Greek Orthodox Church

The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also called 'Eastern Orthodox,' 'Greek Catholic,' or generally 'the Greek Church. The narrower meaning designates "any of several independent churches within the worldwide communion of asternOrthodox Christianity that retain the use of the Greek language in formal ecclesiastical settings".

Etymology

Historically, the term "Greek Orthodox" has been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox churches, since the term "Greek" can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire. During the first eight centuries of Christian history, most major intellectual, cultural, and social developments in the Christian Church took place in the Byzantine Empire or its sphere of influence, where the Greek language was widely spoken and used for most theological writings. The empire's capital, Constantinople, was an early important center of Christianity, and its liturgical practices, traditions, and doctrines were gradually adopted throughout Eastern Orthodoxy, still providing the basic patterns of contemporary Orthodoxy. Thus, Eastern Orthodox came to be called "Greek" Orthodox in the same way that Western Christians came to be called "Roman" Catholic. However, the appellation "Greek" was abandoned by the Slavic and other Eastern Orthodox churches as part of their peoples' national awakenings, beginning as early as the 10th century A.D. Joan Mervyn Hussey, ''The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire,'' 1990 Thus, by the early 21st century, generally only those churches most closely tied to Greek or Byzantine culture and ethnicity were called "Greek Orthodox" in common parlance.

Greek Orthodoxy has also been defined as a religious tradition rooted in preserving the Greek identity.

History

The Greek Orthodox churches are descended from churches which the Apostles founded in the Balkans and the Middle East during the first century A.D., as well as maintenance of many ancient church traditions.

Churches

*The four ancient patriarchates:
** The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also the " first among equals" of the Eastern Orthodox Church
*** The semi-autonomous Archdiocese of Crete
*** The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
*** The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy
*** The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
*** The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada
*** The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
** The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
** The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
** The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
*** The autonomous Church of Sinai

* Autocephaly defended at the Council of Ephesus
**The Church of Cyprus

* Two modern autocephalous churches:
** The Church of Greece
** The Albanian Orthodox Church also known as "Greek Orthodox Church of Albania" or "Church of Albania"

See also

* East–West Schism
* Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
* Russian Orthodoxy
* Armenian Apostolic Church
* Name days in Greece
* Pentarchy
* Ecumenism
* Greeks

References

Further reading

* Aderny, Walter F. ''The Greek and Eastern Churches'' (1908
online
* Constantelos, Demetrios J. ''Understanding the Greek Orthodox church: its faith, history, and practice'' (Seabury Press, 1982)
* Fortesque, Adrian. ''The Orthodox Eastern Church'' (1929)
* Hussey, Joan Mervyn. ''The orthodox church in the Byzantine empire'' (Oxford University Press, 2010
online
* Kephala, Euphrosyne. ''The Church of the Greek People Past and Present'' (1930)
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Eastern Churches.'' (1959) 2: 479–484; ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV: The Twentieth Century in Europe: The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches'' (1958)
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External links

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Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe
Christian terminology
Orthodoxy Church
Christian groups in the Middle East