances
prescribed for the specific day in the various cycles, ever providing a flow of constancy
within variation. Services are conducted in the church and involve both the clergy and
faithful. Services cannot properly be conducted by a single person, but must have at
least one other person present (i.e. a priest cannot celebrate alone, but must have at
least a chanter present and participating).
Usually, all of the services are conducted on a daily basis only in monasteries and
cathedrals, while parish churches might only do the services on the weekend and major
feast days. On certain Great Feasts (and, according to some traditions, every Sunday) a
special All-Night Vigil (Agrypnia) will be celebrated from late at night on the eve of the
feast until early the next morning. Because of its festal nature it is usually followed by a
breakfast feast shared together by the congregation.
The journey is to the Kingdom. This is where we are going—not symbolically, but really.

— Fr. Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World

We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth.

— Ambassadors of Kievan Rus (10th Century), Apocryphal quote from conversion of

Kievan Rus.
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 Palatine Chapel, Palermo)

Services, especially the Divine Liturgy, may only be celebrated once a day on a single
altar (some churches have multiple altars in order to accommodate large
congregations). Each priest may only celebrate the Divine Liturgy once a day.
From its Jewish roots, the liturgical day begins at sundown. The traditional daily cycle of
services is as follows:

 Vespers – (Greek Hesperinos) Sundown, the

beginning of the liturgical day.
 Compline (Greek Apodeipnon, lit. "After-supper") –
After the evening meal, and before sleeping.
 Midnight Office – Usually served only in
monasteries.
 Matins (Greek Orthros) – First service of the
morning. Prescribed to start before sunrise.
 Hours – First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth – Sung either
at their appropriate times, or in aggregate at other
customary times of convenience. If the latter, The
First Hour is sung immediately following Orthros, the
Third and Sixth before the Divine Liturgy, and the
Ninth before Vespers.
 Divine Liturgy – The Eucharistic service.
(Called Holy Mass in the Western Rite)
The Divine Liturgy is the celebration of the Eucharist. Although it is usually celebrated
between the Sixth and Ninth Hours, it is not considered to be part of the daily cycle of
services, as it occurs outside the normal time of the world. The Divine Liturgy is not
celebrated on weekdays during Great Lent, and in some places during the lesser fasting
seasons either; however, reserve communion is prepared on Sundays and is distributed
during the week at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Other items brought to the altar during the Divine Liturgy include a gold or silver chalice
with red wine, a small metallic urn of warm water, a metallic communion spoon, a little
metallic spear, a sponge, a metal disk with cut pieces of bread upon it, and a star, which
is a star-shaped piece of metal over which the priest places a cloth covering when
transporting the holy gifts to and from the altar. Also found on the altar table is
the antimins. The antimins is a silk cloth, signed by the appropriate diocesan bishop,
upon which the sanctification of the holy gifts takes place during each Divine Liturgy.
The antimins contain the relics of a saint. When a church is consecrated by a bishop,
there is a formal service or prayers and sanctification in the name of the saint that the
church is named after. The bishop will also often present a small relic of a saint to place
in or on the altar as part of the consecration of a new church.
The book containing liturgically read portions of the four gospels is permanently
"enthroned" on the altar table. Eastern Orthodox bishops, priests, deacons and readers
sing/chant specific verses from this Gospel Book on each different day of the year.
This daily cycle services is conceived of as both the sanctification of time (chronos, the
specific times during which they are celebrated), and entry into eternity (kairos). They
consist to a large degree of litanies asking for God's mercy on the living and the dead,
readings from the Psalter with introductory prayers, troparia, and other prayers and
hymns surrounding them. The Psalms are so arranged that when all the services are
celebrated the entire Psalter is read through in their course once a week, and twice a
week during Great Lent when the services are celebrated in an extended form.
Music and chanting[edit]

Chanters singing on the kliros at the Church of St. George, Patriarchate of Constantinople

Orthodox services are sung nearly in their entirety. Services consist in part of a dialogue
between the clergy and the people (often represented by the choir or the
Psaltis Cantor). In each case the prayers are sung or chanted following a prescribed
musical form. Almost nothing is read in a normal speaking voice, with the exception of
the homily if one is given.
Because the human voice is seen as the most perfect instrument of praise, musical
instruments (organs, etc.) are not generally used to accompany the choir.
The church has developed eight modes or tones (see Octoechos) within which a chant
may be set, depending on the time of year, feast day, or other considerations of
the Typikon. There are numerous versions and styles that are traditional and acceptable
and these vary a great deal between cultures. [147] It is common, especially in the United
States, for a choir to learn many different styles and to mix them, singing one response
in Greek, then English, then Russian, etc.
In the Russian tradition there have been some famous composers of "unaccompanied"
church music, such as Tchaikovsky (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, op. 41, 1878,
and All-Night Vigil, op. 52, 1882) and Rachmaninoff (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, op.
31, 1910, and All-Night Vigil, op. 37, 1915); and many church tones can likewise be
heard influencing their music.
Incense[edit]
Russian Orthodox deacon and priest

As part of the legacy handed down from its Judaic roots, incense is used during all
services in the Eastern Orthodox Church as an offering of worship to God as it was
done in the Jewish First and Second Temples in Jerusalem (Exodus chapter 30).
Incense is also prophesied in the book of Malachi 1:11 as a "pure offering" in the
glorification of God by the Gentiles in "every place" where the name of God is regarded
as "great". Traditionally, the base of the incense used is the resin of Boswellia sacra,
also known as frankincense, but the resin of fir trees has been used as well. It is usually
mixed with various floral essential oils giving it a sweet smell.
Incense represents the sweetness of the prayers of the saints rising up to God (Psalm
141:2, Revelation 5:8, 8:4). The incense is burned in an ornate golden censer that
hangs at the end of three chains representing the Trinity. Two chains represent the
human and Godly nature of the Son, one chain for the Father and one chain for the Holy
Spirit. The lower cup represents the earth and the upper cup the heaven. In the Greek,
Slavic, and Syrian traditions there are 12 bells hung along these chains representing the
12 apostles. There are also 72 links representing 72 evangelists.
The charcoal represents the sinners. Fire signifies the Holy Spirit and frankincense the
good deeds. The incense also represents the grace of the Trinity. The censer is used
(swung back and forth) by the priest/deacon to venerate all four sides of the altar, the
holy gifts, the clergy, the icons, the congregation, and the church structure itself.
Incense is also used in the home where the individual will go around the house and
"cross" all of the icons saying in Greek: Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος ἀθάνατος,
ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, or in English: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
Fasting[edit]
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See also: Fasting §  Eastern Orthodoxy
The number of fast days varies from year to year, but in general the Eastern Orthodox
Christian can expect to spend a little over half the year fasting at some level of
strictness. There are spiritual, symbolic, and even practical reasons for fasting. In
the Fall from Paradise mankind became possessed by a carnal nature; that is to say,
became inclined towards the passions. Through fasting, Orthodox Christians attempt to
return to the relationship of love and obedience to God enjoyed by Adam and Eve
in Paradise in their own lives, by refraining from carnal practices, by bridling the tongue
(James 3:5–6), confession of sins, prayer and almsgiving.
Fasting is seen as purification and the regaining of innocence. It is a practice of learning
to temper the body's primary desire for food. By learning to temper this basic desire of
the body, the practitioner can more readily temper other worldly desires, and thus,
become better enabled to draw closer to God in the hope of becoming more Christ-like.
Through obedience to the church and its ascetic practices the Eastern Orthodox
Christian seeks to rid himself or herself of the passions (The desires of our fallen carnal
nature). All Orthodox Christians are provided with a prescribed set of guidelines. They
do not view fasting as a hardship, but rather as a privilege and joy. The teaching of the
Church provides both the time and the amount of fasting that is expected as a minimum
for every member who chooses to participate. For greater ascesis, some may choose to
go without food entirely for a short period of time. A complete three-day fast at the
beginning and end of a fasting period is not unusual, and some fast for even longer
periods, though this is usually practised only in monasteries.
In general, fasting means abstaining from meat and meat products, dairy (eggs and
cheese) and dairy products, fish, olive oil, and wine. Wine and oil—and, less frequently,
fish—are allowed on certain feast days when they happen to fall on a day of fasting; but
animal products and dairy are forbidden on fast days, with the exception of "Cheese
Fare" week which precedes Great Lent, during which dairy products are allowed. Wine
and oil are usually also allowed on Saturdays and Sundays during periods of fast. In
some Orthodox traditions, caviar is permitted on Lazarus Saturday, the Saturday before
Palm Sunday, although the day is otherwise a fast day. Married couples also abstain
from sexual activity on fast days so that they may devote themselves fulsomely to
prayer (1 Corinthians 7:5).
While it may seem that fasting in the manner set forth by the Church is a strict rule,
there are circumstances where a person's spiritual guide may allow
an Economy because of some physical necessity (e.g. those who are pregnant or
infirm, the very young and the elderly, or those who have no control over their diet, such
as prisoners or soldiers).
The time and type of fast is generally uniform for all Orthodox Christians; the times of
fasting are part of the ecclesiastical calendar, and the method of fasting is set by canon
law and holy tradition. There are four major fasting periods during the year: Nativity
Fast, Great Lent, Apostles' Fast, and the Dormition Fast. In addition to these fasting
seasons, Orthodox Christians fast on every Wednesday (in commemoration of Christ's
betrayal by Judas Iscariot), and Friday (in commemoration of Christ's Crucifixion)
throughout the year. Monastics often fast on Mondays.
Orthodox Christians who are preparing to receive the Eucharist do not eat or drink at all
from vespers (sunset) until after taking Holy Communion. A similar total fast is expected
to be kept on the Eve of Nativity, the Eve of Theophany (Epiphany), Great
Friday and Holy Saturday for those who can do so. There are other individual days
observed as fasts (though not as days of total fasting) no matter what day of the week
they fall on, such as the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on 29 August and
the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 14 September.
Almsgiving[edit]
Almsgiving, more comprehensively described as "acts of mercy", refers to any giving of
oneself in charity to someone who has a need, such as material resources, work,
assistance, counsel, support, or kindness. Along with prayer and fasting, it is considered
a pillar of the personal spiritual practices of the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.
Almsgiving is particularly important during periods of fasting, when the Eastern
Orthodox believer is expected to share with those in need the monetary savings from
his or her decreased consumption. As with fasting, mentioning to others one's own
virtuous deeds tends to reflect a sinful pride, and may also be considered extremely
rude.

Traditions[edit]
Monasticism[edit]
Main article: Degrees of Eastern Orthodox monasticism

Saint Catherine's Monastery (6th century), Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

The Eastern Orthodox Church places heavy emphasis and awards a high level of
prestige to traditions of monasticism and asceticism with roots in Early Christianity in
the Near East and Byzantine Anatolia. The most important centres of Christian
Orthodox monasticism are Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt)
and Mount Athos in Northern Greece.
All Orthodox Christians are expected to participate in at least some ascetic works, in
response to the commandment of Christ to "come, take up the cross, and follow me."
(Mark 10:21 and elsewhere) They are therefore all called to imitate, in one way or
another, Christ himself who denied himself to the extent of literally taking up the cross
on the way to his voluntary self-sacrifice. However, laypeople are not expected to live in
extreme asceticism since this is close to impossible while undertaking the normal
responsibilities of worldly life.
Those who wish to do this therefore separate themselves from the world and live
as monastics: monks and nuns. As ascetics par excellence, using the allegorical
weapons of prayer and fasting in spiritual warfare against their passions, monastics hold
a very special and important place in the Church. This kind of life is often seen as
incompatible with any kind of worldly activity including that which is normally regarded
as virtuous. Social work, school teaching, and other such work is therefore usually left to
laypeople. Ascetics of the Eastern Orthodox Church are recognised by their long hair,
and in case of male monks, long beards.

Schema worn by monks

There are three main types of monastics. Those who live in monasteries under a
common rule are coenobitic. Each monastery may formulate its own rule, and although
there are no religious orders in Orthodoxy some respected monastic centers such
as Mount Athos are highly influential. Eremitic monks, or hermits, are those who live
solitary lives. It is the yearning of many who enter the monastic life to eventually
become solitary hermits. This most austere life is only granted to the most advanced
monastics and only when their superiors feel they are ready for it.
Hermits are usually associated with a larger monastery but live in seclusion some
distance from the main compound. Their local monastery will see to their physical
needs, supplying them with simple foods while disturbing them as little as possible. In
between are those in semi-eremitic communities, or sketes, where one or two monks
share each of a group of nearby dwellings under their own rules and only gather
together in the central chapel, or katholikon, for liturgical observances.
The spiritual insight gained from their ascetic struggles make monastics preferred for
missionary activity. Bishops are almost always chosen from among monks, and those
who are not generally receive the monastic tonsure before their consecrations.
Many (but not all) Orthodox seminaries are attached to monasteries, combining
academic preparation for ordination with participation in the community's life of prayer.
Monks who have been ordained to the priesthood are called hieromonk (priest-monk);
monks who have been ordained to the diaconate are called hierodeacon (deacon-
monk). Not all monks live in monasteries, some hieromonks serve as priests in parish
churches thus practising "monasticism in the world".
Cultural practices differ slightly, but in general Father is the correct form of address for
monks who have been tonsured, while Novices are addressed as Brother.
Similarly, Mother is the correct form of address for nuns who have been tonsured, while
Novices are addressed as Sister. Nuns live identical ascetic lives to their male
counterparts and are therefore also called monachoi (monastics) or the feminine plural
form in Greek, monachai, and their common living space is called a monastery.
Icons and symbols[edit]
See also: Christian symbolism

"IX" (Jesus Christ) monogram from a 4th-century sarcophagus from Constantinople

The "Chi-Rho" symbol, Catacombs of San Callisto, Rome

Everything in the Eastern Orthodox Church has a purpose and a meaning revealing
God's revelation to man. At the front, or eastern end of the church, is a raised dais with
an icon-covered screen or wall (iconostasis or templon) separating the nave from the
sanctuary. In the center of this wall is the entrance to the altar known as the "Royal
Doors" through which only the clergy may pass.
There is a right and left side door on the front of the iconostasis, one depicting the
archangel, Michael and the other Gabriel. The priest and altar boys enter and exit
through these doors during appropriate parts of the Divine Liturgy. Immediately to the
right of the main gate you will always find an icon of Jesus Christ, on the left, an icon of
the Theotokos (Mother of God). Other icons depicted on the iconostasis are Saint John
the Forerunner and the Saint after which the church is named.
In front of the iconostasis is the bishop's chair, a place of honor where a visiting bishop
or metropolitan will often sit when visiting the church. An Orthodox priest, when standing
at the altar during the Divine Liturgy, faces toward the altar (typically facing east) and
properly leads his congregation while together they perform the mystical sacrifice and
pray to God.
The sanctuary contains the Holy Altar, representing the place where Orthodox
Christians believe that Christ was born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate,
laid in the tomb, descended into hell, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into
heaven, and will return again at his second coming. A free-standing cross, bearing the
body of Christ, may stand behind the altar. On the altar are a cloth covering, a large
book containing the gospel readings performed during services, an ark containing
presanctified divine gifts (bread and wine) distributed by the deacon or priest to those
who cannot come to the church to receive them, and several white beeswax candles.
Icons[edit]
Main article: Icon
The term 'icon' comes from the Greek word eikon, which simply means image. The
Eastern Orthodox believe that the first icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary were painted
by Luke the Evangelist. Icons are filled with symbolism designed to convey information
about the person or event depicted. For this reason, icons tend to be formulaic,
following a prescribed methodology for how a particular person should be depicted,
including hair style, body position, clothing, and background details.
Icon painting, in general, is not an opportunity for artistic expression, though each
iconographer brings a vision to the piece. It is far more common for an icon to be copied
from an older model, though with the recognition of a new saint in the church, a new
icon must be created and approved. The personal and creative traditions of Catholic
religious art were largely lacking in Orthodox icon painting before the 17th century,
when Russian icons began to be strongly influenced by religious paintings and
engravings from both Protestant and Catholic Europe. Greek icons also began to take
on a strong western influence for a period and the difference between some Orthodox
icons and western religious art began to vanish. More recently there has been a trend of
returning to the more traditional and symbolic representations.

Modern icon depicting Constantine XI Palaiologos, last emperor of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Aspects of the iconography borrow from the pre-Christian Roman and Hellenistic

art. 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." [148]
Large free-standing statues (three-dimensional depictions) are almost non-existent in
the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is partly because cult images of the Greek gods
were a focus of the ancient Greek religion and its Roman equivalent, and much
criticised by Early Christian writers, and partly because icons are meant to show the
spiritual nature of man, not the sensual earthly body. Reliefs, however, were used
in Byzantine art.
Icons are not considered by the Eastern Orthodox to be idols or objects of worship. The
parameters of their usage were clearly spelled out by the 7th ecumenical council.
Justification for their usage utilises the following logic: before God took human form in
Christ, no material depiction was possible and therefore blasphemous even to
contemplate. Once God became incarnate, depiction was possible.
As Christ is believed to be God, it is justified to hold in one's mind the image of God-
incarnate. Likewise, when one venerates an icon, it is not the wood or paint that are
venerated but rather the individual shown, just as it is not the paper one loves when one
might kiss the photograph of a loved one. As Saint Basil famously proclaimed, honour
or veneration of the icon always passes to its archetype. Following this reasoning, the
veneration of the glorified human saint made in God's image, is always a veneration of
the divine image, and hence God as foundational archetype.
Icons can be found adorning the walls of churches and often cover the inside structure
completely.[149] Most 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. [150]
Icons are often illuminated by a candle or oil lamp (beeswax for candles and olive oil for
lamps are preferred because they are natural and burn cleanly). Besides the practical
purpose of making icons visible in an otherwise dark church, both candles and oil lamps
symbolise the Light of the World, who is Christ.
Tales of miraculous icons are not uncommon, though it has always been considered
that the message of such an event was for the immediate faithful involved and therefore
does not usually attract crowds. Some miraculous icons whose reputations span long
periods of time nevertheless become objects of pilgrimage along with the places where
they are kept. As several Orthodox theologians and saints have explored in the past,
the icon's miraculous nature is found not in the material, but in the glory of the saint who
is depicted. The icon is a window, in the words of Paul Florensky, that actually
participates in the glory of what it represents.
Iconostasis[edit]
Main article: Iconostasis
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. Iconostasis also refers to a portable
icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The modern iconostasis
evolved from the Byzantine templon in the 11th century. The evolution of the iconostasis
probably owes a great deal to 14th-century 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 in 1408. The separation between
sanctuary and nave accomplished by the iconostasis is not mandatory, though it is
common practice. Depending on circumstance, the role of the iconostasis can be played
by masonry, carved panels, screens, curtains, railings, a cord or rope, plain icons on
stands, steps, or nothing at all.
Cross[edit]

Greek cross
Russian Orthodox cross

Depictions of the cross within the Eastern Orthodox Church are numerous and often
highly ornamented, but its use does not extend to all Orthodox traditions. [citation needed] Some
carry special significance.[citation needed] The Tri-Bar Cross, popular in Russia, Ukraine, and
Belarus, but common throughout the Eastern Orthodox world, seen to the right, has
three bars. Its origins are in the early Byzantine Church of the 4th century AD. [citation needed]
The small top crossbar represents the sign that Pontius Pilate nailed above Christ's
head. It often is inscribed with an acronym, "INRI", Latin, meaning "Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews" or "INBI", Greek, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"; however, it is
often replaced or amplified by the phrase "The King of Glory" in order to answer Pilate's
statement with Christ's affirmation, "My Kingdom is not of this world". [citation needed]
There is also a bottom slanting bar which has several explanations. Claims of evidence
indicate that there was a small wooden platform for the crucified to stand on in order to
support his weight; in Jesus' case his feet were nailed side by side to this platform with
one nail each in order to prolong the torture of the cross.
Implied evidence for this comes mainly from two sources, namely, the Bible (in order to
cause the victim to die faster, his legs were broken so they could not support his weight
and he would suffocate)[citation needed] and iconography (all early depictions of the crucifixion
show this arrangement, not the later with feet on top with single nail). [citation needed] It has also
been pointed out by some experts that the nailed hands of a body crucified in the
manner often shown in modern secular art would not support the weight of the body and
would tear through. A platform for the feet would relieve this problem. [citation needed]
That the bottom bar is slanted has two explanations, to represent the very real agony
which Christ experienced on the cross (a refutation of Docetism)[citation needed] and to signify
that the thief on Christ's right chose the right path while the thief on the left did not. [citation
needed]
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 crosses, and others.[151] 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."[152] Another Orthodox cross which is worn in gold
is an outer budded cross with an inner Three Bar Cross. The inscription Jesus Christ in
Greek: IC (Iesous) on the left side bar and XC (Xhristos) on the right side bar, with a
sun on the top of the cross. There is also typically an inscription on the back in Church
Slavonic: "спаси и сохрани", "Spasi i Sokhrani", "Save and Protect". This cross is
known as the Saint Olga Cross.[153]
Art and architecture[edit]
Main article: Eastern Orthodox church architecture

An illustration of the traditional interior of an Orthodox church.

The church building has many symbolic meanings; perhaps the oldest and most
prominent is the concept that the church is the Ark (as in Noah's) in which the world is
saved from the flood of temptations; therefore, most Orthodox churches are rectangular
in design. Another popular configuration, especially for churches with large choirs
is cruciform or cross-shaped or what is called the "Greek-cross."
Architectural patterns vary in shape and complexity, with chapels sometimes added
around the main church, or triple altars; but in general, the symbolic layout of the church
remains the same. Each church is created with specified qualifications based on what
the apostles said in the Bible.[citation needed] These qualifications include how big the temple
should be.[citation needed]
Interior of Agios Minas Cathedral, Heraklion

The church building is divided into three main parts: the narthex (vestibule),

the nave and the sanctuary (also called the altar or holy place). The narthex is where
catechumens and non-Orthodox visitors were traditionally asked to stand during
services. It is separated from the nave by "The Royal Gate". On each side of this gate
are candle stands (menalia) representing the pillars of fire that went before the Hebrew
people escaping from Egypt.
The nave is where most of the congregation stand during services. Traditionally, men
stand on the right and women on the left. This is for a number of reasons: (1)
Considering the family unit of past centuries the husband was dominant; thus, standing
the same distance from the altar, equality is emphasised. (2) The idea of separating the
sexes was inherited from the Jewish tradition of doing so within synagogues (3)
Separation of sexes also followed the practice of choirs in which different levels of voice
are placed in groups to facilitate harmony.
In general, men and women dress respectfully, typically wearing their "Sunday best" to
enter the church. Often, women cover their heads as prescribed by Paul (1 Cor. 11:13).
Children are considered full members of the church and stand attentively and quietly
during services. There is often a choir area at the side or in a loft in back. In addition to
the choir, a chanter is always present at the front of the church to chant responses and
hymns that are part of the Divine Liturgy offered by the priest. There is usually a dome
in the ceiling with an icon of Christ depicted as Ruler of the Universe (Pantocrator).
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.[154]
Apart from the icons, the Eastern Orthodox churches and monasteries are often
decorated with frescos and mosaics.
Local customs[edit]
Shards of pottery vases on the street, after being thrown from the windows of nearby houses. A Holy
Saturday tradition in Corfu.

The Eastern Orthodox Church also has many associated traditions (sometimes referred
to simply as customs), compatible with its life and function, but not necessarily tied so
closely to the faith itself. These are not generally regarded as a part of holy tradition,
though no strict dividing line is drawn. As long as compatibility is maintained, general
practice often tends to the permissive rather than the restrictive, with the local priest or
bishop resolving questions.
Many of these customs are local or cultural, and some are not even especially religious,
but form a part of the church's relationship with the people in the time and place where it
exists. Where outside customs affect church practices such as worship, a closer watch
is kept for guarding the integrity of worship, but suitable local differences are welcomed
and celebrated joyfully. The local church customs, especially liturgical ones, are referred
to as differences in typica (Style).
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, Montenegrin Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian
Orthodox, 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 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.[155]
Differences in praxis ("practice") tend to be slight, involving things such as the order in
which a particular set of hymns are sung or what time a particular service is celebrated.
But observances of the saints' days of local saints are more often celebrated in special
services within a locality, as are certain national holidays, like Greek Independence
Day. In North America, observances of Thanksgiving Day are increasing.
Members of the church are fully united in faith and the sacred mysteries with all
Orthodox congregations, regardless of nationality or location. In general, Orthodox
Christians could travel the globe and feel familiar with the services even if they did not
know the language being used.
In the Levant, Christian Orthodox services and identity often combine both the
Byzantine Greek and indigenous (Arabic and Aramaic) traditions. Other Orthodox
communities can identify with two Eastern Orthodox churches simultaneously, for
example Caucasus Greeks and Pontic Greeks in Russia often identify with both
the Greek Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church, as a result of centuries of
assimilation and intermarriage with ethnic Russians and other Christian Orthodox
communities in mainly southern Russia.

Holy mysteries (sacraments)[edit]

According to Orthodox theology, the purpose of the Christian life is to attain theosis, the
mystical union of mankind with God. This union is understood as both collective and
individual. St. Athanasius of Alexandria wrote concerning the Incarnation that, "He
(Jesus) was made man that we might be made god (θεοποιηθῶμεν)." [156] (see 2 Peter
1:4, John 10:34–36, Psalm 82:6). The entire life of the church is oriented towards
making this possible and facilitating it.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church the terms "mystery" or "the mysteries" refer to the
process of theosis. While it is understood that God theoretically can do anything
instantly and invisibly, it is also understood that he generally chooses to use material
substance as a medium in order to reach people. The limitations are those of mankind,
not God. Matter is not considered to be evil by the Eastern Orthodox. Water, oil, bread,
wine, etc., all are means by which God reaches out to allow people to draw closer to
him. How this process works is a "mystery" and cannot be defined in human terms.
These mysteries are surrounded by prayer and symbolism so that their true meaning
will not be forgotten.
Those things which in the West are often termed sacraments or sacramentals are
known among the Eastern Orthodox as the "sacred mysteries". While the Roman
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, catechisms will often speak of the
seven great mysteries. Among these are Holy Communion (the most direct
connection), baptism, Chrismation, confession, unction, matrimony, and ordination. But
the term also properly applies to other sacred actions such as monastic tonsure or the
blessing of holy water, and involves fasting, almsgiving, or an act as simple as lighting a
candle, burning incense, praying or asking God's blessing on food. [157]
Baptism[edit]
An 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
Orthodox Church. During the service, 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. [158] Properly a new name
is given, which becomes the person's name.
Children of Orthodox families are normally baptised shortly after birth. Converts to
Orthodoxy are usually formally baptised into the Orthodox Church, though exceptions
are sometimes made. Those who have left Orthodoxy and adopted a new religion, if
they return to their Orthodox roots, are usually received back into the church through
the mystery of Chrismation.
Properly, the mystery of baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, in
emergencies any Orthodox Christian can baptise. [159] In such cases, should the person
survive the emergency, it is likely that the person will be properly baptised by a priest at
some later date. This is not considered to be a second baptism, nor is it imagined that
the person is not already Orthodox, but rather it is a fulfillment of the proper form.
The service of Baptism used in Orthodox churches has remained largely unchanged for
over 1500 years. This fact is witnessed to by St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), who, in
his Discourse on the Sacrament of Baptism, describes the service in much the same
way as is currently in use.
Chrismation[edit]
Chrismation (sometimes called confirmation) is the mystery by which a baptised person
is granted the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with Holy Chrism.[160][161] It is
normally given immediately after baptism as part of the same service, but is also used
to receive lapsed members of the Orthodox Church. [162] 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.[163]
A baptised and chrismated Orthodox Christian is a full member of the church and may
receive the Eucharist regardless of age.[163]
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.[164]
Holy Communion (Eucharist)[edit]

Eucharistic elements prepared for the Divine Liturgy

The Eucharist is at the center of Orthodox Christianity. In practice, it is the partaking of

the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the midst of the Divine Liturgy with the rest of the
church. The bread and wine are believed to become the genuine body and blood of the
Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The Orthodox Church has never
described exactly how this occurs, or gone into the detail that the Catholic Church has
in the West.
Communion is given only to baptised and chrismated 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. [165] From
baptism young infants and children are carried to the chalice to receive holy
communion.[163]
Because of the Orthodox understanding of mankind's fallen nature in general those who
wish to commune prepare themselves in a way that reflects mankind in paradise. First,
they prepare by having their confession heard and the prayer of repentance read over
them by a priest. They will increase their prayer rule, adding the prescribed prayers in
preparation for communing. Finally, they will fast completely from food and drink from
the evening of the previous day (usually sunset on Saturday if communing on Sunday).
Repentance (Confession)[edit]
Main article: Confession (religion)
Orthodox Christians who have committed sins but repent of them, and who wish to
reconcile themselves to God and renew the purity of their original baptisms, confess
their sins to God before a spiritual guide who offers advice and direction to assist the
individual in overcoming their sin. Parish priests commonly function as spiritual guides,
but such guides can be any person, male or female (not commonly a layperson but in
these cases monks or nuns), who has been given a blessing to hear confessions.
Spiritual guides are chosen very carefully as this is a mandate that once chosen must
be obeyed. Having confessed, the penitent then has his or her parish priest read the
prayer of absolution over them.
Sin is not viewed by the Orthodox as a stain on the soul that needs to be wiped out, or a
legal transgression that must be set right by a punitive sentence, but rather as a mistake
made by the individual with the opportunity for spiritual growth and development. An act
of penance (epitemia), if the spiritual guide requires it, is never formulaic, but rather is
directed toward the individual and their particular problem, as a means of establishing a
deeper understanding of the mistake made, and how to effect its cure. Because full
participatory membership is granted to infants, it is not unusual for even small children
to confess; though the scope of their culpability is far less than an older child, still their
opportunity for spiritual growth remains the same.
Marriage[edit]
Further information: Marriage in the Eastern Orthodox Church

The wedding of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

From the 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.[166][167] 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.[168][169]
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".[170] Love between wife and husband, as an icon of relationship between Christ
and Church, is eternal.[170]
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 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 offense 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.[171] Ecclesiastically divorced Orthodox (not
civilly divorced only) are usually allowed to remarry in the Orthodox Church, though
there is usually imposed on them a fairly severe penance by their bishop and the
services for a second marriage in this case are more penitential than joyful. Widows are
permitted to remarry without repercussion and their second marriage is considered just
as valid as the first. One exception to this rule is the clergy and their wives. Should a
married priest die, it is normal that his wife will retire to a monastery once their children
are out of the house. Widowed priests are not allowed to remarry (no priest may be
married after his ordination) and also frequently end up in monasteries.
The service of marriage in the Orthodox Church has two distinct parts: the betrothal
(engagement) and the crowning. There is no exchange of vows. There is a set
expectation of the obligations incumbent on a married couple, and whatever promises
they may have privately to each other are their responsibility to keep.
Holy orders[edit]

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  Cheirotonia.

Since its founding, the church spread to different places and its leaders in each region
came to be known as episkopoi ("overseers", plural of episkopos, overseer—Gr.
ἐπίσκοπος), which became "bishop" in English. The other ordained roles
are presbyter (Gr. πρεσβύτερος, elder), which became "prester" and then "priest" in
English, and diakonos (Gr. διάκονος, servant), which became "deacon" in English (see
also subdeacon). There are numerous administrative positions among the clergy that
carry additional titles.
In the Greek tradition, bishops who occupy an ancient see are called metropolitans,
while the lead bishop in Greece is the archbishop. (In the Russian tradition, however,
the usage of the terms "metropolitan" and "archbishop" is reversed.) Priests can be
archpriests, archimandrites or protopresbyters. Deacons can also be archdeacons or
protodeacons. The position of deacon is often occupied for life. The deacon also acts as
an assistant to a bishop.
With the exception of bishops, who remain celibate, the Orthodox Church has always
allowed priests and deacons to be married, provided the marriage takes place before
ordination. In general it is considered preferable for parish priests to be married as they
often act as counsel to married couples and thus can draw on their own experience.
Unmarried priests are usually monks and live in monasteries, though there are
occasions when, because of a lack of married priests, a monk-priest is temporarily
assigned to a parish.
Widowed priests and deacons 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 deaconesses had both liturgical
and pastoral functions within the church. [172] However, it has fallen out of practice (the last
deaconess was ordained in the 19th century).
In 2017, Patriarch Theodoros II and the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria
decided to reinstate the order of deaconesses in the Greek Orthodox Church. In
February, he appointed six nuns to be subdeacons within the church. [citation needed]
Unction[edit]
Anointing with oil, often called "unction", is one of the mysteries administered by the
Orthodox Church and is not reserved only for the dying or terminally ill, but for all in
need of spiritual or bodily healing. In Greece, during the Ottoman occupation, it became
the custom to administer this mystery annually on Great Wednesday to all believers; in
recent decades, this custom has spread to many other locations. It is often distributed
on major feast days, or any time the clergy believe it necessary for the spiritual welfare
of its congregation.
According to Orthodox teaching unction is based on the Epistle of James:
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save
the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven.—James 5:14–15

History[edit]
Main article: History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Early Church[edit]

An early Christian "Ichthys" (fish) inscription from ancient Ephesus

Paul and the Apostles traveled extensively throughout the Roman Empire, including

Asia Minor, establishing Churches in major communities, with the first churches
appearing in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, then
in Antioch, Ethiopia, Egypt, Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Thessalonica, Illyricum,
and Byzantium, which centuries later would become prominent as the New Rome.
[173]
 Christianity encountered considerable resistance in the Roman Empire, because its
adherents refused to comply with the demands of the Roman state (even when their
lives were threatened) by offering sacrifices to the pagan gods. Despite persecution, the
Christian Church spread. The persecution dissipated upon the conversion of Emperor
Constantine I in 312 AD.[173]
By the 4th century Christianity had spread to numerous regions. A number of influential
schools of thought had arisen, particularly the Alexandrian and 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 Emperor Constantine to call for a great ecumenical synod in order 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 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,[173][174] as of major importance.
Ecumenical councils[edit]
Main article: First seven Ecumenical Councils
See also: State church of the Roman Empire

Icon depicting the Emperor Constantine and the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325) holding
the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.

Several doctrinal disputes from the 4th century onwards led to the calling of ecumenical
councils. 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:

1. The First Ecumenical Council was convoked by

the Roman Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in
 325 and presided over by the
Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria, with over 300
bishops condemning the view of Arius that the
Son is a created being inferior to the Father.[175]
2. 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.[176]
3. 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.[177]
4. 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.[178]
5. 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.[179]
6. 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.[180]
7. 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 icons while forbidding their
worship. It is often referred to as "The Triumph of
Orthodoxy".[181]
There are also two other councils which are considered ecumenical by some Orthodox.
All Orthodox agree that the decisions of these further councils are valid; the
disagreement is only whether they carry sufficient importance to be considered
truly ecumenical:
8. The Fourth Council of Constantinople was called in
879. It restored St. Photius to his See in Constantinople
and condemned any alteration of the Nicene-
Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.
9. The Fifth Council of Constantinople was actually a
series of councils held between 1341 and 1351. It
affirmed the hesychastic theology of St. Gregory
Palamas and condemned the philosopher Barlaam of
Calabria.
In addition to these councils there have been a number
of other significant councils meant to further define the
Orthodox position. They are the Synods of
Constantinople, in 1484, 1583, 1755, 1819, and 1872,
the Synod of Iași in 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox Synod
of Jerusalem in 1672. Another council convened
in June 2016 to discuss many modern phenomena
including Modernism, other Christian confessions,
Orthodoxy's relation with other religions and fasting
disciplines.[182]
Roman/Byzantine Empire[edit]

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.

Main articles: State church of the Roman

Empire and Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
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.[183] Beginning with
subsequent Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia
became the paradigmatic Orthodox church form and its
architectural style was emulated by Ottoman
mosques a thousand years later.[184] 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",[184] and
architectural and cultural icon of Byzantine and Eastern
Orthodox civilization,[185][186] and it is considered the
epitome of Byzantine architecture[187] and is said to have
"changed the history of architecture".[188]
Early schisms[edit]
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 lay 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 anathematizing 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. However, those who disagreed with the
findings of the Council of Chalcedon were the majority
in Egypt, and today they are known as the Coptic
Orthodox Church of Alexandria, having maintained a
separate patriarchate. The Coptic Orthodox Church is
currently the largest Christian church in Egypt and in
the whole Middle East. There was also a similar, albeit
smaller scale, split in Syria (Patriarchate of Antioch),
which resulted in the separation of the Syriac Orthodox
Church from the Byzantine Patriarchate of Antioch.
Those who disagreed with the Council of Chalcedon are
sometimes called "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) consistent with St. Cyril's theology:
"The term union...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" (St. Cyril of
Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ). Both the Eastern
Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches formally
believe themselves to be the continuation of the true
church, although over the last several decades there
has been considerable reconciliation and the prospect
of reunification has been discussed.
Conversion of South and East Slavs[edit]
Further information: Christianization of
Bulgaria, Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate,
and Christianization of Kievan Rus'
In the 9th and 10th centuries, Christianity made great
inroads into pagan Europe, including Bulgaria (864) and
later Kievan Rus' (988). This work was made possible
by the work of the Byzantine-era saints Cyril and
Methodius. When king Rastislav of Moravia asked
Byzantium for teachers who could minister to the
Moravians in their own language, Byzantine emperor
Michael III chose these two brothers. Cyril and
Methodius translated the Bible and many of the prayer
books. With time, as the translations prepared by them
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 missionaries from the Roman diocese.
Their disciples were driven out of Great Moravia in AD
886 and emigrated to Bulgaria.[189]
 The baptism of Princess Olga in  Constantinople, a miniature from
the Radzivill Chronicle

After the Christianisation of Bulgaria in 864, the

disciples of saints Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria, the
most important being Saint Clement of Ohrid and Saint
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 Bulgarian clergy into the biblical texts and in AD
870 the Fourth Council of Constantinople granted the
Bulgarians the right to have the oldest
organised autocephalous Slavic Orthodox Church that
little later, from autonomous Bulgarian archbishopric,
became Patriarchate. The success of the conversion of
the Bulgarians facilitated the conversion of East Slavic
peoples, most notably the Rus', predecessors
of Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians.[190] Major
event is the development of the Cyrillic
script in Bulgaria at the Preslav Literary School in the
9th century. The Cyrillic script and the liturgy in Old
Church Slavonic, also called Old Bulgarian, were
declared official in Bulgaria in 893.[191][192][193]
The work of the Thessaloniki brothers Cyril and
Methodius and their disciples had a major impact
to Serbs as well.[194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201] However, they
accepted Christianity collectively by families and by
tribes (in the process between the 7th and the 9th
century). 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 honor the Saint on whose day they received the
sacrament of Holy 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 is actually the celebration of the
spiritual birthday of the Serbian people which the
Church blessed and proclaimed it a Church institution.
[202]

The missionaries to the East and South Slavs had great

success in part because they used the people's native
language rather than Greek, the predominant language
of the Byzantine Empire, or Latin, as the Roman priests
did.[194] Today the Russian Orthodox Church is the
largest of the Orthodox Churches.[203]
Great Schism (1054)[edit]
Main article: East–West Schism

The East–West Schism

In the 11th century what was recognised as the 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.[204] There were doctrinal
issues like the filioque clause and the authority of the
Roman 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 used to be that the emperor would at least
have say when a new Pope would be 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.[205]

Latin Crusaders 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 was importantly also strongly condemned
by the Pope at the time (Innocent III, see reference at
end of paragraph); the apology was formally accepted
by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Many
things that were stolen during this time—holy relics,
riches, and many other items—were not returned and
are still held in various European cities,
particularly Venice.[206][207]
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. Some local Eastern churches have,
however, renewed union with Rome in time since
(see Eastern Catholic Churches). Recent decades have
seen a renewal of ecumenical spirit and dialogue
between the Churches.[208]
Greek Church under Ottoman rule[edit]
Main articles: Christianity in the Ottoman
Empire and History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
under the Ottoman Empire
In 1453, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman
Empire. By this time Egypt had been
under Muslim control for some seven centuries, but
Orthodoxy was very strong in Russia which had
recently acquired an autocephalous status; and
thus Moscow called itself the Third Rome, as the
cultural heir of Constantinople.
Under Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox
Church acquired substantial power as an
autonomous millet. The ecumenical patriarch was the
religious and administrative ruler of the Rûm (Ottoman
administrative unit meaning "Roman"), which
encompassed all the Orthodox subjects of the Empire.
Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian
Empire[edit]
Up until 1666, when Patriarch Nikon was deposed by
the tsar, the Russian Orthodox Church had been
independent of the State.[209] In 1721 the first Russian
Emperor, Peter I abolished completely the patriarchate
and so the church effectively became a department of
the government, ruled by a most holy synod composed
of senior bishops and lay bureaucrats appointed by the
Emperor himself. From 1721 until
the Bolsheviks' October Revolution of 1917, the
Russian Orthodox Church was essentially transformed
into a governmental agency, a tool used to various
degrees by the tsars in the imperial campaigns
of Russification. The church was allowed by the State to
levy taxes on the peasants. Therefore, the church,
along with the imperial regime, to which it belonged,
came to be presented as an enemy of the people by
the Bolsheviks and the other Russian revolutionaries.[210]
Orthodox churches under Communist
rule[edit]
See also: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
 1931 demolition of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow

The rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, currently the second

tallest Orthodox church

After the October revolution of 1917, part of the clergy

of the Russian Church escaped
the Bolshevik persecutions by fleeing abroad, where
they founded an independent church in exile, reunified
with the Russian one in 2007.[211] The Orthodox Church
clergy in Russia were seen as sympathetic with the
cause of the White Army in the Civil War after the
Revolution, and occasionally collaborated with
it; Patriarch Tikhon's declared position was vehemently
anti-Bolshevik in 1918. This may have further
strengthened the Bolshevik animus against the church.
[citation needed]
 The Soviet government confiscated church
property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and
propagated atheism in schools.[citation needed] Actions toward
particular religions, however, were determined by state
interests, and most organised religions were never
outlawed.[citation needed] Some actions against Orthodox priests
and believers along with execution included torture,
being sent to prison camps, labour camps or mental
hospitals.[212][213] In the first five years after the Bolshevik
revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed.
[214]

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. [214]
However, there is definitely marked return to Christian
Orthodoxy 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 percent to 72 percent, according
to a new Pew Research Center analysis of three waves
of data (1991, 1998 and 2008) from the International
Social Survey Programme (ISSP) – a collaboration
involving social scientists in about 50 countries. [215]
Albania was the only state to have declared
itself officially fully atheist.[216] 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 specialised institution where many Orthodox (along
with people of other faiths) were subjected
to psychological punishment or torture and 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).[217][218]
Interfaith relations[edit]

The consecration of the Rt Rev. Reginald Heber Weller as an

Anglican bishop at the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle in
the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, with the Rt. Rev. Anthony
Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church and Saint
Tikhon, then Bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska (along with his
chaplains Fr. John Kochurov and Fr. Sebastian Dabovich) of
the Russian Orthodox Church present

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I in the Church of the

Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 2014

Relations with other Christians[edit]

See also: Fourth Crusade and Polish–Muscovite War
(1605–18)
Eastern Orthodoxy represents the majority of Eastern
Christianity. The Orthodox trace their bishops back to
the apostles through apostolic succession, and continue
the ancient Christian practices of veneration of saints,
especially Mary as the Theotokos, prayers for the dead,
and monasticism. Orthodoxy does not openly
promote statuary, although it is not expressly
condemned, instead limiting itself primarily to two-
dimensional iconography. Western theological concepts
of original sin, substitutionary
atonement, predestination, purgatory and particular
judgment are generally rejected by traditional Orthodox
theologians.
The Orthodox believe themselves to be the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic, that is, the true Church
established by Jesus Christ and placed into the care of
the apostles. As almost all other Christian groups are in
indirect schism with the Orthodox Church, mostly as a
result of the Great Schism with the Catholic Church at
the turn of the second Christian millennium (before the
schisms of the Protestant Reformation), these other
groups are viewed as being Christian, but who, to
varying degrees, lack full theological orthodoxy
and orthopraxy. As such, all groups outside of the
Orthodox Church are not seen as being members of the
church proper, but rather separated brethren who have
failed to retain the fullness of the Christian faith and
theology. These deviations from orthodoxy have
traditionally been called heresy, but due to the term's
perceived pejorative connotations, some prefer the
more technical designation of the term heterodoxy.
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".[219] This gesture was
instrumental in the foundation of the World Council of
Churches (WCC);[220] as such, almost all Eastern
Orthodox churches are members of the WCC and
"Orthodox ecclesiastics and theologians serve on its
committees".[221] 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."[222]Hilarion Alfeyev, 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 abortion, the family, and marriage" and
desire "vigorous grassroots engagement" between the
two Christian communions on such issues.[223] 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.[224] Even during a visit by Pope
Francis to Georgia in October 2016, the leader of the
Catholics was snubbed by most Orthodox Christians
when he was holding mass in front of the practically
empty Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi.[225]
The Oriental Orthodox churches are not
in 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,[226] 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.[227]
In 2019, the Primate of the OCU Metropolitan of Kyiv
and All Ukraine 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.[228] In 2019, the
Primate of the UGCC, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-
Galicia 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 Rome and Constantinople is not a utopia.[229]
Relations with Islam[edit]

The Constantinople Massacre of April 1821: a religious

persecution of the Greek population of Constantinople under the
Ottomans. Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople was executed.

Historically, the Orthodox Church and the non-

Chalcedonians were among the first peoples to have
contact with Islam, which conquered Roman/Byzantine
Syria-Palestine and Egypt in the 7th century, and fought
many battles against Islamic conquests. The Qur'an
itself records its concurrent observations regarding the
Roman world in Surah al-Rum. The main contact
with Islam however, came after the conquest of the
Seljuk Turks of Roman/Byzantine Anatolia in the 13th
century.
Christians who were under Islamic rule were denied
equality of rights and were forced to pay the Jizya poll
tax.[230]
In Russia, Metropolitan Alfeyev stated belief in the
possibility of peaceful coexistence between Islam
and Christianity as the two religions have never had
religious wars in Russia.[231]

Present[edit]
See also: List of the current autocephalous Orthodox
churches and their dependencies
The various autocephalous and autonomous synods of
the Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of
administration and local culture, but for the most part
exist in full communion with one another. Presently,
there are two communions that reject each other and, in
addition, some schismatic churches not in any
communion, with all three groups identifying as Eastern
Orthodox.
The Pan-Orthodox Council, Kolymvari, Crete, Greece, June 2016

The main traditional historical communion is divided into

two groups—those who use the Revised Julian
calendar for calculating fixed feasts and the Julian
calendar for calculating movable feasts, and those who
use the Julian calendar for all purposes. This second
group may include congregations whose church allows
them to choose, with the proviso that the choice
remains in effect at least until the end of the church
year. Also in communion are the Estonian and Finnish
Orthodox churches who have a dispensation to use
the Gregorian calendar for all purposes. Another group
is referred to as True Orthodoxy (or Old Calendarists);
they are those who, without authority from their parent
churches, have continued to use the old Julian
calendar, claiming that the calendar reform in the 1920s
is in contravention of the ecumenical councils. Similarly,
another group called the Old Believers, separated in
1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a
protest against church rite reforms introduced
by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. As Eastern Orthodox
Christianity is both collegial and local in structure, there
is no single organisation called the "True Orthodox
Church" nor is there official recognition among the
"True Orthodox" as to who is properly included among
them. While some unions have taken place even up to
the present, the majority of True Orthodox are only
secondarily concerned with reunion as opposed to
preservation of Eastern Orthodox teaching.
The calendar question reflects the dispute between
those who wish to use a calendar which is reformed yet
not Gregorian (effectively gaining the perceived benefits
of the Gregorian calendar without disregarding the three
anathemas issued against it in the sixteenth century),
something which opponents consider unnecessary and
damaging to continuity, and those who wish to maintain
the traditional ecclesiastical calendar (which happens to
be based on the Julian calendar), arguing that such a
modern change goes against 1900 years of church
tradition and was in fact perpetrated without an
ecumenical council, which would surely have rejected
the idea.
The dispute has led to much acrimony, and sometimes
even to violence. Following canonical precepts, some
adherents of the old calendar have chosen to abstain
from clerical inter-communion with those synods which
have embraced the new calendar until the conflict is
resolved. The monastic communities on Mount Athos
have provided the strongest opposition to the new
calendar, and to modernism in general, while still
maintaining communion with their mother church.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside
Russia (ROCOR) has recently united with the Moscow
Patriarchate; these two branches of the Russian
Orthodox Church had separated from each other in the
1920s due to the subjection of the latter to the
hostile Soviet regime (see Act of Canonical
Communion).
Main communion[edit]
 Cathedral of Evangelismos, Alexandria

The Orthodox Church is a communion of

14 autocephalous (that is, administratively completely
independent) regional churches,[232] plus the Orthodox
Church in America and recently the Orthodox Church of
Ukraine. 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 former non-
canonical Ukraine Orthodox churches, along with two
metropolitans of the canonical, but not autocephalous
Ukraine Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate,
proclaimed the formation of the unified Orthodox
Church of Ukraine. On 5 January 2019 it received the
tomos of autocephaly (decree which defines the
conditions of a church's independence) from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and thus received the place in
the diptych.
 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 (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 (self-government). Such autonomous
churches maintain varying levels of dependence on
their mother church, usually defined in a tomos or other
document of autonomy.
Below is a list of the 14 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.

 Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople (Archbishop of
Constantinople-New Rome and First Among
Equals Patriarch)
o Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
Italy (His Eminence Orthodox
Archbishop of Italy and Malta)
o Autonomous Orthodox Church of
Finland (Archbishop of Helsinki
and All Finland,
formerly Archbishop of Karelia and
All Finland)
o Self-governing Orthodox Church of
Crete (Archbishop of Crete)
o Self-governing Monastic
Community of Mount Athos
 o Self-governing Orthodox Church of
Korea (Metropolitan of Seoul and
All Korea)
o Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of Canada
o Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of the USA
o Eparchy of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America
o Eparchy of the Exarchate of the
Philippines
o Eparchy of the American
Carpatho-Russian Orthodox
Diocese
 Patriarchate of Alexandria (His Most Divine
Beatitude the Pope and Patriarch of the
Great City
of Alexandria, Libya, Pentapolis, Ethiopia,
all the land of Egypt, and all Africa, Father of
Fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds, Prelate of
Prelates, Thirteenth of the Apostles, and
Judge of the Œcumene)
 Patriarchate of Antioch (Patriarch of Antioch
and all the East)
o Self-governing Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
North America (Archbishop of New
York and Metropolitan of All North
America)
o Self-governing Antiochian
Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia,
New Zealand, and All
Oceania (Metropolitan Archbishop
of Australia, New Zealand and the
Philippines)
 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)
o Autonomous Church of Mount
Sinai (Archbishop of Choreb,
Sinai, and Raitha)
 Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch of
Moscow and all Russia)
 o Autonomous Orthodox Church in
Japan (Archbishop of Tokyo and
Metropolitan of All Japan)
o Exarchate of Belarus (Metropolitan
of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal
Exarch of All Belarus)
o Self-governing Russian Orthodox
Church Outside
Russia(Metropolitan of Eastern
America and New York, First
Hierarch of the Russian church
abroad)
o Self-governing Orthodox Church of
Moldova (Metropolitan of Chişinău
and all Moldova)
o Self-governing Orthodox Church of
Latvia (Metropolitan of Riga and all
Latvia)
 Serbian Orthodox Church (Archbishop of
Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci,
and Serbian Patriarch)
o Autonomous Orthodox Ohrid
Archbishopric (Archbishop of
Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje)
 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)
 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)
 Orthodox Church of Albania (Archbishop of
Tirana, Durres and all Albania)
 Polish Orthodox Church (Metropolitan of
Warsaw and all Polandor Archbishop of
Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland)[f]
  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)
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:

 Orthodox Church in America (Archbishop of

Washington, Metropolitan of All America and
Canada) – Not recognised by the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
 Self-governing Metropolis of Bessarabia of
the Romanian Orthodox Church – Territory is
claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
 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) – Not recognised by
the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
 Self-governing Ukrainian Orthodox Church
(Moscow Patriarchate) (Metropolitan of Kyiv
and all Ukraine) – Not recognised by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, Church of Greece,
Church of Cyprus, and Patriarchate of
Alexandria, as of October 2020.[234][235][236]
 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[234][237][235][236][238][239] as of October 2020,
opposed by the Russian, Antiochian, Czech
and Slovak, Serbian and Polish Orthodox
Churches, and the Orthodox Church in
America.[240][241][242]
Traditionalist groups[edit]
 Traditional Paschal procession by Russian Orthodox Old-Rite
Church

True Orthodox[edit]
True Orthodoxy has been separated from the
mainstream communion over issues of ecumenism and
calendar reform since the 1920s.[243] The movement
rejects the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople,
the Moscow Patriarchate, and those 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 old Julian
calendar since antiquity, claiming that the calendar
reform in the 1920s is in contravention of the
ecumenical councils. True Orthodox writers have
argued that in missionary areas such as the United
States, Orthodox (SCOBA) membership numbers may
be overstated, with the comparative number of True
Orthodox as up to 15% of the Orthodox population, in
Russia, it has been claimed by some clergy that up to a
million Russians may be True Orthodox of different
jurisdictions, though the total number is often cited at
1.7–2 million together.
There is no official communion of traditionalists. They
often are local groups and are limited to a specific
bishop or locality. The following is a list of the most
prominent True Orthodox churches:

 Churches descending from the Russian

Orthodox Church Outside Russia
 Greek Old Calendarists
 Old Calendar Bulgarian Orthodox Church
 Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church
 Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
  Russian True Orthodox Church (Catacomb
Church)
 Russian True Orthodox Church (Lazaran
RTOC)
 Serbian True Orthodox Church
Old Believers[edit]
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).

 Russian Orthodox Old-Rite

Church (Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy)
 Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite
Church (Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy)
 Russian Old-Orthodox
Church (Novozybkovskaya Hierarchy)
 Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church (Pomortsy)
 Fedoseevtsy
Churches not in communion with other
churches[edit]
Churches with irregular or unresolved canonical status
are entities that have carried out episcopal
consecrations outside of the norms of canon law or
whose bishops have been excommunicated by one of
the 14 autocephalous churches. These include
nationalist and other schismatic bodies such as the
Abkhazian Orthodox Church or the Evangelical
Orthodox Church.

 Abkhazian Orthodox Church

 American Orthodox Catholic Church
 Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
  Communion of the Western Orthodox
Churches
 Evangelical Orthodox Church
 Holy Orthodox Church in North America, in
communion with Greek Old Calendarists
 Lusitanian Orthodox Church
 Macedonian Orthodox Church
 Montenegrin Orthodox Church
 Orthodox Church of France
 Turkish Orthodox Church
 Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Canonical

See also[edit]
  Christianity portal

 Byzantine art
 Byzantine literature
 Byzantine dress
 Byzantine music
 Chalcedonian Christianity
 Christianization of Bulgaria
 Ecclesiastical differences between the
Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox
Church
 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 Orthodox Churches
 Moscow–Constantinople schism (2018)
 Theological differences between the Catholic
Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church
 Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece (33–717)

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Protestantism, as a whole, is not formally a church
 2. ^ According to Roman Lunkin in an interview about
the 2012 survey published by Среда (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.[85] According
to The World Factbook 2006 estimate, 15–20% are
practicing Russian Orthodox but there is a large
populations of non-practicing believers.[86]
3. ^ Data is 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.
4. ^ 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.[101](p2) Krindatch did
not provide figures about any change in the
membership over that same period in his 2010
highlight.
5. ^ According to Oliver Herbel, in Turning to Tradition,
the 2008 US Religious Landscape Survey "suggests
that if there is growth, it is statistically
insignificant."[102](p9) 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.[103](pp4, 21, 36, 93) But only
53% of people who were Orthodox Christian as
children still self identify as Orthodox Christian in
2014.[103](p39) The Orthodox Christian category "is most
heavily made up of immigrants and the children of
immigrants."[103](p53)
6. ^ 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[233]

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180. ^ "The Sixth Ecumenical Council – Greek
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181. ^ "The Seventh Ecumenical Council – Greek
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writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing,
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matters considerably and is still used by the
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192. ^ Florin Curta (2006).  Southeastern Europe in the
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accession in 1902, Patriarch Joachim III sent an
encyclical letter to all the autocephalous Orthodox
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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
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Lausanne in 1927 and at Edinburgh in 1937. The
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has been a consistent supporter of the work of the
WCC ever since.
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3. Addressed "to all the Churches of Christ,
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Patriarchate opens the words anticipating the spirit
of the ecclesial bodies which would later form the
World Council of Churches.
221. ^ Benz, Ernst (31 July 2008).  The Eastern
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p. 197.  ISBN  978-0-202-36575-6. 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.
222. ^ Ware, Kallistos (28 April 1993). The Orthodox
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014656-1.
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Retrieved 31 December 2007.  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.
224. ^ Orthodox Christian Information Center. An
Orthodox View of the Virgin Mary. Retrieved
November 10th, 2016.
225. ^ Orthodox Church snubs Pope Francis in
Georgia. Al Jazeera News. Retrieved November
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utopiyu-315/
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Retrieved 31 December 2007.  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.
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Church of Greece recognized the Autocephalous
Church of Ukraine]. eleftherostypos.gr. Eleutheros
Typos. 12 October 2019. Retrieved  12
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235. ^ Jump up to:a b "It's Official: Church of Greece
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236. ^ Jump up to:a b "Archbishop of Cyprus commemorates
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 American Heritage Dictionary of the English

Language (5th ed.), Houghton Mifflin
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retrieved 28 May 2014
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5015-5, retrieved 2 June 2014
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retrieved 29 May 2014
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retrieved 28 May 2014
 Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East &
North Africa (2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference
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  Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church (3rd rev. ed.), Oxford University
Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3

Further reading[edit]
 Adeney, Walter F. (1908).  The Greek and Eastern
Churches  (PDF). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
 Buxhoeveden, Daniel; Woloschak, Gayle, eds.
(2011).  Science and the Eastern Orthodox
Church (1st ed.). Farnham:
Ashgate.  ISBN  9781409481614.
 Dvornik, Francis (1948).  The Photian Schism: History
and Legend. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
 Erickson, John H. (1991).  The Challenge of Our Past:
Studies in Orthodox Canon Law and Church History.
Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary
Press. ISBN 9780881410860.
 Erickson, John H. (1992).  "The Local Churches and
Catholicity: An Orthodox Perspective". The Jurist. 52:
490–508.
 Fairbairn, Donald (2002).  Eastern Orthodoxy through
Western Eyes. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press. ISBN 9780664224974.
 FitzGerald, Thomas (2007). "Eastern Christianity in the
United States". The Blackwell Companion to Eastern
Christianity. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp.  269–
279.  ISBN  9780470766392.
 Hussey, Joan M. (1986).  The Orthodox Church in the
Byzantine Empire. Oxford: Clarendon
Press. ISBN 9780198269014.
 Krindatch, Alexei D. ed., Atlas of American Orthodox
Christian Churches (Holy Cross Orthodox Press,
2011) online.
 Lossky, Vladimir (1957).  The Mystical Theology of the
Eastern Church  (1. ed.). London: J.
Clarke.  ISBN  9780227675366.
 Mascall, Eric Lionel (1958).  The Recovery of Unity: A
Theological Approach. London: Longmans.
 McGuckin, John Anthony  (2008). The Orthodox Church:
An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual
Culture (1.  ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing. ISBN 9781405150668.
 McGuckin, John Anthony, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia
of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  1. Malden, MA: Wiley-
Blackwell.
 McGuckin, John Anthony, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia
of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  2. Malden, MA: Wiley-
Blackwell. ISBN 9781405185394.
 Obolensky, Dimitri  (1974) [1971].  The Byzantine
Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453. London:
Cardinal.  ISBN  9780351176449.
  Ostrogorsky, George  (1956). History of the Byzantine
State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
 Paraskevas, J. E.; Reinstein, F. (1969).  The Eastern
Orthodox Church: A Brief History. Washington: El Greco
Press.
 Runciman, Steven (1968).  The Great Church in
Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople
from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War
of Independence(1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 9780521071888.
 Scouteris, Constantine, A Brief Outline of the Orthodox
Church, Ἐκκλησιαστικός Φάρος, 65 (2004), pp. 60–75.

External links[edit]
 An Online Orthodox Catechism published by
the Russian Orthodox Church
 OrthodoxWiki
 Orthodox Dictionary at Kursk Root Hermitage
of the Birth of the Most Holy Theotokos
 Orthodox books – Lives of Holy People at
skete.com
 An Orthodox View of Salvation
 IV Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference
 Orthodox Icons and Paintings
 Prologue from Ohrid – (Saints of the
Orthodox Church Calendar)
 A repository with scientific papers on various
aspects of the Byzantine Orthodox Church in
English and in German
 IOCC: Gaza’s Orthodox Community
Struggles to Endure
 "Orthodox Christianity in the 21st
Century". Pew Research Center's Religion &
Public Life Project. 8 November 2017.
Relations between the Catholic Church and the
Orthodox Church

 Pope Benedict XIV, Allatae Sunt (On the

observance of Oriental Rites), Encyclical,
1755
 Orientale Lumen – Apostolic Letter of Pope
John Paul II on the Eastern Churches, 1995
 Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI
and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I,
2006
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