Part of the series on Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity Portal

History Byzantine Empire Crusades Ecumenical council Baptism of Bulgaria Baptism of Kiev East-West Schism By region Asian - Copts Eastern Orthodox - Georgian - Ukrainian

Traditions Oriental Orthodoxy Coptic Orthodox Church Armenian Apostolic Church Syriac Christianity Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Assyrian Church of the East Eastern Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic Churches

Liturgy and Worship Sign of the cross Divine Liturgy Iconography Asceticism Omophorion

Theology Hesychasm - Icon Apophaticism - Filioque clause Miaphysitism - Monophysitism Nestorianism - Theosis - Theoria Phronema - Philokalia Praxis - Theotokos Hypostasis - Ousia Essence-Energies distinction Metousiosis This box: view • talk • edit

The Church of Greece (Greek: Eκκλησία της Eλλάδος Ekklēsía tês Helládos, IPA: [ekliˈsia tis eˈlaðos]) is one of the fifteen autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches which make up the Eastern Orthodox Communion. Families of churches Eastern Christians have a shared tradition but they became divided ( Schism) during the early centuries of Christianity in disputes about The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents This is a general introduction to ecumenical councils For the Roman Catholic councils, see Catholic Ecumenical Councils. The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process of converting 9th-century medieval Bulgaria to Christianity. The Christianization of Kievan Rus' took place in several stages The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the See also Christianity in Asia Judging from the New Testament account of the rise and expansion of the early church during the first few centuries of Christianity the Coptic history is part of History of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the The Eastern Orthodox Churches trace their roots back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ. Christianity in ancient and feudal Georgia According to tradition when the Apostles were sent out to preach the Gospel to the nations of the world the Apostle This article should include material from Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three Ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the The Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan Syriac Christianity is a culturally and linguistically distinctive community within Eastern Christianity. The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in transliterated Amharic: Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an Oriental The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See The Sign of the Cross, or Signum crucis in Latin is a ritual hand motion made by members of many but not all branches of Christianity. The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. Iconography is the branch of Art history which studies the identification description and the interpretation of the content of images Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition the omophorion ( Greek:; Slavonic: омофоръ omofor) Hesychasm ( Greek hesychasmos, from hesychia, "stillness rest quiet silence" is an Eremitic tradition of Prayer in An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Negative theology - also known as the Via Negativa ( Latin for "Negative Way" and Apophatic theology - is a Theology that Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Miaphysitism (sometimes called henophysitism) is the Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one alone' and physis meaning 'nature' or Monophysiticism is the Christological position that Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic theology theosis (written also theiosis, theopoiesis, theōsis Theoria (Greek) is Greek for Contemplation or 'the perception of Beauty regarded as a Moral faculty' ( OED) Phronema is a Greek term that is used in Eastern Orthodox Theology to refer to mindset or outlook; it is the Orthodox mind. The Philokalia ( Gk φιλοκαλείν "Love of the Beautiful" is a collection of texts by masters of the Eastern Orthodox, hesychast Praxis is the customary use of knowledge or skills distinct from theoretical knowledge Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Ousia () is the Ancient Greek noun formed on the feminine present participle of ( to be) it is analogous to the English participle Historical context The Energies of God are a central principle of Theology in the Eastern Orthodox Church, understood by the orthodox Fathers Metousiosis is a Greek term () that means literally a change of (essence inner reality Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Autocephaly, in Hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches is the status of a hierarchical church whose The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world This article covers the organization of the Eastern Orthodox Churches rather than the doctrines traditions practices or other aspects of Eastern Orthodoxy. Today it is one of the most important autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. Its canonical territory encompasses the pre-1833 borders of Greece, approximately half of Greek territory (the rest of Greece is subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, however due to an arrangement agreed between the churches of Athens and Constantinople, most of those dioceses are de facto administered as part of the Church of Greece for practical reasons). History Early history Christianity in Byzantium existed from the time of the Twelve Apostles, but it was in the year 330 that the Roman Emperor

Prevailing religion of Greece

The Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ is established by the constitution as the "prevailing" religion of Greece. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world The Orthodox Church is financially supported by the government and exercises significant political and economic influence. By virtue of its status as the prevailing religion, the canon law of the Church is recognized by the Greek government. Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches

All Orthodox students in primary and secondary schools in Greece must attend religious instruction.

Church hierarchy

Supreme authority is vested in the synod of all the diocesan bishops who all have metropolitan status (the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, Greek: Ἱερὰ Σύνοδος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς Ἑλλάδος Hierà Sýnodos tês Ekklēsías tês Helládos, IPA: [ieˈra ˈsinoðos tis ekliˈsias tis eˈlaðos]) under the presidency of the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece. In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly A list of Bishops Metropolitans and Archbishops of Athens: Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία This synod deals with general church questions. The Standing Synod is under the same presidency, and consists of the Primate and 12 bishops, each serving for one term on a rotating basis and deals with details of administration.

The church is organised into 81 dioceses; 30 of these, in northern Greece and in the major islands in the north and northeast Aegean, are nominally under the jurisdiction of Constantinople which retains certain privileges over and in them -- for example, their bishops have to acknowledge the Patriarch as their own primate during prayers. They are called "The New Lands" (Νέες Χώρες, Neai Chorai) and are represented by 6 of the 12 bishops of the Standing Synod. The dioceses of Crete and the Dodecanese and the Monastic Republic of Holy Mount Athos are under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the The Dodecanese ( Greek Δωδεκάνησα Dodekánisa 'twelve islands' are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον History Early history Christianity in Byzantium existed from the time of the Twelve Apostles, but it was in the year 330 that the Roman Emperor The Archdiocese of Crete in particular enjoys semiautonomous status: new bishops are elected by the local Synod of incumbents, and the Archbishop is appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate from a three-person list (triprosōpon) drawn by the Greek Ministry of Education from among the incumbent Metropolitans of Crete.

Clergy and religious

As in all other Eastern Orthodox Churches, graduates from seminaries run by the church may be ordained as deacons and eventually priests. They are allowed to marry before their ordination as deacons, but not afterwards. Alternatively they may enter monasteries and/or take monastic vows. If they possess a university degree in theology, they are eligible as candidates to the episcopate.

Old style Calendarists

A split occurred within the Church in 1923 when the Holy Synod decided to replace the Old Style Calendar (Julian) with the a modified New Style calendar. The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita The schismatics are known as Old Calendarists (palaioimerologites in Greek) and still follow the old Julian Calendar, though not comprising a single group, but many distinct churches which regard each other's Orders and sacraments as invalid. The term Old Calendarist refers to any Orthodox Christian or any Orthodox Church body which uses the historic Julian calendar (called " Old Style Calendar In a general sense the term Holy Orders refers to those in the Christian religion who have been ordained in Apostolic Succession. The most prominent of these groups call themselves "Genuine Orthodox Christians". Greek Old Calendarists ( Greek: Παλαιοημερολογίτες Paleoimerologites) are groups that separated from the Orthodox Church of Greece

History

The Church was formerly a part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. "Patriarch of Constantinople" redirects here For the institutional church itself see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was declared autocephalous in 1833 in a political decision of the Bavarian Regents acting for King Otto, who was a minor. Otto of Greece (Όθων Βασιλεύς της Ελλάδος Othon Vasileus tis Ellados) (1 June 1815 – 26 July 1867 was made the first modern king of Greece It was only recognized as such by the Patriarchate in 1850, under certain conditions with the issue of a special "Tomos" decree which brought it back to a normal status. As a result, it retains certain special links with the "Mother Church".

See also

• List of Archbishops of Athens
• Religion in Greece
• History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
• Christianity in Jordan

Bibliography

Tomkinson, John L. A list of Bishops Metropolitans and Archbishops of Athens: The Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the religion of 95%-98% of the Greek population and is accorded the status of "prevailing religion" in the constitution The Eastern Orthodox Churches trace their roots back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ. Christians constitute about 7% of the population (about 400000 people though the percentage dropped sharply from 18% in the early beginning of the Twentieth century , Between Heaven and Earth: The Greek Church, Anagnosis (Athens, 2004) ISBN 960-87186-5-1
Online Greek Orthodox Typikon http://www.e-typikon.com

External links

• The official website of the Church of Greece
• Anagnosis Books Greek Church Pages
• Map of Old & New Lands (Greek)
• Online Greek Orthodox Typikon Provider