The

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly known simply as the Orthodox Church is a communion composed of up to seventeen separate

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

(self-governing) hierarchical churches that profess

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and recognise each other as canonical (regular) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. Each constituent church is self-governing; its highest-ranking

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

called the

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

, a metropolitan or an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

) reports to no higher authority. Each regional church is composed of constituent eparchies (or dioceses) ruled by bishops. Some autocephalous churches have given an eparchy or group of eparchies with varying degrees of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

(meaning they have limited self-government). Such autonomous churches maintain varying levels of dependence on their mother church, usually defined in a ''tomos'' or another document of autonomy. In many cases, autonomous churches are almost completely self-governing, with the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

retaining only the right to appoint the highest-ranking bishop (often an archbishop or metropolitan) of the autonomous church. Normal governance is enacted through a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of bishops within each church.

Church governance

The Eastern Orthodox Church is decentralised, having no central authority, earthly head or a single

in a leadership role. Thus, the Eastern Orthodox use a

ical system canonically, which is significantly different from the hierarchical organisation of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

that follows the doctrine of

papal supremacy Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful, and as priest of the ...

. References to the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

as a sole authoritative leader are an erroneous interpretation of his title “ first among equals". His title is of honor rather than authority and in fact the Ecumenical Patriarch has no direct authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch's unique role is sometimes referred to as being the "spiritual leader" of the Eastern Orthodox Church, although even this is disputed. The autocephalous churches are normally in

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with each other, so any priest of any of those churches may lawfully minister to any member of any of them, and no member of any is excluded from any form of worship in any of the others, including the reception of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. However, there have been varying instances in the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church where communion has been broken between member churches for short periods, particularly over autocephaly issues or disagreements over

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

with other Christian denominations. Following Justinian, the church existed only as a single denomination of five communing churches ruled by five

s: the bishops of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

, and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, collectively referred to as the Pentarchy. Each of the five patriarchs had jurisdiction over bishops in a specified geographic region which did not overlap with the jurisdiction of another patriarch. This continued until 927, when the Bulgarian Patriarchate became the first newly promoted patriarchate to join the original five. Historically, the Patriarch of Rome was considered to be the " first in place of honor" among the five patriarchs. Disagreement about the limits of his authority was one of the causes of the Great Schism, conventionally dated to the year 1054, which split the previously unified Church into the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the West, headed by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, and the Orthodox Catholic Church (more commonly known today as the Eastern Orthodox Church), led by the four eastern patriarchs. After the schism, the honorary primacy of the Bishop of Rome shifted to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had previously been accorded second-place rank at the

First Council of Constantinople The First Council of Constantinople (; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. This second ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the ...

. In the 5th century,

Oriental Orthodoxy The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...

separated from

Chalcedonian Christianity Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definiti ...

(and is therefore separate from both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church), well before the 11th century Great Schism. It should not be confused with Eastern Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism.

Jurisdictions

Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches

Ranked in order of seniority, with the year of independence (

autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

) given in parentheses, where applicable. There are a total of 17 autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches which are recognized to various degrees among the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ''Canonicity'' refers to the state of being in communion with the larger Eastern Orthodox Church (making the church in question undisputedly a constituent of the Eastern Orthodox Church), whereas ''autocephaly'' refers to the state of being more or less self-governing. Canonicity is binary (two churches are either in communion or not) while autocephaly exists on a spectrum. Disputes over autocephaly often lead to short-term breaks in communion for political reasons. These short-term breaks are typically not due to differences in doctrine or theology.

Four ancient patriarchates

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

(independence in AD 330; elevated to the rank of autocephalous

Patriarchate Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...

in 381; elevated 451 to second see; became first see due to division from the

See of Rome See or SEE may refer to: * Visual perception Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Televisio ...

in the Great Schism of 1054) # Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria # Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch # Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem (independence in AD 451, elevated to the rank of autocephalous

in 451) The four ancient Eastern Orthodox Patriarchates, along with the See of Rome, formed the historical Pentarchy, and remained in communion with each other after the East-West Schism in 1054. The concept of the Pentarchy and the title of "

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

" itself, as opposed to Archbishop or Exarch, is attributed to St Justinian in AD 531.

National patriarchates

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

(870, Patriarchate since 918/919, recognised by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 927) #

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...

(Patriarchate since 1010) #

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

(1219, Patriarchate since 1346, recognised in 1375) #

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

(1448, recognised in 1589) #

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

(1872, recognised in 1885, Patriarchate since 1925)

Autocephalous archbishoprics

Note: # Church of Cyprus (recognised in 431) # Church of Greece (1833, recognised in 1850) # Albanian Orthodox Church (1922, recognised in 1937)

Autocephalous metropolises

Note: # Polish Orthodox Church (1924) # Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia (1951)

Universally recognized as canonical, autocephaly disputed

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

(granted by the

in 1970 and recognized by five other churches, but not recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate or remaining Churches. Canonicity universally recognized.) #

Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; ), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese of Ohrid (AO), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North Macedonia. The Macedonian Orthodox Church ...

(1967, granted by the

in 2022 and recognized by seven other churches, but not recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate or remaining Churches. Canonicity universally recognized.)

Canonical and spiritual independence status disputed

# Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (1992 as Ukrainian Orthodox Church, split from Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1992 allying with Russian Orthodox Church, declared independence from the

on 27 May 2022, recognised as independent by the Georgian Orthodox Church on 24 March 2023. Its status as an independent church rejected by the majority of churches) # Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (removed mentions of the Moscow Patriarchate on 20 August 2024, a request to rename the church was denied by court nor did any other church recognize its independence)

Canonical and autocephalous status disputed

# Orthodox Church of Ukraine (1992 as Ukrainian Orthodox Church, autocephaly from 15 December 2018, recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 5 January 2019 and three other churches. Its autocephaly and canonicity rejected by remaining churches, including its rival Ukrainian churches.)

Canonical and autocephalous status unrecognised

# A minority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate led by Filaret (Denysenko) split again in 2019, following internal disputes and concerns as to whether the autocephaly granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate amounted to true autocephaly due to the conditions imposed. They are not recognized by any church, including rival Ukrainian churches. # The Old Calendarists and True Orthodox split from their local church and are not recognized as canonical, nor do they recognize any of the above churches as canonical. Some maintain communion with the Kyiv Patriarchate under Filaret.

Internal ranking

The typical order that the four ancient churches appear in the diptychs is the same order given above. While every major church places the four ancient churches in their diptychs before the other autocephalous churches, this order may still differ slightly. For example, in the diptychs of the Russian Orthodox Church and some of its daughter churches (e.g., the Orthodox Church in America), the ranking of the five junior patriarchates is: Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria. The ranking of the archbishoprics is the same, with the Church of Cyprus being the only ancient one ( AD 431).

Autonomous Eastern Orthodox churches

;Under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople * Orthodox Church of Estonia (autonomy recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate but not by the Russian Orthodox Church) * Orthodox Church of Finland ;Under the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch * Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America * Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of São Paulo and All Brazil ;Under the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem * Church of Sinai ;Under the Russian Orthodox Church *

Belarusian Orthodox Church The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Eparchies and Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox eparchies in the ...

* Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova * Orthodox Church in Japan (autonomy recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church but not by the Ecumenical Patriarchate) * Chinese Orthodox Church (autonomy recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church but not by the Ecumenical Patriarchate) ;Under the Romanian Orthodox Church * Metropolis of Bessarabia * Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas * Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Western and Southern Europe

Semi-autonomous churches

;Under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople * Church of Crete ;Under the Russian Orthodox Church * Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

Limited self-government (not autonomy)

;Under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople * Monastic community of Mount Athos * Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta * Korean Orthodox Church * Exarchate of the Philippines * American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese * Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada * Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA ;Under the Russian Orthodox Church * Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe * Diocese of Korea (Russian Orthodox Church) ** ;Under the Romanian Orthodox Church * Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate Sighetu Marmației

Unrecognised churches

Churches that are not recognised despite wanting to

The following churches recognize all other mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches, but are not recognised by any of them due to various disputes: * Abkhazian Orthodox Church * * American Orthodox Catholic Church * Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church * Latvian Orthodox Church * Montenegrin Orthodox Church * Turkish Orthodox Church * Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical * Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

True Orthodox

True Orthodox Christians are groups of traditionalist

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

churches which have severed communion since the 1920s with the mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches for various reasons, such as calendar reform, the involvement of mainstream Eastern Orthodox in

, or the refusal to submit to the authority of mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church. The True Orthodox Church in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was also called the Catacomb Church; the True Orthodox in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus are also called Old Calendarists. These groups refrain from

concelebration In Christianity, concelebration (from the Latin + , 'to celebrate together') is the presiding of a number of presbyters (priests or ministers) at the celebration of the Eucharist with either a presbyter, bishop, or archbishop as the principal ce ...

of the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

with the mainstream Eastern Orthodox, while maintaining that they remain fully within the canonical boundaries of the Church: i.e., professing Eastern Orthodox belief, retaining legitimate

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

, and existing in communities with historical continuity. However, their existence outside of communion with the other churches makes the True Orthodox automatically outside of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The churches which follow True Orthodoxy are: * Old Calendarists (numerous groups) * Serbian True Orthodox Church * Russian True Orthodox Church (Lazar Zhurbenko) * Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church ** Latvian Orthodox Autonomous Church * True Orthodox Metropolis of Germany and Europe *

Old Believers

Old Believers are divided into various churches which recognize neither each other nor the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church.

Churches that are neither recognised nor fully Eastern Orthodox

The following churches use the term "Orthodox" in their name and carry belief or the traditions of Eastern Orthodox church, but blend beliefs and traditions from other denominations outside of Eastern Orthodoxy: * Evangelical Orthodox Church ( blends with Protestant Evangelicalism and the Charismatic movement) * Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (blends with Roman Catholic and

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...

elements) * Nordic Catholic Church in Italy (originally called the Orthodox Church in Italy, it had ties with the UOC-KP; now associates with the Nordic Catholic Church and the Union of Scranton) * Lusitanian Catholic Orthodox Church (blends with Catholic elements) **

Celtic Orthodox Church The Celtic Orthodox Church (COC; ), also called the Holy Celtic Church, is an autocephalous Christian church in the Western Rite and Oriental Orthodox traditions founded in the 20th century in France. Since 25 December 2007, the Celtic Orthod ...

** Orthodox Church of the Gauls