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The Orthodox church is a fellowship of
independent churches. Each is autocephalous, that is, governed by its own head
bishop. They share a common faith, common principles of church policy and
organization, and a common liturgical tradition. Only the languages used in
worship and minor aspects of tradition differ from country to country. The head
bishops of the autocephalous churches may be called patriarch, metropolitan, or
archbishop. These prelates are presidents of episcopal synods, which, in each
church, constitute the highest canonical, doctrinal, and administrative
authority. Among the various Orthodox churches there is an order of precedence,
which is determined by history rather than by present-day numerical strength.
A “primacy of honor” belongs to the patriarch of
Constantinople (now İstanbul, Turkey), because the city was the seat of the
Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, which between ad 320 and 1453 was the
center of Eastern Christendom. The canonical rights of the patriarch of
Constantinople were defined by the ecumenical councils of Constantinople (381)
and Chalcedon (451). In the 6th century he also assumed the title ecumenical
patriarch. Neither in the past, nor in modern times, however, has his authority
been comparable to that exercised in the West by the Roman pope: The patriarch
does not possess administrative powers beyond his own territory, or
patriarchate, and he does not claim infallibility. Therefore, his position is a
primacy among equals. The other churches recognize his role in convening and
preparing Pan-Orthodox consultations and councils. His authority extends over
the small (and rapidly vanishing) Greek communities in Turkey; over dioceses
situated in the Greek islands and in northern Greece; over the numerous
Greek-speaking communities in the United States, Australia, and Western Europe;
and over the autonomous church of Finland.
Three other ancient Orthodox patriarchates owe
their positions to their distinguished pasts: those in Alexandria, Egypt;
Damascus, Syria (although the incumbent carries the ancient title patriarch of
Antioch); and Jerusalem. The patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem are Greek
speaking; the patriarch of Antioch heads a significant Arab Christian community
in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
The patriarchate of Moscow and all Russia is the largest Orthodox church today
by far, having survived a difficult period of persecution after the Russian
Revolution of 1917. It occupies the fifth place in the hierarchy of
autocephalous churches, followed by the patriarchates of the Republic of
Georgia, Serbia (part of the republic of Serbia and Montenegro), Romania, and
Bulgaria. The nonpatriarchal churches are, in order of precedence, the
archbishoprics of Cyprus, Athens (Greece), and Tirana (Albania; established
1937, this see was suppressed during Communist rule), as well as the
metropolitanates of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and America.
The autocephalous Orthodox Church in America, officially established in 1970,
has as its stated goal the unification of all Orthodox Christians in the United
States and Canada on a territorial basis. Nonetheless, large ethnic
jurisdictions, particularly the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, are
administratively connected with mother churches abroad.
Sources: Encyclopedia Britanica, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
America.
John of Damascus, Writings; G Maloney, A History of
Orthodox Theology Since 1453; V Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern
Church; J Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology; J Pelikan, The Christian Tradition
III, The Spirit of Eastern Christendom; The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the
Undivided Church, N P N F , XIV; P Schaff, ed., The Creeds of Christendom, II,
445 - 542; A Schmemann, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy; N Zernov,
Eastern Christendom; K Ware, The Orthodox Way.
