- Official name:
- Orthodox Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodoxy
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What is Eastern Orthodoxy?
Eastern Orthodoxy is a major branch of Christianity characterized by its continuity with the apostolic church, liturgy, and territorial churches. It recognizes seven sacraments: baptism, chrismation, Communion, holy orders, penance, anointing of the sick, and marriage. Doctrinal authority is derived from the Scriptures, ancient creeds, the first seven ecumenical councils, and church traditions. The church believes it has preserved the original apostolic faith. Its adherents primarily reside in the Balkans, the Middle East, and former Soviet countries. The word orthodox means "right believing".
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How is Eastern Orthodox Christianity different from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism?
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism are the major divisions within Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy differs from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in several key aspects:
- Authority Doctrinal authority for Eastern Orthodoxy rests on the scriptures, traditions of the church, ancient creeds, and the decrees from the first seven ecumenical councils.
- Liturgical Practices Orthodoxy emphasizes worship, with the use of icons and a unique liturgy.
- Filioque Eastern Orthodoxy rejects the Filioque clause, which states that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. They maintain that the Father is the sole origin.
- Primacy of the Pope Unlike Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy does not recognize the Pope's right to speak for the entire church.
- Sacraments While both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize seven sacraments, Protestant churches generally recognize only baptism and the Eucharist.
- Clergy Eastern Orthodox clergy can marry before ordination, but bishops must be unmarried.
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What are some main beliefs and practices of Eastern Orthodox Christians?
Eastern Orthodox Christians maintain the original apostolic faith through creedal formulas, liturgical texts, and doctrinal statements. They recognize seven sacraments: baptism, chrismation, communion, holy orders, penance, anointing of the sick, and marriage, viewing the ecclesiastical community as a unique mystery expressed through these sacraments.
Baptism is performed by triple immersion, followed by chrismation with Holy Chrism oil blessed by the bishop. Icons are essential and serve as instruction mediums, using symbolic art to express the church's theological teachings. The Orthodox Church believes that because God took material form as Jesus Christ, he can be represented in pictures. They are formally committed to the Christology defined by the ecumenical councils of the first eight centuries, emphasizing Christ’s identity with the preexistent Son of God.
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What is the role of icons in Eastern Orthodox worship?
In Eastern Orthodox worship, icons are essential and given special liturgical veneration. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that because God took on a material form through Jesus Christ, he can be represented in pictures.
Icons serve as instructional tools for the uneducated through the iconostasis, a screen covered with icons depicting New Testament scenes, church feasts, and popular saints. Iconography is symbolic, expressing the church's theological teachings through lines and colors rather than aiming for realism.
The Iconoclastic Controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries debated the function and meaning of icons. The controversy ended with the acceptance of icons, celebrated as the Feast of Orthodoxy.
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What is the importance of the Patriarch in Eastern Orthodoxy?
Within Eastern Orthodoxy, the patriarch holds significant importance as a title given to bishops of important sees. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is the most prominent, holding the position of first among equals within the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Historically, the growth of major ecclesiastical centers and the rise of patriarchates contributed to the schism between East and West. The patriarch of Constantinople gained jurisdictional rights because it was the residence of the emperor and the Senate. Today, there are nine Orthodox patriarchates. Despite Constantinople's efforts to resist any proliferation of patriarchates, new centers emerged. The influence of religious zealots contributed to the perpetuation of Orthodox spirituality, spreading to Slavic countries.
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How has Eastern Orthodoxy influenced the cultures and histories of countries where it is practiced?
Eastern Orthodoxy has significantly shaped the cultures and histories of many countries. The adoption of local languages in liturgy and scriptures facilitated the integration of Christianity into indigenous cultures, fostering a fellowship of national churches rather than a centralized body.
In Russia, the conversion to Christianity in 988, and the subsequent work of Byzantine artists, established architecture and icon painting as important independent arts. The Serbian Orthodox Church has historically championed Serbian national interests, while in Romania, the rise of national states led to the establishment of independent Orthodox churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church has preserved dogmatic and theological unity despite diverse national churches, each with its own jurisdiction and expression of faith.
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News •
Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity. It is characterized by its continuity with the apostolic church, its liturgy, and its territorial churches. Its adherents live mainly in the Balkans, the Middle East, and former Soviet countries.
Nature and significance
Eastern Orthodoxy is the large body of Christians who follow the faith and practices that were defined by the first seven ecumenical councils. The word orthodox (“right believing”) has traditionally been used in the Greek-speaking Christian world to designate communities or individuals who preserved the true faith (as defined by those councils), as opposed to those who were declared heretical. The official designation of the church in Eastern Orthodox liturgical or canonical texts is “the Orthodox Catholic Church.” Because of the historical links of Eastern Orthodoxy with the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium (Constantinople), however, in English usage it is referred to as the “Eastern” or “Greek Orthodox” Church. These terms are sometimes misleading, especially when applied to Russian or Slavic churches and to the Orthodox communities in western Europe and America.
It should also be noted that the Eastern Orthodox Church constitutes a separate tradition from the churches of the so-called Oriental Orthodox Communion, now including the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Tewahedo Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Syriac Orthodox Partriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and the Malankara Orthodox Church of India. From the time of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the late 20th century, the Oriental Orthodox churches were out of communion with the Roman Catholic Church and later the Eastern Orthodox Church because of a perceived difference in doctrine regarding the divine and human natures of Jesus. This changed in the 1950s, when both churches independently began dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox churches and resolved many of the ancient Christological disputes.
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The cultural context
The Schism of 1054 between the churches of the East and the West was the culmination of a gradual process of estrangement that began in the first centuries of the Christian era and continued through the Middle Ages. Linguistic and cultural differences, as well as political events, contributed to the estrangement. From the 4th to the 11th century, Constantinople (now Istanbul), the centre of Eastern Christianity, was also the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, while Rome, after the barbarian invasions, fell under the influence of the Holy Roman Empire of the West, a political rival. In the West theology remained under the influence of St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), while in the East doctrinal thought was shaped by the Greek Fathers. Theological differences could have been settled if the two areas had not simultaneously developed different concepts of church authority. The growth of Roman primacy, based on the concept of the apostolic origin of the church of Rome, was incompatible with the Eastern idea that the importance of certain local churches—Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and, later, Constantinople—could be determined only by their numerical and political significance. For the East, the highest authority in settling doctrinal disputes was the ecumenical council.
At the time of the Schism of 1054 between Rome and Constantinople, the membership of the Eastern Orthodox Church was spread throughout the Middle East, the Balkans, and Russia, with its centre in Constantinople, which was also called “New Rome.” The vicissitudes of history have greatly modified the internal structures of the Eastern Orthodox Church, but even today the bulk of its members live in the same geographic areas. Missionary expansion toward Asia and emigration toward the West, however, have helped to maintain the importance of Orthodoxy worldwide.
The norm of church organization
The Orthodox church is a fellowship of “autocephalous” churches (canonically and administratively independent), with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople holding titular or honorary primacy. The number of autocephalous churches has varied in history. In the early 21st century there were many: the Church of Constantinople (Istanbul), the Church of Alexandria (Africa), the Church of Antioch (with headquarters in Damascus, Syria), and the churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Poland, the Czech and Slovak republics, and America.
There are also “autonomous” churches (retaining a token canonical dependence upon a mother see) in Crete, Finland, and Japan. The first nine autocephalous churches are headed by “patriarchs,” the others by archbishops or metropolitans. These titles are strictly honorary.
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The order of precedence in which the autocephalous churches are listed does not reflect their actual influence or numerical importance. The patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, for example, present only shadows of their past glory. Yet there remains a consensus that Constantinople’s primacy of honour, recognized by the ancient canons because it was the capital of the ancient empire, should remain as a symbol and tool of church unity and cooperation. The modern pan-Orthodox conferences were thus convoked by the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. Several of the autocephalous churches are de facto national churches, the Russian church being by far the largest. However, it is not the criterion of nationality but rather the territorial principle that is the norm of organization in the Orthodox church.
Since the Russian Revolution there has been much turmoil and administrative conflict within the Orthodox church. In western Europe and in the Americas, in particular, overlapping jurisdictions have been set up, and political passions have led to the formation of ecclesiastical organizations without clear canonical status. Although it has provoked controversy, the establishment of the autocephalous Orthodox Church in America (1970) by the patriarch of Moscow has as its stated goal the resumption of normal territorial unity in the Western Hemisphere. In October 2018 the Russian Orthodox Church severed its ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople after the latter approved the independence of an autocephalous church of Ukraine; Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch, formally recognized the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church in January 2019.