Serbian Orthodox Church

The Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC; Serbian: Српска православна црква, СПЦ, romanized: Srpska pravoslavna crkva, SPC), also known as the Serbian Patriarchate (Serbian: Српска патријаршија, romanized: Srpska patrijaršija), is an autocephalousEastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches. It is one of the nine patriarchates and is traditionally ranked sixth in honor and liturgical precedence, following the four ancient patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Moscow Patriarchate. The primate of the church is the Serbian patriarch.

The Serbian Orthodox Church exercises exclusive jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, and Slovenia, which together constitute its canonical territory.

The church attained autocephalous status as an archbishopric in 1219 under Saint Sava, its first archbishop. In 1346, it was elevated to the rank of a patriarchate and subsequently became known as the Patriarchate of Peć. Following the Ottoman conquest of Serbia, the patriarchate ceased to function in 1463, but was restored in 1557. It was finally abolished by the Ottoman Empire in 1766, although several regional ecclesiastical jurisdictions continued to exist, most notably the Metropolitanate of Karlovci within the Habsburg monarchy. Following the restoration of Serbian statehood, ecclesiastical autonomy was regained in 1831 through the Metropolitanate of Belgrade, which was granted autocephaly in 1879. The modern Serbian Orthodox Church was established in 1920 through the unification of the Metropolitanate of Belgrade with the Patriarchate of Karlovci and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro.