The Eastern Orthodox Churches trace their roots back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Eastern Orthodoxy reached its golden age during the high point of the Byzantine Empire, and then continued to flourish in Russia after the Fall of Constantinople. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar Numerous autocephalous churches have been established in Eastern Europe and Slavic areas. Autocephaly, in Hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches is the status of a hierarchical church whose Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent.

Four stages of development can be distinguished in the history of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The first three centuries, through the age of Constantine the Great constitute the apostolic and ancient period. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The medieval period comprises almost ten centuries from the death of Constantine to the Fall of Constantinople. The age of captivity (under Islam) starts, roughly, for the Greek and Balkan communities in the fifteenth century with the Fall of Constantinople, and ends about the year 1830, which marks Greek and Balkan independence from the Ottoman Empire. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία For the game see 1830 (board game. Year 1830 ( MDCCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The last stage is the modern period.

The Orthodox churches with the largest number of adherents in modern times are the Russian and the Romanian Orthodox churches. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure The Romanian Orthodox Church ( Biserica Ortodoxă Română in Romanian) is a Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church The most ancient of the Orthodox churches of today are the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria (which includes all of Africa), Georgia, Antioch, and Jerusalem. 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 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 The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Patriarchate The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem ( Greek: Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn, Arabic كنيسة الروم الأرثوذكس في القدس ^[1][2][3]

Apostolic era

Main articles: Early Christianity and Eastern Christianity

Christianity first spread in the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire. Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus ( c Families of churches Eastern Christians have a shared tradition but they became divided ( Schism) during the early centuries of Christianity in disputes about Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Paul and the Apostles traveled extensively throughout the Empire, establishing communities in major cities and regions, with the first communities appearing in Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and then the two political centers of Rome and Greece and what became Byzantium. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM Orthodoxy believes in the Apostolic Succession that was established by the Apostles in the New Testament; this played a key role in the communities' view of itself as the preserver of the original Christian tradition. Historically the word church did not mean building or housing structure (which would actually be the word Basilica) but meant community or gathering of like peoples (see Ecclesia). The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman

The original church community of the East before the schisms, is the Greek communities founded by Saint Paul and later Asia Minor (Byzantine) churches or communities, the Coptic (or Egyptian) churches founded by Saint Mark (including the Ethiopian of Africa or Abyssinia), the Syrian (or Assyrian) and Antiochian, Asia Minor (Byzantine) churches founded by Saint Peter, along with the Georgian and Russian churches founded by Saint Andrew. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the "Saint Mark" redirects here For other uses see Saint Mark (disambiguation. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in transliterated Amharic: Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an Oriental NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black 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 See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure By tradition, the Armenian church, as well as the churches of Samaria and Judea were founded by Saint Jude and Saint Bartholomew, while the church of Israel was founded by Saint James. The Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan Judea or Judæa ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh, "praised Saint Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bartholomew (Βαρθολομαίος transliterated "Bartholomaios" comes from For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Saint James the Just ( Hebrew: יעקב or Jacob ( Greek Iάκωβος (died 62AD also known as James of Jerusalem, James Adelphotheos ^[1]The church of Rome by tradition was founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2

Systematic persecution of the early Christian church caused it to be an underground movement. In its first three centuries the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities The first above-ground legal churches were built in Armenia (see Echmiadzin). Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Armenia was the first country to legalize Christianity around 301 AD under King Tiridates III and also embrace it as the state religion in 310 AD. Tiridates III (or Trdat III; Armenian: hy Տրդատ Գ 250s – Circa 330 was the king of Arsacid Armenia (285-339 and is also known However, illegal churches before "Christian legalization" are mentioned throughout church history; such an example would be in the persecutions of Diocletian. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate Of the underground churches that existed before legalization, some are recorded to have existed as the catacombs in Europe, Rome, Greece (see Cave of the Apocalypse, The Church of St George) and also in the underground cities of Anatolia such as Derinkuyu Underground City (also see Cave monastery). The first Burial galleries to be referred to as catacombs lie beneath San Sebastiano fuori le mura, in Rome. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Cave of the Apocalypse is situated about halfway up the mountain on the Greek island of Patmos, along the road between the villages of Chora The Arch of Galerius ( Modern Greek: τόξο του Γαλερίου or Aψίδα του Γαλερίου and the Tomb of Galerius An underground city is a network of Tunnels that connect buildings beneath street level Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Derinkuyu Underground City is located in the homonymous Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey. A cave monastery is a Monastery built in Caves with possible outside facilities Today the gates though which Paul escaped, named Bab Kisan, and mentioned in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, have been converted into a church in Paul's memory. Bab Kisan ( Arabic, باب كيسان)( The Kisan Gate) is one of the seven ancient city-gates of Damascus, Syria. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a book in the New Testament, written by Paul the Apostle. This is a structure still standing that dates from the time of the Apostles.

The Patristic Age and Biblical Canon

Main article: Divine Liturgy

Main article: Biblical canon

The Biblical canon began with the officially accepted books of the Koine Greek Old Testament (which predates Christianity). The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The Septuagint or seventy is accepted as the foundation of the Christian faith along with the Good news (gospels), Revelations and Letters of the Apostles (including Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Hebrews). The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the In Christianity, the good news or evangelium (also translated as " Gospel " "glad tidings" and variants is the message The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John ( pronounced, from the Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbr Heb for Citations is one of the books in the New Testament. The earliest text of the New Testament was written in common or Koine Greek. The many texts in the many tribal dialects of the Old Testament were all translated into a single language, Koine Greek, in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in 200BC. Ptolemy II Philadelphus ( Greek:, Ptolemaĩos Philádelphos, 309 BC&ndash246 BC was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BC to 246 BC ^[4]

The earliest forms of Christianity were Greek as contemporary ecclesiastical historian Henry Hart Milman writes: "For some considerable (it cannot but be an undefinable) part of three first centuries, the Church of Rome, and most, if not all the Churches of the West, were, if we may so speak, Greek religious colonies. The Very Reverend Henry Hart Milman ( February 10 or November 10, 1791 - September 24, 1868) was an English Historian Their language was Greek, their organization Greek, their writers Greek, their scriptures Greek; and many vestiges and traditions show that their ritual, their Liturgy, was Greek. "^[5]

The early Christians had no way to have a copy of the works that later became the canon and other church works accepted but not canonized (see Church Fathers and Patristics). The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church Patristics or Patrology is the study of early Christian writers known as the Church Fathers. Much of the original church liturgical services functioned as a means of learning these works. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions Orthodox Church services today continue to serve this educational function. The issue of collecting the various works of the eastern churches and compiling them into a canon, each being confirmed as authentic text was a long protracted process. Much of this process was motivated by a need to address various heresies. In many instances, heretical groups had themselves begun compiling and disseminating text that they used to validate their positions, positions that were not consistent with the text, history and traditions of the Orthodox faith.

Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure, clarifying true from false teachings was done by the bishops of the church. Ecclesiology (from Greek grc ἐκκλησίᾱ ekklēsiā, "congregation church" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the Their works are referred to as Patristics. Patristics or Patrology is the study of early Christian writers known as the Church Fathers. This tradition of clarification can be seen as established in the saints of the Orthodox church referred to as the Apostolic Fathers, bishops themselves established by Apostolic succession. This also continued into the age when the practice of the religion of Christianity became legal (see the Ecumenical Councils).

Divine Liturgy

See also: Eastern Orthodox Worship and Divine Liturgy

Liturgical services and in specific the Eucharist service, are based on repeating the actions of Jesus ("do this in remembrance of me"), using the bread and wine, and saying his words (known as the words of the institution). Eastern Orthodox worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox Prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Church as a body offering up The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those The church has the rest of the liturgical ritual being rooted in the Jewish Passover, Siddur, Seder, and synagogue services, including the singing of hymns (especially the Psalms) and reading from the Scriptures (Old and New Testament). Passover ( Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: pɛsaħ Israeli: Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish A siddur ( Hebrew: סידור plural siddurim) is a Jewish Prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. Seder (plural sedarim) is a Hebrew word meaning "order" and can have any of the following meanings For Jewish holidays A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of A hymn is a type of Song, usually religious specifically written for the purpose of praise adoration or Prayer, and typically addressed to a deity/deities Psalms ( Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises" is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) included In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The final uniformity of liturgical services became solidified after the church established a Biblical canon, being based on the Apostolic Constitutions and Clementine literature. A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious Clementine literature (also called Clementia, Pseudo-Clementine Writings, The Preaching of Peter - Kerygmata Petrou - etc

The Bible

Main articles: Eastern Orthodox Christian theology and Didache

Many modern Christians approach the Bible and its interpretation as the sole authority to the establishment of their beliefs concerning the world and their salvation. Eastern Orthodox Christian theology is the Theology particular to the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Didache ( Koine Greek:, Didachē, meaning "Teaching" ˈdɪdəkiː in English ðiðaˈxi in Modern Greek) is the common name of a brief From the Orthodox point of view, the Bible represents those texts approved by the church for the purpose of conveying the most important parts of what it already believed. The oldest list of books for the canon is the Muratorian fragment dating to ca. The Muratorian fragment is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of the books of the New Testament. 170AD (see also Chester Beatty Papyri). The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri or simply the Chester Beatty Papyri are a group of early Papyrus manuscripts of biblical texts. The oldest complete canon of the Christian Bible was found at St Catherine's Orthodox Monastery (see Codex Sinaiticus) and later sold to the British by the Soviets in 1933. Saint Catherine's Monastery ( Greek:) on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of an inaccessible gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt is one Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmarks and references London Brit Libr, Additional 43725 Gregory - Aland nº א (Aleph or 01, Soden ^[6] Parts of the codex are still considered stolen by the Monastery even today. ^[6]These texts were not universally considered canonical until the church reviewed, edited, accepted and ratified them in 368 AD (also see the Council of Laodicea). The Council of Laodicea was a regional synod of approximately thirty clerics from Asia Minor, that assembled about 363-364 A Salvation or Soteriology from the Orthodox perspective is achieved not by knowledge of scripture but by being a member of the church or community and cultivating phronema and theosis through participation in the church or community. Phronema is a Greek term that is used in Eastern Orthodox Theology to refer to mindset or outlook; it is the Orthodox mind. In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic theology theosis (written also theiosis, theopoiesis, theōsis ^[7][8]

Medieval period

Main article: Byzantine Greeks

See also: Procopius of Caesarea, Michael Psellos, and Niketas Choniates

Hagia Sophia at night

Systematic Roman persecution of Christians stopped for a time in 313 when Emperor Constantine the Great proclaimed the Edict of Milan. Byzantine Greeks or Byzantines or Romaioi, is a conventional term used by modern historians to refer to the medieval Greek or Hellenized citizens Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c This article is about the 11th-century Byzantine historian and philosopher Niketas Choniates ( Greek: Νικήτας Χωνιάτης c 1155 &ndash 1215 or 1216 sometimes called Acominatus, was a Byzantine Greek Historian The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine and Licinius, that proclaimed Religious toleration in the Roman Empire. Systematic persecutions under Roman Paganism did however resurface later, though temporarily, under Emperor Julian the Apostate. Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331 or 332 to 26 June 363) was Roman Emperor (Caesar Legalization included the calling of the Ecumenical Councils to resolve disputes and establish church dogma on which the entire church would agree. This is a general introduction to ecumenical councils For the Roman Catholic councils, see Catholic Ecumenical Councils. Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek, plural) is the established Belief or Thus defining what it means to be a Christian in a universal or broad sense of the word the Greek word for universal being katholikós or catholic. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth These councils being also the continuation of the church council tradition that predated legalization (see Synod). A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church convened to decide an issue of doctrine administration or application

Sometimes Patriarchs (often of Constantinople) were deposed by the emperor; at one point emperors sided with the iconoclasts in the eighth and ninth centuries. Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a Pater familias over an extended family Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments

In the 530s the second Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) was built in Constantinople under emperor Justinian I. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or The first church was destroyed during the Nika riots. The Nika riots (Στάση του Νίκα or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 532. The second Hagia Sophia would become the center of the ecclesiastical community for the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium. This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM

The Pentarchy

By the fifth century, the ecclesiastical had evolved a hierarchical "pentarchy" or system of five sees (patriarchates), with a settled order of precedence. Ecclesiology (from Greek grc ἐκκλησίᾱ ekklēsiā, "congregation church" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the @@@ main@@@ - title Hierarchy@@@ keywords structure; sociology; information@@@ review@@@ - Pentarchy is a Greek -derived word meaning "rule by five" A patriarchate is the Office or jurisdiction of a Patriarch. A patriarch as the term is used here is either one of the highest-ranking Rome, as the ancient center and largest city of the empire, was understandably given the presidency or primacy of honor within the pentarchy into which Christendom was now divided. Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon Plainly, this system of patriarchs and metropolitans was exclusively the result of ecclesiastical legislation; there was nothing inherently divine in its origin. None of the five sees, in short, possessed its authority by divine right. Though it was and still held that the patriarch of Rome was the first among equals. The original Pentarchy of the ancient Roman Empire: East and West.

• Rome (Sts. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Peter and Paul), i. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and e. the Pope, the only Pentarch in the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285 the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern
• Constantinople (St. "Patriarch of Constantinople" redirects here For the institutional church itself see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Andrew), currently in Turkey
• Alexandria (St. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Patriarch of Alexandria is the Archbishop of Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt. Mark), currently in Egypt
• Antioch (St. "Saint Mark" redirects here For other uses see Saint Mark (disambiguation. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title carried by the Bishop of Antioch. Peter), currently in Turkey
• Jerusalem (St. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches James), currently in Israel

It is important to note that two Patriarchs are noted to have been founded by St Peter, the Patriarch of Rome and the Patriarch of Antioch. Saint James the Just ( Hebrew: יעקב or Jacob ( Greek Iάκωβος (died 62AD also known as James of Jerusalem, James Adelphotheos For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The Eastern Churches accept Antioch as the church founded by St Peter (see the Syriac Orthodox Church). The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world

The Eastern Monastic or Ascetic tradition

Icon Depicting Souls Ascent to Heaven after Death

See also: asceticism, Starets, and The Ladder of Divine Ascent

With the elevation of Christianity to the status of a legal religion within the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, with the edict of Milan (313), many Orthodox felt a new decline in the ethical life of Christians. Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. A starets (стáрец fem стáреца is an elder of a Russian Orthodox monastery who functions as venerated adviser and teacher The Ladder of Divine Ascent or Ladder of Paradise (Κλίμαξ Scala or Climax Paradisi) is an important work for Monasticism In reaction to this decline, many refused to accept any compromises and fled the world or societies of mankind, to become monastics. World is a key concept in Theology. Christian views on the World In Christianity, the concept connotes the fallen and corrupt world Monasticism thrived, especially in Egypt, with two important monastic centers, one in the desert of Nitria, by the Western Bank of the Nile, with Abba Ammoun (d. Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone is the religious practice in which one This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. If you were looking for a chemical see Nitre or Nitro. Nitra ( Neutra ( Nyitra / Nyitria) is a city in western 356) as its founder, and one in the desert of Skete, south of Nitria, with Saint Makarios of Egypt (d. Macarius of Egypt (ca 300-391 was an Egyptian Christian monk and Hermit. ca. Egypt 330) as its founder. These monks were anchorites, following the monastic ideal of St. Anchorite (male/ anchoress (female (adj anchoritic from the Greek anachōreō signifying "to withdraw" "to depart into the rural countryside" Anthony the Great, Paul of Thebes and Saint Pachomius. Saint Anthony the Great (c 251–356 also known as Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Saint Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Saint Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite (d Saint Pachomius (ca 292-348 also known as Abba Pachomius and Pakhom in Arabic الأنبا باخوميوس, is generally recognized as the founder of They lived by themselves, gathering together for common worship on Saturdays and Sundays only. This is not to say that Monasticism or Orthodox Asceticism was created whole cloth at the time of legalization but rather at the time it blossomed into a mass movement. Charismatics as the ascetic movement was considered had no clerical status as such. Later history developed around the Greek (Mount Athos) and Syrian (Cappadocia) forms of monastic life, along with the formation of Monastic Orders or monastic organization. Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: The Degrees of Eastern Orthodox monasticism are the stages an Eastern Orthodox Monk or Nun passes through in their religious vocation The three main forms of Ascetics' traditions being Skete, Cenobite and Hermit respectively. A skete is a community of Christian Hermits following a monastic rule allowing them to Worship in comparative Solitude, while also A hermit (from the Greek ἔρημος erēmos, signifying " Desert " "uninhabited" hence "desert-dweller" adjective "eremitic"

Ecumenical councils

See also: sobor, Councils of Carthage, Synods of Antioch, and Councils of Arabia

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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

Several doctrinal disputes from the 4th century onwards led to the calling of ecumenical councils which from a traditional perspective, are the culmination and also a continuation of previous church synods. In Eastern Orthodox Churches that use a Slavic language (the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian Orthodox Churches, along with the Synods of Carthage During the 3rd 4th and 5th centuries the town of Carthage in Africa served as the meeting-place of a large number of church synods of which however only Beginning with three Synods convened between 264 and 269 in the matter of Paul of Samosata, more than thirty councils were held in The Councils of Arabia were two councils of the early Christian Church held in Bostra, in Arabia; one in 246 and the other in 247. 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 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 This is a general introduction to ecumenical councils For the Roman Catholic councils, see Catholic Ecumenical Councils. A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church convened to decide an issue of doctrine administration or application The first ecumenical council in part was a continuation of Trinitarian doctrinal issues addressed in pre-legalization of Christianity councils or synods (see Synods of Antioch between 264-269AD). Beginning with three Synods convened between 264 and 269 in the matter of Paul of Samosata, more than thirty councils were held in These ecumenical councils with their doctrinal formulations are pivotal in the history of Christianity in general and to the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church in particular. Specifically, these assemblies were responsible for the formulation of Christian doctrine. As such, they constitute a permanent standard for an Orthodox understanding of the Trinity, the person or hypostasis of Christ, the incarnation. ^[9] The tradition of councils within the church started with the council of Jerusalem but this council was not an ecumenical council by tradition possibly because it was not convened in order to arrive at a catholic or universal understanding of what Christianity is (see also sobornost). Council of Jerusalem (or Apostolic Conference) is a name applied subsequently to a meeting described in Acts of the Apostles chapter and probably referred to Sobornost (Russian definition Spiritual community of many jointly living people Instead it was convened to address the Abrahamic tradition of circumcision and its relation to converted Gentiles (Acts 15). Covenant, meaning a solemn contract oath or bond is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith ( ברית, Male Circumcision, when practiced as a rite has its foundations in the Bible, in the Abrahamic covenant, such as, and is therefore practiced by Jews Although its decisions are accepted by all Christians^[10] and later definitions of an ecumenical council appear to conform to this sole biblical Council, no Christian church includes it in their number. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin List of Christian denominations (or Denominations self-identified as Christian) ordered by historical and doctrinal relationships

Seven ecumenical councils were held between 325 (the First Council of Nicaea) and 787 (the Second Council of Nicaea), which the Orthodox recognize as the definitive interpretation of Christian dogma. This is a general introduction to ecumenical councils For the Roman Catholic councils, see Catholic Ecumenical Councils. The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh Ecumenical council of Christianity; it met in 787 AD in Nicaea (site of the First Council

1. The first of the Seven Ecumenical Councils was that convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, condemning the view of Arius that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father. The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine Arius ( AD ca 250 or 256 - 336 was a Christian priest from Alexandria Egypt in the early fourth century whose teachings now called Arianism
2. The Second Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople in 381, defining the nature of the Holy Spirit against those asserting His inequality with the other persons of the Trinity. The Second Ecumenical Council the first held in Constantinople was called by Theodosius I in 381 which confirmed the Nicene Creed and dealt with other matters such SSC RF "Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Termonuclear Research" or TRINITY for shprt Троицкий Институт инновационных и термоядерных Under Theodosius I this council marks the end of the Arian conflict in the Eastern Roman Empire. Flavius Theodosius (January 11 347 – January 17 395 also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great ( Greek: Θεοδόσιος Α΄ .
3. The Third Ecumenical Council is that of Ephesus in 431, which affirmed that Mary is truly "Birthgiver" or "Mother" of God (Theotokos), contrary to the teachings of Nestorius. This article covers the Ecumenical council of 431 For the council of 449 see Second Council of Ephesus. Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Nestorius (in Greek: Νεστόριος; c 386&ndash c 451 was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428
4. The Fourth Ecumenical Council is that of Chalcedon in 451, which affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly man, without mixture of the two natures, contrary to Monophysite teaching. Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one alone' and physis meaning 'nature' or Monophysiticism is the Christological position that
5. The Fifth Ecumenical Council is the second of Constantinople in 553, interpreting the decrees of Chalcedon and further explaining the relationship of the two natures of Jesus; it also condemned the teachings of Origen on the pre-existence of the soul, and Apocatastasis, etc. The Fifth Ecumenical Council (the Second Council of Constantinople was a Christian Ecumenical Council that was held at Constantinople (5 May-2 June For the Ecumenical Council of 451 see Council of Chalcedon; For the religious/political organization see Chalcedon Foundation. Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca
6. The Sixth Ecumenical Council is the third of Constantinople in 681; it declared that Christ has two wills of his two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the Monothelites. The Sixth Ecumenical Council met on November 7, 680 for its first session it ended its meetings said to have been eighteen in number on September 16 Monothelitism (a Greek Loanword meaning "one will" is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a
7. The Seventh Ecumenical Council was called under the Empress Regnant Irene in 787, known as the second of Nicea. The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh Ecumenical council of Christianity; it met in 787 AD in Nicaea (site of the First Council Irene Serantapechaina, known as Irene of Athens or Irene the Athenian ( Greek: Ειρήνη η Αθηναία Eirēnē) (c It affirmed the making and veneration of icons, while also forbidding the worship of icons and the making of three-dimensional statuary. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. It reversed the declaration of an earlier council that had called itself the Seventh Ecumenical Council and also nullified its status (see separate article on Iconoclasm). Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments That earlier council had been held under the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V. Constantine V (718&ndash September 14, 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775 Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ε΄ Kōnstantinos It met with more than 340 bishops at Constantinople and Hieria in 754, declaring the making of icons of Jesus or the saints an error, mainly for Christological reasons. Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not recognize as dogma any ecumenical councils other than these seven. Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek, plural) is the established Belief or ^[11] Orthodox thinking differs on whether the Fourth and Fifth Councils of Constantinople were properly Ecumenical Councils, but the majority view is that they were merely influential rather than dogmatic and therefore not binding. The Fifth Council of Constantinople was a series of councils held in Constantinople in 1341, 1347 and 1351, which exonerated St

Confronting Arianism

Main articles: Arianism and Arian controversy

See also: Feast of Orthodoxy

Eusebius of Caesarea

The first ecumenical council was convened to address again the divinity of Christ (see Paul of Samosata and the Synods of Antioch) through the teachings of Arius, an Egyptian presbyter from Alexandra. Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius (c AD 250-336 who was ruled a heretic by the Christian church at the Council of Nicea. The Arian controversy describes several controversies which divided the Christian church from before the Council of Nicaea in 325 to after the The Feast of Orthodoxy (also knowns as the Sunday of Orthodoxy or the Triumph of Orthodoxy) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent (six Sundays Paul of Samosata (lived from 200 to 275 AD was Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268 Beginning with three Synods convened between 264 and 269 in the matter of Paul of Samosata, more than thirty councils were held in Arius ( AD ca 250 or 256 - 336 was a Christian priest from Alexandria Egypt in the early fourth century whose teachings now called Arianism Arius taught that Jesus Christ was divine and was sent to earth for the salvation of mankind but that Jesus Christ was not equal to the Father (infinite, primordial origin) and to the Holy Spirit (giver of life). Under Arianism, Christ was instead not consubstantial with God the Father. Consubstantiality is a term used in Latin Christian Christology, coined by Tertullian in Against Hermogenes 44 used to translate ^[12] Since both the Father and the Son under Arius where made of "like" essence or being (see homoiousia) but not of the same essence or being (see homoousia). Homoiousia is the Christian theological doctrine that Jesus the Son and God the Father are of similar ( homoio- or homeo- but not the same substance Ousia () is the Ancient Greek noun formed on the feminine present participle of ( to be) it is analogous to the English participle ^[13] Much of the distinction between the differing factions was over the phrasing that Christ expressed in the New Testament to express submission to God the Father. ^[14] This Ecumenical council declared that Jesus Christ was a distinct being of God in existence or reality (hypostasis), which the Latin fathers translated as persona. Jesus was God in essence, being and or nature (ousia), the Latin fathers translated as substantia. Ousia () is the Ancient Greek noun formed on the feminine present participle of ( to be) it is analogous to the English participle

It should be noted that when Emperor Constantine I was baptized, the baptism was performed by an Arian bishop and relative, Eusebius of Nicomedia. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine Eusebius of Nicomedia (died 341 was a bishop of Berytus (modern-day Beirut) in Phoenicia, then of Nicomedia where the imperial court resided in Bithynia Also the charges of Christian corruption by Constantine (see the Constantinian shift) ignore the fact that Constantine deposed Athanasius of Alexandria and later restored Arius, who had been branded a heresiarch by the Nicene Council. Constantinian shift is a term used by Anabaptist and Post-Christendom theologians to describe the political and theological aspects of the 4th century A heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the Oxford English Dictionary; from the Greek:, hairesiárkhēs, literally "heresy ^{[15][16][17][18][19]}.

Constantine I was succeeded by two Arian Emperors Constantius II and Valens and a Pagan Emperor in Julian the Apostate. Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II ( 7 August, 317 - November 3, 361) was a Roman Emperor This article is about the Roman Emperor For other people called Valens see Valens Flavius Julius Valens ( Latin: DOMINVS Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331 or 332 to 26 June 363) was Roman Emperor (Caesar Even after Constantine I, Orthodox Christians remained persecuted but to a much lesser degree than when Christianity was an illegal community (see Persecution of early Christians by the Romans, Shapur II and Basil of Ancyra). In its first three centuries the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities Shapur II was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379 Basil of Ancyra, was a priest in Ancyra, Galatia during the fourth century It was not until Emperor Gratian that an Orthodox Emperor was again put on the throne in the East and West seats of Emperor (Jovian was only Emperor for 6 months). For other figures with this name see Gratian (disambiguation. For other meanings see Jovian (disambiguation. Flavius Iovianus, Anglicized to Jovian, ( 331 - 17 February Emperor Gratian established the Spaniard Theodosius as his co-emperor in Byzantium. It was not until the co-reigns of Gratian and Theodosius that Arianism was effectively wiped out among the ruling class and elite of the Eastern Empire. Theodosius' wife St Flacilla was instrumental in his campaign to end Arianism. Galla (died 394 was a Princess of the Western Roman Empire and an Empress of the Roman Empire. This later culminated into the killing of some 300,000 Orthodox Christians at the hands of Arians in Milan in 538AD. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. ^[20]

Nestorianism

Detail of the Nestorian stele

Main articles: Nestorianism and Acoemetae

See also: Jesus Sutras and Nestorian Stele

Nestorian churches are Eastern Christian churches that keep the faith of only the first two ecumenical councils, i. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern Acoemetae (or "Acoemeti" was an order of Monks in the 5th century, who by turns kept up a divine service day and night The Jesus Sutras or the Lost Sutras of Jesus are early Chinese language manuscripts of Christian teachings brought to China during the 7th century The Nestorian Stele or Nestorian Stone, formally the Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin (大秦景教流行中國碑 Pinyin e. , the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople. "Nestorian" is an outsider's term for a tradition that predated the influence of Nestorius. Nestorius (in Greek: Νεστόριος; c 386&ndash c 451 was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 Thus, "Assyrian Church of the East" is a more neutral term. The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi

The Nestorian Schism was the first major schism of the Eastern Churches and was addressed with the Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus in 431. The Nestorian Schism was the split between the Byzantine church of the West and the Assyrian church of the East in the 5th century. This article covers the Ecumenical council of 431 For the council of 449 see Second Council of Ephesus. Ephesus ( Hittite Apasa; Ancient Greek; Turkish Efes) was a city of ancient Anatolia. This council established the tradition of Mary the mother of Jesus being referred to as Theotokos. Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Nestorianism taught that it was proper to call Mary the Christotokos because as Nestorian had taught Mary only gave birth to Jesus Christ the person not Jesus Christ as God. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Cyril of Alexandria charged that this teaching of Nestorius implied that there had been in fact two Jesus Christs; one Christ was a man born of the virgin Mary and the other was divine and not born but also Jesus Christ. Cyril of Alexandria (ca 378 - 444 was the Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire.

Cyril of Alexandria regarded the embodiment of God in the person of Jesus Christ to be so mystically powerful that it spread out from the body of the God-man into the rest of the race, to reconstitute human nature into a graced and deified condition of the saints (Jesus Christ as the new Adam), one that promised immortality and transfiguration to believers (see theosis). In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic theology theosis (written also theiosis, theopoiesis, theōsis Nestorius, on the other hand, saw the incarnation as primarily a moral and ethical example to the faithful, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Cyril repeatedly stressed the simple idea that it was God who walked the streets of Nazareth (hence Mary was Theotokos or Mother of God), and God who had appeared in a transfigured humanity (see the theophany). Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Theophany, from the Greek, theophaneia (meaning "appearance/showing of God" refers to the appearance of a Deity to a human or to a divine disclosure Nestorius spoke of the distinct 'Jesus the Man' and 'the divine Logos' in ways that Cyril thought were too dichotomous, widening the ontological gap between man and God in a way that would annihilate the person (hypostasis) of Christ a position termed dyophysite. A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts Dyophysite ( Greek: el δυοφυσῖται is a theological term used in understanding how the divine and human related in the person of Jesus Christ, an area of ^[21]

Ecumenism between the Assyrian church and the Roman Catholic church is an on-going process. Ecumenism (also oecumenism, œcumenism) refers to initiatives aimed at greater Religious unity or cooperation Most recently, on November 11, 1994, an historic meeting of Mar Dinkha IV and Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II took place in the Vatican and a Common Christological Declaration was signed. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Pope One side effect of this meeting was that the Assyrian Church's relationship to the Chaldean Catholic Church was improved. The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon (الكنيسة الكلدانية) is an Eastern particular church of the

In September 2006, Mar Dinkha IV paid a historic visit to Northern Iraq to give oversight to the churches there and to encourage the governor of the Kurdish region to open a Christian school as well as a library in Arbil. Mar Dinkha IV ( Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܕܢܚܐ ܪܒܝܥܝܐ is the current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East

Oriental Orthodoxy

Main articles: Oriental Orthodoxy and Eutychianism

Main article: Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

The Coptic Cross

Eastern Orthodoxy strives to keep the faith of the seven Ecumenical Councils. Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three Ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the Eutychianism refers to a set of Christian theological doctrines derived from the ideas of Eutyches of Constantinople (c History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the This is a general introduction to ecumenical councils For the Roman Catholic councils, see Catholic Ecumenical Councils. In contrast, the term "Oriental Orthodoxy" refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keep the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus — and rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three Ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the Families of churches Eastern Christians have a shared tradition but they became divided ( Schism) during the early centuries of Christianity in disputes about The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine The Second Ecumenical Council the first held in Constantinople was called by Theodosius I in 381 which confirmed the Nicene Creed and dealt with other matters such This article covers the Ecumenical council of 431 For the council of 449 see Second Council of Ephesus. In Catholicism, a dogmatic definition is an extraordinary infallible statement published by a Pope or an Ecumenical council concerning a matter The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth Ecumenical council. It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon (a city of Those who disagreed with the Council of Chalcedon are sometimes called "Oriental Orthodox" to distinguish them from the Eastern Orthodox, who accepted the Council of Chalcedon. Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three Ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the Oriental Orthodox are also sometimes referred to as "monophysites", "non-Chalcedonians", or "anti-Chalcedonians", although today the Oriental Orthodox Church denies that it is monophysite and prefers the term "miaphysite", to denote the "joined" nature of Jesus. Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one alone' and physis meaning 'nature' or Monophysiticism is the Christological position that Miaphysitism (sometimes called henophysitism) is the Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches The council of Chalcedonia was held to clarify that the opposite of Nestorian's heresy was not established. Nestorianism did not necessarily oppose the divinity of Christ, but it did assert that the divinity of Christ was separate from the person born of Mary. In the case of the council of Chalcedon, Jesus Christ's existence (one hypostasis) was established to have both a human and a divine will. The difference was that the Eastern Orthodox insisted that Christ be expressed as having both human and divine natures (physis) that are separate from one another and did not mix, yet are in one existence or reality (hypostasis) called the hypostatic union. Physis (grc φύσις is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as " Nature " Hypostatic union (from the Greek, "hypostasis" translated reality or person) is a technical term in Christian Theology employed The dogma chosen by the Oriental Orthodox was interpreted to express that Jesus Christ had two natures (both human and divine) that were mixed into a one single nature (physis). Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek, plural) is the established Belief or Physis (grc φύσις is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as " Nature " This was interpreted from the Byzantine position to be an argument that greatly diminished the human reality of Christ, by also making the human will of Christ one not of freewill. The question of free will ^[22][23][24]

The Church in Egypt or the Coptic church and the (Patriarchate of Alexandria) split into two groups following the Council of Chalcedon (451). The Patriarch of Alexandria is the Archbishop of Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt. The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth Ecumenical council. It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon (a city of Eventually this led to each group (Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox) having its own Patriarch (Pope) established in Alexandria. Those that remained in communion with the other patriarchs (those who accepted the Council of Chalcedon) were called "Melkites" (the king's men, because Constantinople was the city of the emperors) [not to be confused with the Melkite Catholics of Antioch], and are today known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, currently led by Patriarch Theodore II. Meaning of church name Melkite comes from the Syriac word malko for "imperial" which was originally a Pejorative term for Middle-Eastern The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ( Greek:) is one of the autocephalous Patriarch Theodore (Theodoros II of Alexandria (born Nikolaos Horeftakis on November 25, 1954) is the current Eastern Orthodox Pope and Patriarch Those who disagreed with the findings of the Council of Chalcedon are today known as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the This included the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Armenian Orthodox church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in transliterated Amharic: Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an Oriental The Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan There was a similar split in Syria (Patriarchate of Antioch) into the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Syriac Orthodox Church. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title carried by the Bishop of Antioch. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Patriarchate The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world

Both the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches formally believe themselves to be the continuation of the true church and the other to have fallen into schism, although in the past 20 years much work had been done toward ecumenism or reconciliation between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches. There has been an attempt to achieve ecumenism (Russian: sobornost) between the Antiochian and Oriental Orthodox churches. Ecumenism (also oecumenism, œcumenism) refers to initiatives aimed at greater Religious unity or cooperation Sobornost (Russian definition Spiritual community of many jointly living people At Chambesy in Switzerland, plenary talks were held resulting in agreements in 1989, 1990 and 1993. ^[25] All official representatives of the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox reached agreement in these dialogues that the Christological differences between the two communions are more a matter of emphasis than of substance. Although elements in a number of the Eastern Orthodox Churches have criticized the apparent consensus reached by the representatives at Chambesy, the patriarch and holy synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church welcomed the agreements as positive moves towards a sharing in the Love of God, and a rejection of the hatred of insubstantial division. As recommended in the Second Chambesy Agreement of 1990, the Antiochian (Eastern) Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV formally met with the Syriac (Oriental) Orthodox Patriarch, Ignatius Zakka I, on July 22, 1991. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of ^[26] At that meeting, the two patriarchs signed a pastoral agreement which called for "complete and mutual respect between the two churches. "Antiochian Orthodox Archidioces of Australia & New Zealand. It also prohibited the passing of faithful from one church to the other, envisaged joint meetings of the two holy synods when appropriate, and provided for future guidelines for inter-communion of the faithful and Eucharistic concelebration by the clergy of the two churches. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those Main article Eucharist (Catholic Church In the Catholic Church concelebration (from Lat Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. The Church of Antioch expects these guidelines to be issued when the faithful of both churches are ready, but not before. Patriarch Ignatius has also overseen participation in a bilateral commission with the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which is exploring ways of healing the 18th century schism between the Melkite Catholics and the Antiochian Orthodox. Meaning of church name Melkite comes from the Syriac word malko for "imperial" which was originally a Pejorative term for Middle-Eastern In an unprecedented event, Melkite Patriarch Maximos V addressed a meeting of the Orthodox holy synod in October 1996. Maximos V (1908-2001 was elected Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch in 1967 and served until 2000 The members of the holy synod of Antioch continue to explore greater communication and more friendly meetings with their Syriac, Melkite, and Maronite brothers and sisters, who all share a common heritage. ^[27]

Iconoclasm

Andrei Rublev's Trinity

Main article: Icon

Main article: Iconoclasm

Resolved under the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Iconoclasm was a movement within the Eastern Christian Byzantine church to establish that the Christian culture of portraits (see icon) of the family of Christ and subsequent Christians and biblical scenes were not of a Christian origin and therefore heretical^[28]. Andrei Rublev (Andrew Rublev Andrey Rublev Andrey Roublyov Russian: Андре́й Рублёв (c SSC RF "Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Termonuclear Research" or TRINITY for shprt Троицкий Институт инновационных и термоядерных An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. There were two periods of Iconoclasm 730-787 and 813-843. This movement itself was later defined as heretical under the Seventh Ecumenical council. The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh Ecumenical council of Christianity; it met in 787 AD in Nicaea (site of the First Council The group destroyed much of the Christian churches' art history, which is needed in addressing the traditional interruptions of the Christian faith and the artistic works that in the early church were devoted to Jesus Christ or God. Many Glorious works were destroyed during this period. ^[29] Two prototypes of icons would be the Christ Pantocrator and the Icon of the Hodegetria. Meaning The most common translation of Pantocrator is "Almighty" or "All-powerful The Hodegetria ( Οδηγήτρια, literally "She who shows the way" Russian Одигитрия is the Iconography depicting the Theotokos In the West the tradition of icons have been seen as the veneration of "graven images" or against "no graven images" as noted in Exodus 20:4. From the Orthodox point of view graven then would be engraved or carved. Thus this restriction would include many of the ornaments that Moses was commanded to create in the passages right after the commandment was given i. e. the carving of cherubim Exodus 26:1. The commandment as understood by such out of context interpretation would mean "no carved images". Idolatry is usually defined as Worship of any Cult image, Idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. This would include the cross and other holy artifacts. The commandment in the East is understand that the people of God are not to create idols and then worship them. It is "right worship" to worship which is of God, which is Holy and that alone. ^[30]

Hesychast Controversy

Main articles: Hesychasm and Tabor Light

See also: theoria and Fifth Council of Constantinople

Gregory Palamas

Under church tradition the practice of Hesychasm has it beginnings in the bible, Matthew 6:6 and the Philokalia. Hesychasm ( Greek hesychasmos, from hesychia, "stillness rest quiet silence" is an Eremitic tradition of Prayer in In Eastern Orthodox theology, the Tabor Light (also Light of Tabor, Tabor's Light, Taboric Light; Greek: Φῶς του Θαβώρ Theoria (Greek) is Greek for Contemplation or 'the perception of Beauty regarded as a Moral faculty' ( OED) The Fifth Council of Constantinople was a series of councils held in Constantinople in 1341, 1347 and 1351, which exonerated St The Philokalia ( Gk φιλοκαλείν "Love of the Beautiful" is a collection of texts by masters of the Eastern Orthodox, hesychast The tradition of contemplation with inner silence or tranquility is shared by all Eastern ascenticism having its roots in the Egyptian traditions of monasticism exemplified by such Orthodox monastics as St Anthony of Egypt. Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. Saint Anthony the Great (c 251–356 also known as Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, About the year 1337 Hesychasm attracted the attention of a learned member of the Orthodox Church, Barlaam, a Calabrian monk who at that time held the office of abbot in the Monastery of St Saviour's in Constantinople and who visited Mount Athos. Hesychasm ( Greek hesychasmos, from hesychia, "stillness rest quiet silence" is an Eremitic tradition of Prayer in Barlaam of Seminara (ca 1290-1348 or Barlaam of Calabria was a Greek / Italian scholar ( Aristotelian scholastic) and clergyman of Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον There, Barlaam encountered Hesychasts and heard descriptions of their practices, also reading the writings of the teacher in Hesychasm of St Gregory Palamas, himself an Athonite monk. Saint Gregory Palamas (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς (1296 - 1359 was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Hesychasm is a form of constant purposeful prayer or experiential prayer, explicitly referred to as contemplation. Theoria (Greek) is Greek for Contemplation or 'the perception of Beauty regarded as a Moral faculty' ( OED) It is to focus ones mind on God and pray to God unceasingly. The hesychasts stated that at higher stages of their prayer practice they reached the actual contemplation-union with the Tabor Light, i. Theoria (Greek) is Greek for Contemplation or 'the perception of Beauty regarded as a Moral faculty' ( OED) In Eastern Orthodox theology, the Tabor Light (also Light of Tabor, Tabor's Light, Taboric Light; Greek: Φῶς του Θαβώρ e. Uncreated Divine Light or photomos seen by the apostles in the event of the Transfiguration of Christ and Saint Paul while on the road to Damascus. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is depicted in icons and theological discourse also as tongues of fire. ^[31]

Trained in Western Scholastic theology, Barlaam was scandalized by Hesychasm and began to campaign against it. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries As a teacher of theology in the Western Scholastic mode, Barlaam propounded a more intellectual and propositional approach to the knowledge of God than the Hesychasts taught. In particular, Barlaam took exception to, as heretical and blasphemous, the doctrine entertained by the Hesychasts as to the nature of the uncreated light, the experience of which was said to be the goal of Hesychast practice. Heresy, as a blanket term describes a practice or belief that is labeled as unorthodox Blasphemy is the disrespectful use of the name of one or more gods. In Eastern Orthodox theology, the Tabor Light (also Light of Tabor, Tabor's Light, Taboric Light; Greek: Φῶς του Θαβώρ It was maintained by the Hesychasts to be of divine origin and to be identical to that light which had been manifested to Jesus' disciples on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration. Mount Tabor ( הר תבור, Greek:) is located in Lower Galilee, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, 17 kilometres (11 mi west of the Barlaam held this concept to be polytheistic, inasmuch as it postulated two eternal substances, a visible (immanent) and an invisible God (transcendent). Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple Gods (usually assembled in a pantheon) together with associated Mythology and Rituals Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere "to remain within" refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of the divine as existing and acting within the mind

On the Hesychast side, the controversy was taken up by Antonite St Gregory Palamas, afterwards Archbishop of Thessalonica, who was asked by his fellow monks on Mt Athos to defend Hesychasm from the Barlaam's attacks. Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον Saint Gregory Palamas (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς (1296 - 1359 was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia St Gregory was well-educated in Greek philosophy (dialectical method) and thus able to defend Hesychasm using Western precepts. In classical Philosophy, dialectic (διαλεκτική is controversy the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating Propositions In the 1340s, he defended Hesychasm at three different synods in Constantinople, and also wrote a number of works in its defense. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS

In 1341 the dispute came before a synod held at Constantinople and was presided over by the Emperor Andronicus; the synod, taking into account the regard in which the writings of the pseudo-Dionysius were held, condemned Barlaam, who recanted and returned to Calabria, afterwards becoming a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church convened to decide an issue of doctrine administration or application Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Andronicus or Andronikos may refer to Livius Andronicus (c284 BC–204 BC introduced drama to the Romans and produced the first formal play in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as Pseudo-Denys, is the anonymous theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century whose Corpus Areopagiticum Calabria ( Latin: Brutium) is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of Three other synods on the subject were held, at the second of which the followers of Barlaam gained a brief victory. But in 1351 at a synod under the presidency of the Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus, Hesychast doctrine was established as the doctrine of the Orthodox Church. John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( Greek: Ιωάννης ΣΤ΄ Καντακουζηνός Iōannēs VI Kantakouzēnos) (c

One of Barlaam's friends, Gregory Akindynos, who originally was also a friend of Gregory's, later took up the controversy. Gregory Akindynos (Gr grc Γρηγόριος Ἀκίνδυνος; ca Another opponent of Palamism was Manuel Kalekas who sought to reconcile the Eastern and Western Churches. Following the decision of 1351, there was strong repression against anti-Palamist thinkers. Kalekas reports on this repression as late as 1397, and for theologians in disagreement with Palamas, there was ultimately no choice but to emigrate and convert to Catholicism, a path taken by Kalekas as well as Demetrios Kydones and Ioannes Kypariossiotes. Demetrius Cydones (1324 in Thessalonica - 1397 in Crete, also transliterated Demetrios Kydones) was a Byzantine Theologian, translator This exodus of highly educated Greek scholars, later reinforced by refugees following the Fall of Constantinople of 1453, had a significant influence on the first generation (that of Petrarca and Boccaccio) of the incipient Italian Renaissance. The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th

Up to this day, the Roman Catholic Church has never fully accepted Hesychasm, especially the distinction between the energies or operations of God and the essence of God, and the notion that those energies or operations of God are uncreated ^[32]. In Roman Catholic theology as it has developed since the Scholastic period, the essence of God can be known, but only in the next life; the grace of God is always created; and the essence of God is pure act, so that there can be no distinction between the energies or operations and the essence of God (see, e. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries g. , the Summa Theologiae of St Thomas Aquinas). ^[32].

Contemporary historians Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Nicephorus Gregoras deal very copiously with this subject, taking the Hesychast and Barlaamite sides respectively. John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( Greek: Ιωάννης ΣΤ΄ Καντακουζηνός Iōannēs VI Kantakouzēnos) (c Nicephorus Gregoras (Νικηφόρος Γρηγοράς (c 1295-1360 Byzantine Historian, man of learning and religious controversialist was born at Heraclea The Orthodox perspective is one that states that there is scientific knowledge based on demonstration and spiritual knowledge based on demonstration. That the two understandings must remain separate in order to have a proper understanding of both in order to reject dualism. The Eastern approach to understanding God and spiritual matters as one that should not be approached with a Scholastic and or dialectical method (philosophy). Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language ^[33]

Modern Ecumenism

Modern Ecumenism between different Orthodox groups of the Mideast is a long and evolving process as can be seen in the mention in this article of the very active Ecumenist movement between the Oriental Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox. Also the very active communication between Rome and Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox communities.

Modern Ecumenism under such organizations as the World Council of Churches or WCC is seen by critics as a movement that at its core, has the reversal of the Early church councils as its intention. The World Council of Churches ( WCC) is an international Rather than seeking God as truth and submitting to God as truth the modern movement appears to place unity as the highest priority, at the expense of truth. ^[11][34][35]

Tensions between the East and the West

Main article: East-West Schism

Main article: filioque

The cracks and fissures in Christian unity which led to the East-West Schism started to become evident as early as the fourth century. The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the Although 1054 is the date usually given for the beginning of the Great Schism, there is, in fact, no specific date on which the schism occurred. What really happened was a complex chain of events whose climax culminated with the sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 . The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt.

The events leading to schism were not exclusively theological in nature. Cultural, political, and linguistic differences were often mixed with the theological. Any narrative of the schism which emphasizes one at the expense of the other will be fragmentary. Unlike the Coptics or Armenians who broke from the Church in the fifth century and established ethnic churches at the cost of their universality and catholicity, the eastern and western parts of the Church remained loyal to the faith and authority of the seven ecumenical councils. They were united, by virtue of their common faith and tradition, in one Church.

Nonetheless, the transfer of the Roman capital to Constantinople inevitably brought mistrust, rivalry, and even jealousy to the relations of the two great sees, Rome and Constantinople. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS It was easy for Rome to be jealous of Constantinople at a time when it was rapidly losing its political prominence. In fact, Rome refused to recognize the conciliar legislation which promoted Constantinople to second rank. But the estrangement was also helped along by the German invasions in the West, which effectively weakened contacts. The rise of Islam with its conquest of most of the Mediterranean coastline (not to mention the arrival of the pagan Slavs in the Balkans at the same time) further intensified this separation by driving a physical wedge between the two worlds. The once homogeneous unified world of the Mediterranean was fast vanishing. Communication between the Greek East and the Latin West by the 600s had become dangerous and practically ceased. ^[36]

Two basic problems -- the primacy of the bishop of Rome and the procession of the Holy Spirit -- were involved. These doctrinal novelties were first openly discussed in Photius's patriarchate.

By the fifth century, Christendom was divided into a pentarchy of five sees with Rome holding the primacy. This was determined by canonical decision and did not entail hegemony of any one local church or patriarchate over the others. However, Rome began to interpret her primacy in terms of sovereignty, as a God-given right involving universal jurisdiction in the Church. The collegial and conciliar nature of the Church, in effect, was gradually abandoned in favor of a supremacy of unlimited papal power over the entire Church. These ideas were finally given systematic expression in the West during the Gregorian Reform movement of the eleventh century. The Gregorian Reform was a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050&ndash1080 which dealt with the The Eastern churches viewed Rome's understanding of the nature of episcopal power as being in direct opposition to the Church's essentially conciliar structure and thus saw the two ecclesiologies as mutually antithetical.

This fundamental difference in ecclesiology would cause all attempts to heal the schism and bridge the divisions to fail. Characteristically, Rome insisted on basing her monarchical claims to "true and proper jurisdiction" (as the Vatican Council of 1870 put it) on St. Peter. This "Roman" exegesis of Mathew 16:18, however, was unknown to the patriarchs of Eastern Orthodoxy. For them, specifically, St. Peter's primacy could never be the exclusive prerogative of any one bishop. All bishops must, like St. Peter, confess Jesus as the Christ and, as such, all are St. Peter's successors. The churches of the East gave the Roman See, primacy but not supremacy. The Pope being the first among equals, but not infallible and not with absolute authority. ^[37]

The other major irritant to Eastern Orthodoxy was the Western interpretation of the procession of the Holy Spirit. Like the primacy, this too developed gradually and entered the Creed in the West almost unnoticed. This theologically complex issue involved the addition by the West of the Latin phrase filioque ("and from the Son") to the Creed. Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed The original Creed sanctioned by the councils and still used today by the Orthodox Church did not contain this phrase; the text simply states "the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father. " Theologically, the Latin interpolation was unacceptable to Eastern Orthodoxy since it implied that the Spirit now had two sources of origin and procession, the Father and the Son, rather than the Father alone. ^[38] In short, the balance between the three persons of the Trinity was altered and the understanding of the Trinity and God confused. ^[38] The result, the Orthodox Church believed, then and now, was theologically indefensible. But in addition to the dogmatic issue raised by the filioque, the Byzantines argued that the phrase had been added unilaterally and, therefore, illegitimately, since the East had never been consulted. ^{[39] [40]}

In the final analysis, only another ecumenical council could introduce such an alteration. Indeed the councils, which drew up the original Creed, had expressly forbidden any subtraction or addition to the text.

Photian schism

Main article: Photian schism

In the 9th-century-AD, a controversy arose between Eastern (Byzantine, later Orthodox) and Western (Latin, Roman Catholic) Christianity that was precipitated by the opposition of the Roman Pope John VII to the appointment by the Byzantine emperor Michael III of Photius I to the position of patriarch of Constantinople. The Photian schism is a term for a controversy lasting from 863 - 867 between Eastern (Byzantine later Orthodox and Western (Roman Catholic Christianity John VII (died October 18, 707) was Pope from 705 to 707 The successor of John VI, he was (like his predecessor of Greek nationality Michael III the Drunkard (Μιχαήλ Γ΄ ο Μέθυσος Mikhaēl III ho Methysos) ( January 19, 840 &ndash September 23–24 867 Photios was refused an apology by the pope for previous points of dispute between the East and West. Photius refused to accept the supremacy of the pope in Eastern matters or accept the filioque clause, which the Latin delegation at his council of his consecration pressed him to accept in order to secure their support.

The controversy also involved Eastern and Western ecclesiastical jurisdictional rights in the Bulgarian church, as well as a doctrinal dispute over the Filioque (“and from the Son”) clause. Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed That had been added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin church, which was later the theological breaking point in the ultimate Great East-West Schism in the eleventh century. The Nicene Creed (ˈnaɪsiːn is an ecumenical Christian statement of faith accepted in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the

Photius did provide concession on the issue of jurisdictional rights concerning Bulgaria and the papal legates made do with his return of Bulgaria to Rome. This concession, however, was purely nominal, as Bulgaria's return to the Byzantine rite in 870 had already secured for it an autocephalous church. Without the consent of Boris I of Bulgaria, the papacy was unable to enforce any its claims. Boris I or sometimes Boris-Mihail (Michael (Борис I (Михаил also known as Bogoris (died 2 May 907

Conversion of Eastern and Southern Slavs

Orthodox churches in Vologda, Russia

The Slavs were among the last of the European peoples to become Christianized. Vologda (Во́логда is a city in Russia and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast. Adoption of Christianity was a long and complex process, but, at the same time, an unavoidable one. The neighboring lands had become Christian centuries before and the paganism of the Slav nations stood out in sharp contrast against this Christianized milieu. It was only a matter of time and circumstance before the Slavs would also become Christian. Part of the question revolved around language. The Roman churches held their liturgy in Latin whereas the Greek churches held their liturgy in Greek. The Slavs resisted adopting Christianity in a language foreign to them.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Christianity made great inroads into Eastern Europe first in Bulgaria and Serbia, then followed by Kievan Rus'. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan The evangelization, or Christianization, of the Slavs was initiated during the administration of Byzantium's most learned churchmen - the Patriarch Photius. Photius has been called the "Godfather of all Slavs". For a period of time, there was a real possibility that all of the newly baptized South Slav nations: Bulgarians, Serbs, and Croats would join the Western church. In the end, only the Croats joined the Roman Catholic Church. In Bulgaria, King Boris I wavered between the Eastern and Western churches but in 870 the Eastern church gained his allegiance by sanctioning the establishment of an autonomous Bulgarian church. Boris I or sometimes Boris-Mihail (Michael (Борис I (Михаил also known as Bogoris (died 2 May 907

Mission to Great Moravia

When Rastislav, the King of Great Moravia, asked Byzantine church for teachers who could minister to the Moravians in their own language, Byzantine emperor Michael III chose two brothers, Constantine and Methodius for the task. Rastic or Rastiz (in modern Slovak Rastislav) (died after 870 was the second ruler of Great Moravia between 846 and 870 Great Moravia (see Name section was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century Saints Cyril and Methodius (Κύριλλος και Μεθόδιος Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи) were two Byzantine Greek brothers born Saints Cyril and Methodius (Κύριλλος και Μεθόδιος Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи) were two Byzantine Greek brothers born As their mother was a Slav from the hinterlands of Thessaloniki, the two brothers had been raised speaking the local Slavonic vernacular. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages Once commissioned, they set about creating an alphabet for the Slavic language, the Glagolitic alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavic Alphabet. They then translated the Scripture and the liturgy into Slavonic. This Slavic dialect became the basis of Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) which later evolved into Church Slavonic which is the common liturgical language still used by most Slavic Orthodox Churches. to make sure old Cyrillic letters are displayed properly (For example instead of just Ѣ write Ѣ Church Slavonic (also Church Slavic, Old Bulgarian) is the Liturgical language of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox The missionaries met with some success in Moravia in part because they used the people's native language rather than Latin or Greek. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly

In Great Moravia, Constantine and Methodius encountered Frankish missionaries from Germany, representing the western or Latin branch of the Church, and more particularly representing the Holy Roman Empire as founded by Charlemagne, and committed to linguistic, and cultural uniformity. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his They insisted on the use of the Latin liturgy, and they regarded Moravia and the resident Slavic peoples as part of their rightful mission field.

When friction developed, the brothers, unwilling to be a cause of dissension among Christians, traveled to Rome to see the Pope, seeking his approval of their missionary work and the use of Slavonic liturgy which would allow them to continue their work. Constantine entered a monastery in Rome, taking the name Cyril, by which he is now remembered. However, he died only a few weeks thereafter.

Pope Adrian II gave Methodius the title of Archbishop of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia) and sent him back in 869, with jurisdiction over all of Moravia and Pannonia, and the authorization to use the Slavonic Liturgy. Adrian II (also known as Hadrian II) (792&ndash872 Pope from December 14 867 to December 14 872 was a member of a noble Roman family and became pope in Sremska Mitrovica ( Serbian Cyrillic: Сремска Митровица is a city and municipality located Soon, however, Prince Ratislav, who had originally invited the brothers to Moravia, died, and his successor did not support Methodius. In 870 the Frankish king Louis and his bishops deposed Methodius at a synod at Ratisbon, and imprisoned him for a little over two years. Pope John VIII secured his release, but instructed him to stop using the Slavonic Liturgy. John VIII was Pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882.

In 878, Methodius was summoned to Rome on charges of heresy and of using Slavonic liturgy. Pope John was convinced by the arguments Methodius made in his defense and sent him back cleared of all charges, and with permission to use Slavonic. The Carolingian bishop who succeeded him, Wiching, suppressed the Slavonic Liturgy and forced the followers of Methodius into exile. Many found refuge with King Boris of Bulgaria (852-889), who commissioned them to establish schools where Bulgarian clergymen received theological education in the Slavic language, with the goal of replacing the mainly Greek clergy present in Bulgaria at the time. Boris I or sometimes Boris-Mihail (Michael (Борис I (Михаил also known as Bogoris (died 2 May 907 The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Meanwhile, Pope John's successors adopted a Latin-only policy for the Western Church which lasted for centuries.

Conversion of the Serbs

Methodius' next project was to convert the Serbs. Building on the legacy of Constantine I being of Serbian descent. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The Byzantine Empire achieved a great success in 870 when it managed to baptize the Serbian rulers, thus opening the way to the mass conversion of the Serbs to Christianity, accompanied by strong political and cultural influences from the Empire. The Serbian principalities were subordinated to the ecclesiastical metropolises in Split and Syrmium. Sirmium in Pannonia should not be confused with Sirmio on Lake Garda Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) was an ancient With Christianization, some of the differences among the tribes were pushed into the background, especially those which were rooted in pagan beliefs, and the path to unification was opened up on the basis of a common Christian culture.

Conversion of the Bulgarians

Main article: Christianization of Bulgaria

In 863, a mission from the Patriarch of Constantinople converted King Boris I of Bulgaria to Christianity. The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process of converting 9th-century medieval Bulgaria to Christianity. Boris I or sometimes Boris-Mihail (Michael (Борис I (Михаил also known as Bogoris (died 2 May 907 Boris realized that the Christianization of his subjects by the Byzantine mission would facilitate the undesired spread of Byzantine influence in Bulgaria, as the liturgy was carried out in the Greek language, and the newly established Bulgarian Church was subordinate to the Church of Constantinople. A popular revolt against the new religion prompted the King to request that the Bulgarian Church be granted independence by Constantinople.

After Constantinople refused to grant the Bulgarian Church independence, Boris turned to the Pope. In August of 866, a Bulgarian mission arrived in Rome, carrying a list of 115 questions to the Pope by Boris, regarding the Christian way of life and a future Bulgarian Church under Rome's jurisdiction. On 13 November 866, the Bulgarian King was presented with the Pope's 106 answers by Bishops Formosa from Portua and Paul of Populon, who led the Pope's mission to Bulgaria. The arrival of the Roman clerical mission concluded the activity of the Byzantine mission, which was ordered by the King to leave Bulgaria.

In Constantinople, people nervously watched the events taking place in their northern neighbour, because a pro-Rome Bulgaria threatened Constantinople's immediate interests. A religious council was held in the summer of 867 in the Byzantine capital, during which the Roman Church's behaviour was harshly condemned. As a personal culprit, Pope Nicholas I was anathematized. In a letter to Boris, the Byzantine emperor Michael III expressed his disapproval of Bulgaria's religious reorientation and used offensive language against the Roman Church. The old rivalry between the two Churches burned with new power.

The Roman mission's efforts were met with success and King Boris asked the Pope to appoint Formosa of Portua as Bulgarian Archbishop. Unfortunately for the Roman Church, the Pope refused. Pope Nicolas I died soon after. His successor Pope Adrian II (867-872) turned out to be even more disinclined to comply with Boris' demand that a Bulgarian archbishop be appointed by him.

Consequently, Boris again began negotiations with Constantinople, where he now expected more cooperation than he had been shown in the past. These negotiations resulted in the creation of an autonomous national (Bulgarian) Archbishopric, which was unprecedented in the practice of the Churches. Usually, independent were those churches that were founded by apostles or apostles' students. For a very long period, Rome had been challenging Constantinople's equality to Rome, on the grounds that the Church of Constantinople had not been founded by a student of Christ. Nevertheless, Boris had been granted very quickly (just six years after converting to Christianity) a national independent church and a high-ranking supreme representative (the Archbishop). In the next 10 years, Pope Adrian II and his successors made desperate attempts to reclaim their influence in Bulgaria and to persuade Boris to leave Constantinople's sphere of influence, but their efforts ultimately failed.

The foundations of the Bulgarian national Church had been set. The next stage was the implementation of the Glagolitic alphabet and the Slavonic language as official language of the Bulgarian Church and State in 893 AD — something considered unthinkable by most European Christians. The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavic Alphabet. In 886, Cyril and Methodius' disciples were expelled from Moravia and the use of Slavic liturgy was banned by the Pope in favour of Latin. St. Kliment and St. Naum who were of noble Bulgarian descent and St. Saint Clement of Ohrid (Свети Климент Охридски sve'ti 'kliment 'oxridski (ca Saint Naum of Preslav (Свети Наум Преславски sve'ti na The Bulgarians (българи balgari) are a South Slavic people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language Angelaruis, returned to Bulgaria, where they were welcomed by Boris, who viewed the Slavonic liturgy as a means of counteracting Byzantine influence in the country. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian In a short time, they managed to instruct several thousand future Bulgarian clergymen in the rites using the Slavic language and the Glagolitic alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavic Alphabet. In 893 AD, Bulgaria expelled its Byzantine clergy and proclaimed the Slavonic language as the official language of the Bulgarian Church and State. Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group

Conversion of the Rus'

The success of the conversion of the Bulgarians facilitated the conversion of other East Slavic peoples, most notably the Rus', predecessors of Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians. Rus’ (Русь rusʲ Русичи Русы are an ancient people whose name survives in the cognates Russians, Rusyns, and Ruthenians Belarusians or Belorussians (Беларусы Biełarusy previously also spelled Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorusians, also The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Ukrainians (Українці Ukrayintsi,) are an East Slavic Ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly— Citizens By the beginning of the eleventh century most of the Slavic world, including, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia had converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Bulgaria's Church was officially recognized as a Patriarchate by Constantinople in 927, Serbia's in 1346, and Russia's in 1589. All these nations, however, had been converted long before these dates.

The traditional event associated with the conversion of Russia is the baptism of Vladimir of Kiev in 989, on which occasion he was also married to the Byzantine princess Anna, the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Basil II, surnamed the Bulgar-slayer (Βασίλειος Β΄ Βουλγαροκτόνος Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, 958 &ndash December 15 1025 However, the presence of Christianity in these areas is documented to have predated this event.

The East-West Schism

Main article: East-West Schism

In the 11th century the East-West Schism took place between Rome and Constantinople, which led to separation of the Church of the West, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern (Greek and Western (Latin branches which later became known as the Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS There were doctrinal issues like the filioque clause and the authority of the Pope involved in the split, but these were exacerbated by cultural and linguistic differences between Latins and Greeks. Filioque, a Latin phrase meaning "and (from the Son" In Western Christianity, it was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Prior to that, the Eastern and Western halves of the Church had frequently been in conflict, particularly during the periods of iconoclasm and the Photian schism. Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments The Photian schism is a term for a controversy lasting from 863 - 867 between Eastern (Byzantine later Orthodox and Western (Roman Catholic Christianity [3] The Orthodox East perceived the Papacy as taking on monarch type characteristics that where not inline with the church's historical tradition. ^[41]

The Crusades against the Eastern Orthodox

Main article: Crusader States

Main article: Swedish-Novgorodian Wars

The final breach between East and West is often considered to have arisen after the capture and sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European Crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Crusades against Christians in the East by Roman Catholic crusaders were not exclusive to this crusade nor the Mediterranean. The sacking of Constantinople and the Church of Holy Wisdom, the destruction of the Monastery of Stoudios and the establishment of the Latin Empire in Constantinople and also throughout West Asia Minor and Greece (see the Kingdom of Thessalonica, Kingdom of Cyprus) are considered definitive though. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople (original Latin name Imperium Romaniae, " Empire of Romania " is the Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Crusader kingdom on the island of Cyprus in the high and late Middle Ages, between 1192 and 1489 This is in light of perceived Roman Catholic atrocities not exclusive to the capital city of Constantinople in 1204. The establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204 was intended to supplant the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. This is symbolized by many Orthodox churches being converted into Roman Catholic properties and churches like Hagia Sophia and Church of the Pantokrator, and it is viewed with some rancor to the present day. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later Zeyrek Mosque (full name in Turkish: Molla Zeyrek Camii) is a Mosque in Istanbul, made of two former Eastern Orthodox churches and Some of the European Christian community actively endorsed the attacking of Eastern Christians. ^[42]

The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Orthodox Russia (particularly the Republics of Pskov and Novgorod), an enterprise endorsed by Pope Gregory IX,^[43] can also be considered as a part of the Northern Crusades. The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Pskov Republic ( Псковская республика in Russian) was a Russian Medieval state between the second half of the 13th century The Novgorod Republic (Новгородская республика / Novgorodskaya respublika Новгородская земьля / Novgorodskaya zemlja) was a Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was Pope from March 19, 1227 to August The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Crusades undertaken by the Catholic kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian One of the major blows for the idea of the conquest of Russia was the Battle of the Ice in 1242. The Battle of the Ice (Ледовое побоище Ledovoe poboishche; Schlacht auf dem Eise Jäälahing Ledus kauja also known as the Battle of Lake Peipus With or without the Pope's blessing, Sweden also undertook several crusades against Orthodox Novgorod. Many in the East saw the actions of the West in the Mediterranean as a prime determining factor in the weakening of Byzantium which led to the Empire's eventual conquest and fall to Islam. ^[44] Another though minor point of contention (primarily with the Serbs) is the looting of the Serbian country side during the People's Crusade and also the establishment of the Empire of Trebizond in Ukraine by the Fourth Crusade. Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country The People's Crusade is part of the First Crusade and lasted roughly six months from April 1096 to October The Empire of Trebizond ( was a Byzantine Greek successor state of the Byzantine Empire founded in 1204 as a result of the capture of Constantinople Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Some Eastern Orthodox see a continuation of Roman Catholic hostility in the establishment of the Uniate or Eastern Catholic Churches (see the sainting of Bissarion in 1950). This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See ^[45]

In 2004, Pope John Paul II extended a formal apology for the sacking of Constantinople in 1204; the apology was formally accepted by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Pope Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I ( Greek: Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαῖος Α' Turkish: Patrik I Many things that were stolen during this time: holy relics, riches, and many other items, are still held in various Western European cities, particularly Venice. A relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance carefully preserved with an air of Veneration as a tangible memorial Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the

Byzantine Empire

The establishment of the Eastern Roman Empire

It was in the establishment of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine I that Christianity was legalized. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine Christianity as Orthodox (or those who rejected the theology of Arius) was not established as the State Religion in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire until Theodosius I convened The First Council of Constantinople or the (second ecumenical council) in 381. Flavius Theodosius (January 11 347 – January 17 395 also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great ( Greek: Θεοδόσιος Α΄ The Second Ecumenical Council the first held in Constantinople was called by Theodosius I in 381 which confirmed the Nicene Creed and dealt with other matters such This council putting an end to the Arian controversy by establishing the Trinitarian doctrine.

The Roman-Persian Wars

Main article: Battle of Firaz

Lasting from 92BC to 627AD the conflict between the Persian and Roman Empires was a protracted struggle which was arguably a continuation of the Greco-Persian Wars. The Battle of Firaz was the last battle of the Muslim Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid in Mesopotamia ( Iraq) against the combined The Roman-Persian Wars led to weakening of the neighboring Arab states to the South and East of the Eastern Roman Empire. The conflict so drained both the Persian and Byzantine empires that once the conquests of Muhammad started, neither could mount an effective defense against the onslaught. Persia fell to the Muslims (see conquests). The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656 led to the end of the Sassanid Empire and the eventual extirpation of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia

Byzantine-Arab Wars

Main articles: Byzantine-Arab Wars and Byzantine-Ottoman wars

See also: Muslim conquests

Following the death of Muhammad in 632, there was a vigorous push by the Arab Muslims to conquer Arab tribes of the East such as the mostly Christian Ghassanids. The initial Arab Muslim conquests (632–732 (فتح Fatah, literally opening, also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab The initial Arab Muslim conquests (632–732 (فتح Fatah, literally opening, also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab The Byzantine-Muslim Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Muslims Caliphates and the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring border tussle until the beginning of the Crusades. The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs ( ar الخلفاء الراشدون) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first A caliphate (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa) is the political leadership of the Muslim community in classical and medieval Islamic history The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents As a result the Byzantines saw an extensive loss of territory.

The initial conflict lasted from 629-717, ending with the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople that halted the rapid expansion of the Arab Muslim Empire or Umayyad dynasty into Asia Minor. The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople (717-718 was a combined land and sea effort by the Arabs to take the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople Conflicts with the Caliphate however continued between the 800s and 1169. The Muslim victories resulted in the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus request for military aid from Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza in 1095; one of the events often attributed as precursors to the First Crusade. Alexios I Komnenos, or Comnenus (Greek Αλέξιος Α' Κομνηνός (1048 &ndash August 15, 1118) Byzantine emperor (1081&ndash1118 Pope The Council of Piacenza was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Roman Catholic Church, which took place from March 1 to March 5, 1095 The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of conquering the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and freeing

Ottoman Empire

Further information: Ottoman Greece

See also: Treaty of San Stefano

In 1453AD, the city of Constantinople the last stronghold of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Empire. Most of Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th century until its declaration of independence in 1821. The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War 1877–78. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish

By this time Egypt had been under Muslim control for some seven centuries. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Jerusalem had been conquered by the Umayyad Muslims in 638, won back by Rome in 1099 under the First Crusade and then finally reconquered by the Ottoman Muslims in 1517. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of conquering the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and freeing

Orthodoxy however was very strong in Russia which had recently acquired an autocephalous status; and thus Moscow called itself the Third Rome, as the cultural heir of Constantinople. Autocephaly, in Hierarchical Christian churches and especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches is the status of a hierarchical church whose Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The term " New Rome " has been used in the following contexts

Under Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox Church acquired power as an autonomous millet. 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 millets are a group of small- Seeded Species of Cereal crops or grains widely grown around the world for Food and Fodder The ecumenical patriarch was the religious and administrative ruler of the entire "Greek Orthodox nation" (Ottoman administrative unit), which encompassed all the Eastern Orthodox subjects of the Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was marked by periods of limited tolerance and periods of often bloody repression of non-Muslims. One of the worst such episodes occurred under Yavuz Sultan Selim I. Selim I ( Ottoman: سليم الأول, Turkish: ISelim; also known as "the Grim" or "the Brave" Yavuz in ^[46][47] These event include the atrocities against the Serbs in AD 1804-1878 the Greeks in AD 1814-1832 . ^[48] and the Bulgarian AD 1876-1877^[49] to selectively name but a few instances (also see Phanariote). Phanariotes, Phanariots, or Phanariote Greeks ( Greek:Φαναριώτες Romanian: Fanarioţi, Bulgarian:Фанариоти As well as many individual Christians being made martyrs for stating their faith or speaking negatively against Islam. ^{[50] [51]} The Janissary army corps consisted of young men who were brought to Istanbul as child-slaves (and were often from Christian households) who were converted, trained and later employed by the Sultan (the devshirme system). The Janissaries (derived from Ottoman Turkish ينيچرى ( yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier" comprised Infantry units that formed Devşirme or devshirme (derived from devşirme meaning "collection gathering" was the systematic collection of non-Muslim children

Stavronikita monastery, South-East view

Isolation from the West

As a result of the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, and the Fall of Constantinople, the entire Orthodox communion of the Balkans and the Near East became suddenly isolated from the West. The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar For the next four hundred years, it would be confined within a hostile Islamic world, with which it had little in common religiously or culturally. Only the Russian Orthodox Church was the only part of the Orthodox communion which remained outside the control of the Ottoman empire. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure It is, in part, due to this geographical and intellectual confinement that the voice of Eastern Orthodoxy was not heard during the Reformation in sixteenth century Europe. As a result, this important theological debate often seems strange and distorted to the Orthodox; after all, they never took part in it and thus neither Reformation nor Counter-Reformation is part of their theological framework. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time The Counter-Reformation (also Catholic Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the

Religious Rights under the Ottoman Empire

Further information: Islam and anti-Christian persecution,

Further information: Dhimmitude

The new Ottoman government that arose from the ashes of Byzantine civilization was neither primitive nor barbaric. Dhimmitude is a Neologism, imported from the French language, and derived from the Arabic language adjective Dhimmi, which literally The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Islam not only recognized Jesus as a great prophet, but tolerated Christians as another People of the Book. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. This article is about the theological concept in Islam. For the novel by Geraldine Brooks see People of the Book (novel. As such, the Church was not extinguished nor was its canonical and hierarchical organization completely destroyed. Its administration continued to function though in lesser degree, no longer being the state religion. One of the first things that Mehmet the Conqueror did was to allow the Church to elect a new patriarch, Gennadius Scholarius. Gennadius II (in Greek Γεννάδιος Β' (lay name Georgios Kourtesios Scholarios, in Greek Γεώργιος Κουρτέσιος Σχολάριος The Hagia Sophia and the Parthenon, which had been Christian churches for nearly a millennium were, admittedly, converted into mosques, yet countless other churches, both in Constantinople and elsewhere, remained in Christian hands. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later The Parthenon ( Ancient Greek:) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis They were endowed with civil as well as ecclesiastical power over all Christians in Ottoman territories. Because Islamic law makes no distinction between nationality and religion, all Christians, regardless of their language or nationality, were considered a single millet, or nation. Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. Millet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a Confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. The patriarch, as the highest ranking hierarch, was thus invested with civil and religious authority and made ethnarch, head of the entire Christian Orthodox population. Ethnarch (Εθνάρχης refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or heterogeneous kingdom Practically, this meant that all Orthodox Churches within Ottoman territory were under the control of Constantinople. Thus, the authority and jurisdictional frontiers of the patriarch were enormously enlarged.

However, these rights and privileges (see Dhimmitude), including freedom of worship and religious organization, were often established in principle but seldom corresponded to reality. Dhimmitude is a Neologism, imported from the French language, and derived from the Arabic language adjective Dhimmi, which literally The legal privileges of the patriarch and the Church depended, in fact, on the whim and mercy of the Sultan and the Sublime Porte, while all Christians were viewed as little more than second-class citizens. Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings Ottoman Porte (also Sublime Porte, High Porte, or in Ottoman Turkish, Bab-ı Ali) used to refer to the Divan (court Moreover, Turkish corruption and brutality were not a myth. That it was the "infidel" Christian who experienced this more than anyone else is not in doubt. Nor were pogroms of Christians in these centuries unknown (see Greco-Turkish relations and Massacres during the Greek Revolution). Greece-Turkey relations have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire There were numerous massacres during the Greek Revolution perpetrated by both the Ottoman forces and the Greek revolutionaries ^{[52] [53]}Devastating, too, for the Church was the fact that it could not bear witness to Christ. Missionary work among Muslims was dangerous and indeed impossible, whereas conversion to Islam was entirely legal and permissible. Converts to Islam who returned to Orthodoxy were put to death as apostates. No new churches could be built and even the ringing of church bells was prohibited. Education of the clergy and the Christian population either ceased altogether or was reduced to the most rudimentary elements.

Corruption

The Orthodox Church found itself subject to the Turkish system of corruption. The patriarchal throne was frequently sold to the highest bidder, while new patriarchal investiture was accompanied by heavy payment to the government. In order to recoup their losses, patriarchs and bishops taxed the local parishes and their clergy. Nor was the patriarchal throne ever secure. Few patriarchs between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries died a natural death while in office. The forced abdications, exiles, hangings, drownings, and poisonings of patriarchs are well documented. But if the patriarch's position was precarious so was the hierarchy's. The hanging of patriarch Gregory V from the gate of the patriarchate on Easter Sunday 1821 was accompanied by the execution of two metropolitans and twelve bishops. Gregory V was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798 from 1806 to 1808 and from 1818 to 1821

Devshirmeh

Main article: Devshirmeh

Devshirmeh was the system of the collection of young boys from conquered Christian lands by the Ottoman sultans as a form of regular taxation in order to build a loyal slave army (formerly largely composed of war captives) and the class of (military) administrators called the "Janissaries", or other servants such as tellak in hamams. Devşirme or devshirme (derived from devşirme meaning "collection gathering" was the systematic collection of non-Muslim children Devşirme or devshirme (derived from devşirme meaning "collection gathering" was the systematic collection of non-Muslim children A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The Janissaries (derived from Ottoman Turkish ينيچرى ( yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier" comprised Infantry units that formed The Turkish bath (hamam from حمّام) is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the The word devşirme means "collecting, gathering" in Ottoman Turkish. Ottoman Turkish (Osmanlıca or tr ''Osmanlı Türkçesi'' Ottoman Turkish ota-Latn ''lisân-ı Osmânî'' is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the Boys delivered to the Ottomans in this way were called ghilmán or acemi oglanlar ("novice boys"). Ghilman (singular ghulam) describes young eunuch servants in two contexts

Fall of the Ottoman Empire in the East

The fall of the Ottoman was precipitated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox disputed possession of the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Church_of_the_nativity_bethjpg|thumb|200px|View of The Church of the Nativity from Manger Square]]The Church of the Nativity ( كنيسة المهد) in Bethlehem The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Sanctum Sepulchrum also called the Church of the Resurrection, ( Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως Naos tis Anastaseos Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the During the early 1850s, the two sides made demands which the Sultan could not possibly satisfy simultaneously. In 1853, the Sultan adjudicated in favour of the French, despite the vehement protestations of the local Orthodox monks. The ruling Ottoman siding with Rome over the Orthodox provoked out right war (see the Eastern Question). The " Eastern Question " in European history, encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire As the Ottoman Empire had been for sometime falling into political, social and economic decay (see the Sick Man of Europe) this conflict ignited the Crimean War in 1850 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The term "Sick man of Europe" is a Nickname associated with a European country experiencing a time of economic difficulty and/or poverty The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought

Persecution by the "Young Turks"

During 1894-1923 the Ottoman Empire conducted a policy of genocide against the Christian population living within its extensive territory. The Sultan, Abdul Hamid, issued an official governmental policy of genocide against the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire in 1894. Systematic massacres took place in 1894-1896 when Abdul savagely killed 300,000 Armenians throughout the provinces. In 1909 government troops killed, in the towns of Adana alone, over 20,000 Christian Armenians.

When World War I broke out, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by the "Young Turks" that allied the empire with Germany. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All In 20th century, the number of Orthodox Christians, and of Christians in general, in the Anatolian peninsula has sharply declined amidst complaints of Turkish governmental repression of various Eastern and Oriental Orthodox groups. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black ^[54][55]

In the first two decades of the 20th century, there were massacres of Orthodox Greeks, Slavs, and Armenians in the Ottoman empire, culminating in the Armenian Genocide,^[56][57] the exodus of Pontian Greeks resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands Pontic Greeks,^[58][59][60] and the near destruction of the ancient Assyrian community in Anatolia or Asia Minor. ^[61][62]

Republic of Turkey

Further information: Greco-Turkish relations,

Further information: Population exchange between Greece and Turkey

During the Lausanne Conference in 1923, the Turkish and Greek sides after some discussions accepted the proposal of a population exchange. Greece-Turkey relations have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey is the first large-scale population exchange, or agreed mutual expulsion in the 20th century The Conference of Lausanne was a conference held in Lausanne, Switzerland during 1922 and 1923 The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey is the first large-scale population exchange, or agreed mutual expulsion in the 20th century Muslims in Greece (save the ones in Eastern Thrace) were expelled to Turkey, and Greek Orthodox people in Turkey (save the ones in Istanbul) were expelled to Greece. East Thrace, or Eastern Thrace (Източна Тракия Iztochna Trakiya; Ανατολική Θράκη or Turkish Thrace, is the part of the modern

In September 1955, a pogrom was directed primarily at Istanbul's 100,000-strong Greek minority. The Istanbul Pogrom (also known as Istanbul Riots; Σεπτεμβριανά (Events of September 6–7 Eylül Olayları (Events of September 6–7 was a Pogrom Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions ^[63][64] In 1971, the Halki seminary in Istanbul was closed along with other private higher education institutions in Turkey. The Halki seminary was established on Oct 1, 1844 in Halki (Heybeliada the second largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara ^[65]

The modern Turkish state requires the Patriarch of Constantinople to be a Turkish citizen but allows the Synod of Constantinople to elect him. "Patriarch of Constantinople" redirects here For the institutional church itself see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Orthodoxy in other Muslim-majority states of the Middle East and Central Asia

Main articles: Nabateans, Ghassanids, Tayy, Abd Al-Qais, and Taghlib

Further information: Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Orthodoxy under the Palestinian National Authority (including Gaza). The Nabataeans ( Arabic: الأنباط, Al-Anbāṭ) were an ancient Semitic people Arabs of southern Jordan, Canaan Tayy ( طيء) is a large and ancient Arabian tribe belonging to the southern or Qahtanite branch of Arab tribes Banu Taghlib or Taghlib ibn Wa'il ( بنو تغلب) were a large and powerful Arabian tribe of Mesopotamia and northern Arabia. The Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem lasted from April 2 to May 10 2002 in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Gaza (غزة, עַזָּה ʕazzā is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories. Orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan (see Melkite and Kurdish Christians). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Tajikistan (təˈdʒɪkɨstæn or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/ Тоҷикистон tɔʤikɪsˈtɔn or, Persian تاجیکستان‎ taajikestaan officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly Turkmenistan ( Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. The term Melkite (also written Melchite) is used to refer to various Christian churches and their members originating in the Middle East. Kurdish Christians ( Kurdish: ku Kurdên Xirîstî are Kurds who follow Christianity and mostly live in the Kurdistan region

Russia under Muslim Mongol rule

Main article: Golden Horde

Main article: Tatar invasions

Russia lay under Mongol rule from the 13th through the 15th century. This article refers to the medieval Turkic state For the Irish rock band see The Golden Horde (band. The Mongol invasion of Europe from the east took place over the course of three centuries from the Middle Ages to the Early modern period The Mongol invasion of Rus of 1237–1242AD lead to what is called the Tatar period in Russian History. The Mongol invasion of Rus' was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 between Subutai 's reconnaissance unit and the combined force Tatars ( Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар sometimes spelled Tartars, are a Turkic -speaking ethnic group or multiple ethnic groups This period lead to great calamity for the internal structure of Russia. Much of Russia was ruled by Mongols and Russian Princes (of whom had limited power). The eventual end of the reign of the Golden Horde is said to have begun with the Battle of Kulikovo September 8, 1380. The Battle of Kulikovo (Куликовская битва битва на Куликовском поле was fought by the Tartaro - Mongols (the Golden Horde Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Which involves the famous Eastern Orthodox legend of Monk and Russian champion Alexander Peresvet and his death that mark the battle's beginning. Alexander Peresvet, also spelled Peresviet (Russian Александр Пересвет was a Russian Orthodox Christian Monk who The final pseudo-battle or face off that ended Mongol rule in Russia was the Great stand on the Ugra river in 1480AD. The Great Standoff on the Ugra river ( Великое cтояние на реке Угре in Russian, also Угорщина (Ugorschina The death toll (by battle, massacre, flooding, and famine) of the Mongol wars of conquest is placed at about 40 million according to some sources. This is a list of wars and human-made disasters by death toll. ^[66]

Orthodox Church in China

Main articles: Chinese Orthodox Church and Harbin Russians

The Chinese Orthodox Church was an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church in China, which, prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966, was estimated to have as many as twenty thousand members. The Chinese Orthodox Church is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church in China, which prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966 was estimated The term Harbin Russians or Russian Harbinites refers to several generations of Russians who lived in the city of Harbin, a major junction city on The Chinese Orthodox Church is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church in China, which prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966 was estimated An autonomous area is an area of a Country that has a degree of Autonomy, or freedom from an external authority The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China that manifested into Nowadays, Orthodox Christianity is practiced primarily by the ethnic Russian minority in China.

Medieval period

Main article: Nestorianism in China

An early medieval mission of the Assyrian Church of the East brought Christianity to China but it was suppressed in the 9th century. See also Christianity in China First Centuries Some Christian tradition suggests that St The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi The Christianity of that period is commemorated by the Nestorian Stele and Daqin Pagoda of Xi'an,

Russian Mission

Eastern Orthodoxy arrived in China via Siberia in 1685. The Nestorian Stele or Nestorian Stone, formally the Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin (大秦景教流行中國碑 Pinyin Daqin Pagoda (大秦塔 in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province located by Louguan temple China, is the remnant of the earliest surviving Christian UserEl_C --> Xi'an ( Postal map spelling: Sian is the Capital of the Shaanxi province in the The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving In that year, the Kangxi Emperor resettled 31 inhabitants from the captured fort of Albazin on the Amur River. The Kangxi Emperor ( Mongolian Enkh Amgalan Khaan, May 4, 1654 &ndash December 20, 1722) was the third Emperor of Albazino (Албазино is a village in Skovorodino Raion of Amur Oblast, noted as the site of Albazin (Албазин the first Russian Maxim Leontiev, the priest who led the 30 others, dedicated the first Eastern Orthodox church in Beijing. Their descendants, or Albazinians, though thoroughly Sinicized in other respects, still adhere to Eastern Orthodoxy. The Albazinians (Russian албазинцы Traditional Chinese: 阿爾巴津人 Simplified Chinese: 阿尔巴津人 are approximately 250 modern descendants of

The first mission establishment was begun in 1715 at Beijing by an Orthodox Archimandrite, Hilarion. The title Archimandrite ( Greek: - archimandrites) primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches Under Sava Vladislavich's pressure, the Chinese conceded to the Russians the right to build an Orthodox chapel at the ambassadorial quarters of Beijing. Count Savva Lukich Vladislavich-Raguzinsky ( Russian: Савва Лукич Владиславич-Рагузинский Serbian: Сава Владиславић The intention of the mission was not to evangelize among the Chinese but merely to serve as chaplains to the original mission and, later, to the Russian diplomatic mission staff as well.

In the first 150 years of its presence in China, the church did not attract a large following. In 1860 it was estimated that there were no more than 200 Orthodox Christians in Beijing, including the descendants of naturalized Russians. There was, however, a resurgence in membership after 1860.

The Boxer Rebellion and the Cultural Revolution

The Boxer Rebellion of 1898–1900 saw violent attacks on Chinese converts to Christianity. The Boxer Rebellion, or Boxer Movement, was an uprising by members of the Chinese Society of Right and Harmonious Fists against foreign influence Some Orthodox Chinese were among those killed, and in June every year the 222 Chinese Orthodox, including Father Mitrophan, who died in 1900 are commemorated as remembered on the icon of the Holy Martyrs of China. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Chinese Martyrs is the name given to a number of Christians specifically Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, who were killed in China during The mission's library at Beijing was also burned down. In spite of the uprising, by 1902 there were 32 Orthodox churches in China, with close to 6,000 adherents. The church also ran schools and orphanages. An orphanage is an institution devoted to the care of children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for them

106 Orthodox churches were opened in China by 1949. In general the parishioners of these churches were Russian refugees, and the Chinese part was composed of about 10,000 people. The Cultural Revolution obliterated or nearly obliterated the Chinese Orthodox Church. Many churches where destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China that manifested into

Today

Although the People's Republic of China extends official recognition to some religious communities (Protestantism, Islam, Taoism, and Buddhism), Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism are not among them (though with the latter, the Chinese government had formed a "Patriotic Catholic Church" or "Patriotic Catholic Association" that is not in communion with Rome). Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Christianity in China Protestant Christianity called Xin jiaotu (新教徒 literally "new religion followers" entered China in the early 19th century taking root Islam in China has a rich heritage China has some of the oldest Muslim history dating back to as early as 650 when the uncle of Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions Chinese Buddhism ( Pinyin fójiào refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China proper since ancient times The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Chinese Catholicism called Tianzhu jiao (天主教 Lord of Heaven Religion has a long and complicated history The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association ( Chinese: 中国天主教爱国会 Pinyin: Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Àiguó Huì) abbreviated Full communion is a term used in Christian Ecclesiology to describe the relationship of communion, with mutually recognized sharing of the same essential The officially declared reason for the government's non-recognition of the Orthodox Church is the government's fear that external political forces from outside nations—in this case, primarily Russia—could achieve influence within China. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending This places the Church in the legal status of religia-illicitata.

Several Orthodox congregations continue to meet in Beijing and northeast China (in Heilongjiang and elsewhere), with, apparently, the tacit consent of the government. Northeast China ( is a geographical region of China. It is separated from Russia largely by the Amur, Argun, and Ussuri rivers from ( Postal map spelling: Heilungkiang Manchu: Sahaliyan ula is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern There are also Orthodox parishes in Shanghai, Province of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia.

Meanwhile, as of the early 21st century, The Church operates relatively freely in Hong Kong (where the Ecumenical Patriarch has sent a metropolitan, Bishop Nikitas and the Russian Orthodox parish of St Peter and St Paul resumed its operation) and Taiwan (where archimandrite Jonah George Mourtos leads a mission church). The 21st century is the current century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders "Patriarch of Constantinople" redirects here For the institutional church itself see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia.

Orthodox Evenkis

Although many of them have adopted Lamaism — which is the mainstream form of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism — the Evenks of both the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China are a nominally Orthodox Christian people. Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including The Evenks or Evenki (autonym Эвэнкил Evenkil; Эвенки Evenki; 鄂温克族 pny ''Èwēnkè Zú'' formerly known as Tungus Along with their Evenks cousins and a few other tribes in Siberia or in China, they are some of the only Asiatic peoples who nominally practice Orthodox Christianity, which they had voluntarily (as opposed to being coerced to do so) adopted during contacts from Russian expansion into Siberia.

The Eastern Catholic Churches or Byzantine Rite Churches

The domes of a Ukrainian Catholic parish in Simpson, Pennsylvania

Further information: Eastern Catholic Churches

Eastern Catholic Churches make up 2% of the membership of the Catholic Church, and less than 10% of all Eastern Christians. This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See Most Eastern Catholic Churches have counterparts in other Eastern Churches, whether Assyrian or Oriental Orthodox, from whom they are separated by a number of theological differences, or the Eastern Orthodox Churches, from whom they are separated primarily by differences in understanding of the role of the Bishop of Rome within the College of Bishops. The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three Ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world

The Eastern Catholic Churches were located historically in Eastern Europe, the Asian Middle East, Northern Africa and India, but are now, because of migration, found also in Western Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America

Origins

The Eastern Catholic movement within the Antiochian church started after the Ottoman Turks' conquest of Antioch in the early 15th century, under whose control it remained until the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. During this period, in 1724, the Church of Antioch was again weakened by schism, as a major portion of its faithful came into submission to the Roman Catholic Church. The resultant Uniate body is known as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which in the current day maintains close ties with the Orthodox and is currently holding ongoing talks about healing the schism and returning the Melkites to Orthodoxy. Meaning of church name Melkite comes from the Syriac word malko for "imperial" which was originally a Pejorative term for Middle-Eastern

The Uniate movement within the Eastern Bloc of the Roman Catholic church was started in 1698 by Habsburg emperor Leopold I in his bid to assimilate the Eastern Orthodox in his territories (including Romania). This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See Early life He was a younger brother of Ferdinand IV of Hungary and Mariana of Austria. The movement asked the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs to accept Papal supremacy, the unleavened Eucharist bread, the existence of purgatory and the filioque doctrine. Leopold I offered in return that the various Eastern Orthodox churches who complied would receive equal privileges with the Hapsburg Catholics, along with an exemption for the clergy from labor services and other financial duties^[67].

Conflict between Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox

See also: Union of Brest

Since the beginnings of the Uniate movement, there have been periodic conflicts between the Orthodox and Unia in Poland and Western Russia. Union of Brest ( Belarusian: Берасьцейская унія, Ukrainian: Берестейська унія, Unia brzeska refers to the Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland ^[68]. During the Time of Troubles there was a plan (by the conquering Polish monarchy) to convert all of Russia to Roman Catholicism. For the Dungeons & Dragons plotline see Time of Troubles (Forgotten Realms. Patriarch Hermogenes was martyred by the Roman Catholics during this period (see also Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth). Hermogenes, or Germogen (before 1530 - February 17, 1612) was the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia from 1606

The Eastern Catholic churches consider themselves to have reconciled the East and West Schism by keeping their prayers and rituals similar to those of Eastern Orthodoxy, while also accepting the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.

Some Eastern Orthodox charge that joining in this unity comes at the expense of ignoring critical doctrinal differences and past atrocities. From the perspective of many Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholicism is a ploy by Roman Catholicism to undermine and ultimately destroy their church by undermining its legitimacy and absorbing it into the Roman Catholic church. It is feared that this ploy would diminish the power to the original eastern Patriarchs of the church and would require the acceptance of rejected doctrines and Scholasticism over faith. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries ^[69][70]

In the 20th century, there have been conflicts which involved forced conversions both by the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. A forced conversion is the conversion to a Religion or philosophy under duress with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm In Croatia, the Ustaše forced the conversion of Eastern Orthodox to Roman Catholicism. For the militiamen of the Military Frontier, see Uskoci The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement ( Croatian: Other forced conversions included the Roman Catholics inside the USSR and Eastern Bloc after the October Revolution. ^[71].

Rejection of Uniatism

At a meeting in Balamand, Lebanon in June 1993, the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church declared that these initiatives that "led to the union of certain communities with the See of Rome and brought with them, as a consequence, the breaking of communion with their Mother Churches of the East . . . took place not without the interference of extra-ecclesial interests" (section 8 of the document); and that what has been called "uniatism" "can no longer be accepted either as a method to be followed nor as a model of the unity our Churches are seeking" (section 12). This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See

At the same time, the Commission stated:

• 3) Concerning the Eastern Catholic Churches, it is clear that they, as part of the Catholic Communion, have the right to exist and to act in response to the spiritual needs of their faithful.
• 16) The Oriental Catholic Churches who have desired to re-establish full communion with the See of Rome and have remained faithful to it, have the rights and obligations which are connected with this communion.

Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire

Churches of the Moscow Kremlin, as seen from the Balchug

Main article: Russian Empire

Main article: Most Holy Synod

The Russian Orthodox Church held a privileged position in the Russian Empire, expressed in the motto, Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and National Character, of the late Russian Empire. The Moscow Kremlin ( Russian: Московский Кремль Moskovskiy Kreml) usually referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified Balchug (Ба́лчуг also known as Bolotny Ostrov (Боло́тный о́стров is an island in the very centre of Moscow, squeezed between the Moskva The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The Most Holy Governing Synod (Святейший Правительствующий Синод was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Together known as Official Nationality Orthodoxy Autocracy and Nationality (Правосла́вие самодержа́вие и наро́дность "Pravoslavie Samoderzhavie At the same time, it was placed under the control of the Tsar by the Church reform of Peter I in the 18th century. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. Previously the Russian Tsars had exerted some influence on church operations however until Peter's reforms the church had been relatively free in its internal governance Its governing body was the Most Holy Synod, which was run by an official, titled Ober-Procurator, appointed by the Tsar himself. The Most Holy Governing Synod (Святейший Правительствующий Синод was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and Procurator (прокурор prokuror) is an office initially created by Peter The Great, the first Emperor of the Russian Empire, in an effort Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation.

The church was involved in various campaigns of russification,^[72] and, as a consequence, it was accused of participating in anti-Jewish pogroms. Russification (in Russian: русификация rusifikátsiya)is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute (whether voluntarily Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility A pogrom is a form of Riot directed against a particular group whether ethnic religious or other and characterized by destruction of their Homes Businesses ^[73][74] In the case of anti-semitism and the anti-Jewish pogroms, no evidence is given of the direct participation of the church; it is important to remember that many Russian Orthodox clerics, including senior hierarchs, openly defended persecuted Jews, at least starting with the second half of the nineteenth century. ^[75] Also, the Church has no official position on Judaism as such. ^{[75] [76] [77]} In modern times, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has been accused of antisemitism for his book Two Hundred Years Together, where he alleges Jewish participation in the political repression of the Soviet regime. Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn ( Алекса́ндр Иса́евич Солжени́цын) (December 11 1918 – August 3 2008 was a Russian Novelist ^[78][79] Solzhenitsyn's book Two Hundred Years Together is an historical study of the relationship between Russian Orthodox Christians and Jews in Russia from 1772 to modern times. ^[80][79][81]

The Church was allowed to impose taxes on the peasants. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground

The Church, like the Tsarist state was seen as an enemy of the people by the Bolsheviks and other Russian revolutionaries. The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction

Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union

Main articles: History of the Russian Orthodox Church#Under Communist rule and Militant_atheism#Militant_atheism

See also: Society of the Godless and gulag

The Russian Orthodox Church collaborated with the White Army in the Russian Civil War (see White movement) after the October Revolution. Foundation by St Andrew The Russian Orthodox Church is traditionally said to have been founded by the Apostle Andrew, who is thought to have visited Scythia and Antitheism (sometimes anti-theism) is active opposition to Theism. Society of the Godless ( Общество безбожников in Russian) other names include Союз воинствующих безбожников The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Collaborationism, can describe the Treason of cooperating with enemy Forces occupying one's Country. The White movement (Beloie Dvijenie Белое движение whose military arm is known as the White Army (Belaia Armia Белая Армия or White Guard The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed The White movement (Beloie Dvijenie Белое движение whose military arm is known as the White Army (Belaia Armia Белая Армия or White Guard This may have further strengthened the Bolshevik animus against the church. According to Lenin, a communist regime cannot remain neutral on the question of religion but must show itself to be merciless towards it. There was no place for the church in Lenin's classless society.

The Mask of Sorrow. The Mask of Sorrow is a monument perched on a hill above Magadan, Russia (located at) commemorating the many prisoners who suffered and died in the Gulag

Before and after the October Revolution of November 7, 1917 (October 25 Old Calendar) there was a movement within the Soviet Union to unite all of the people of the world under Communist rule (see Communist International). Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow This included the Eastern European bloc countries as well as the Balkan States. Since some of these Slavic states tied their ethnic heritage to their ethnic churches, both the peoples and their church where targeted by the Soviet and its form of State atheism. State atheism is the official promotion of Atheism by a Government, typically by active suppression of Religious freedom and practice ^{[82] [83]} The Soviets' official religious stance was one of "religious freedom or tolerance", though the state established atheism as the only scientific truth (see also the Soviet or committee of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Scientific and Political Knowledge or Znanie which was until 1947 called the The League of the Militant Godless and various Intelligentsia groups). Society of the Godless ( Общество безбожников in Russian) other names include Союз воинствующих безбожников For the coffee shop company often called Intelligentsia for short see Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. ^[84][85][86] Criticism of atheism was strictly forbidden and sometimes resulted in imprisonment. ^[87]

The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. Toward that end, the Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in the schools. Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed. It is estimated the some 20 million Christians (17 million Orthodox 3 million Roman catholic) died or where interned in gulags. The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. ^[88] Some actions against Orthodox priests and believers along with execution included torture being sent to prison camps, labour camps or mental hospitals. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Sharashka (sometimes Sharaga or Sharazhka, шара́шка) was an informal name for secret Research and development In the Soviet Union, Psychiatry was used for punitive purposes ^[89][90] The result of this militant atheism was to transform the Church into a persecuted and martyred Church. In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed. ^[91]

Christ the Savior Cathedral Moscow after reconstruction

The main target of the anti-religious campaign in the 1920s and 1930s was the Russian Orthodox Church, which had the largest number of faithful. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Хра́м Христа́ Спаси́теля is the tallest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world Nearly all of its clergy, and many of its believers, were shot or sent to labor camps. Theological schools were closed, and church publications were prohibited. In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the Russian Republic fell from 29,584 to less than 500. Between 1917 and 1940, 130,000 Orthodox priests were arrested. The widespread persecution and internecine disputes within the church hierarchy lead to the seat of Patriarch of Moscow being vacant from 1925-1943. Metropolitans Maximus ( 1283 - 1305) St Peter ( 1308 - 1326) vacant

After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, Joseph Stalin revived the Russian Orthodox Church to intensify patriotic support for the war effort. By 1957 about 22,000 Russian Orthodox churches had become active. But in 1959 Nikita Khrushchev initiated his own campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church and forced the closure of about 12,000 churches. By 1985 fewer than 7,000 churches remained active. ^[91]

In the Soviet Union, in addition to the methodical closing and destruction of churches, the charitable and social work formerly done by ecclesiastical authorities was taken over by the state. As with all private property, Church owned property was confiscated into public use. The few places of worship left to the Church were legally viewed as state property which the government permitted the church to use. After the advent of state funded universal education, the Church was not permitted to carry on educational, instructional activity for children. For adults, only training for church-related occupations was allowed. Outside of sermons during the celebration of the divine liturgy it could not instruct or evangelise to the faithful or its youth. Catechism classes, religious schools, study groups, Sunday schools and religious publications were all illegal and or banned. This persecution continued, even after the death of Stalin until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985 This caused many religious tracts to be circulated as illegal literature or samizdat. Samizdat (самиздат was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc ^[92] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church has recognized a number of New Martyrs as saints, some executed during Mass operations of the NKVD under directives like NKVD Order No. 00447. The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr ( Greek: νεο, neo, the prefix for "new" and μάρτυς, martys, "witness" Mass operations of the NKVD were carried out during the Great Purge and targeted specific categories of people NKVD Order № 00447 by July 30, 1937 О репрессировании бывших кулаков уголовников и других антисоветских

World War II

Further information: Ustashe, Jasenovac concentration camp, Salonika, and Russification

During the Second World War, two groups of Orthodox Christians were especially targeted for genocide by the Nazis and their allies - the Gypsies and the Orthodox Serbs of Bosnia and Croatia, while the population of Greece, Serbia, European Russia, and Ukraine were designated by the Nazis to serve as slave labor for the Third Reich. For the militiamen of the Military Frontier, see Uskoci The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement ( Croatian: Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Russification (in Russian: русификация rusifikátsiya)is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute (whether voluntarily By special order of Heinrich Himmler (21 April 1942), clergyman from the East (as opposed to their counterparts from Western Europe) were to be used for hard labor (also see Alfred Rosenberg). Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. (12 January 1893 16 October 1946 was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party.

All Saints Belmore, New South Wales, Australia

Diaspora emigration to the West

One of the most striking developments in modern historical Orthodoxy is the dispersion of Orthodox Christians to the West. Belmore is a Suburb, in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Emigration from Greece and the Near East in the last hundred years has created a sizable Orthodox diaspora in Western Europe, North and South America, and Australia. In addition, the Bolshevik Revolution forced thousands of Russian exiles westward. As a result, Orthodoxy's traditional frontiers have been profoundly modified. Millions of Orthodox are no longer geographically "eastern" since they live permanently in their newly adopted countries in the West. Nonetheless, they remain Eastern Orthodox in their faith and practice. Virtually all the Orthodox nationalities - Greek, Arab, Russian, Serbian, Albanian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian - are represented in the United States.

National churches

Church of Jerusalem

See also: Beit Jala

The Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. Beit Jala ( Arabic: (lit Aramaic 'grass carpet' is a Arab Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. It is the 13^th Station of the Cross. Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross; in Latin, Via Crucis; also called the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, or simply

The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and the ecclesiastics of the Orthodox church are based in the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre constructed in 335 AD. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem ( Greek: Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn, Arabic كنيسة الروم الأرثوذكس في القدس The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Sanctum Sepulchrum also called the Church of the Resurrection, ( Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως Naos tis Anastaseos The church is known there for the annual Pascha miracle of the Holy Fire (though not without its controversy) on Holy Saturday. Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. The Holy Fire ( Greek Ἃγιον Φῶς "Holy Light" is a Miracle Holy Saturday ( Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum) is the day after Good Friday. During the years that Jerusalem was under Muslim rule, positions in the clerical hierarchy were decided by Islamic officials. In modern times positions are now chosen by the Jewish government.

Church of Antioch

Main article: Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch

Main article: Kaymaklı Underground City

The community and seat of the patriarchate according to Orthodox tradition was founded by St Peter and the given to St Ignatius), in what is now Turkey. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Patriarchate Kaymaklı Underground City is contained within the citadel of Kaymaklı The Patriarch of Antioch is one of the original Patriarchs of Early Christianity, who presided over the Bishops of Syria Palestine Armenia and Saint Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) (ca 35-110 was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch and possibly a student of the Apostle John However, in the 15th century, it was moved to the "Street called Straight" in Damascus, modern-day Syria, in response to the Ottoman invasion of Antioch. Its traditional territory includes Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Turkey.

Its North American branch is autonomous, although the Holy Synod of Antioch still appoints its head bishop, chosen from a list of three candidates nominated in the North American archdiocese. Its Australasia and Oceania branch is the largest in terms of area.

Disputes over the Christology of the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon—the Monophysite controversy—in 451 led to a schism within the Church of Antioch, which at that same council was elevated to the status of a patriarchate. Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one alone' and physis meaning 'nature' or Monophysiticism is the Christological position that The larger group at the time repudiated the council and became the Syriac Orthodox Church (also called the "Jacobites" for Jacob Baradeus, an early bishop of the group who did extensive missionary work in the region). The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church is the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala, India. Jacobus Baradaeus or James Baradaeus (other spellings of his surname include Al Baradai Burdoho Burdeono Burdeana or Burdeaya also Phaselita or Zanzalus was ordained They currently constitute part of the Oriental Orthodox communion and maintain a Christology somewhat different in language from that of Chalcedon.

The remainder of the Church of Antioch, primarily local Greeks or Hellenized sections of the indigenous population, remained in communion with Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. This is the current Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East which is considered by the other bishops of the Orthodox Church to be the sole legitimate heir to the See of Antioch.

The schism of the Council at Chalcedon greatly weakened the Antiochian church, and in 637 when Antioch fell to the Muslim Arabs, the "Greek" church was perceived by the invaders as allied to the Romano-Byzantine enemies of the Arabs. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding During the subsequent period, Antiochian Orthodox Christians underwent a lengthy period of persecution, and there were multiple periods of either vacancy or non-residence on the Antiochian patriarchal throne during the 7th and 8th centuries. In 969, the Roman Empire regained control of Antioch, and the church there prospered again until 1085, when the Seljuk Turks took the city. The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks, Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Ṣaljūqīyān; in During this period of more than a hundred years, the traditional West Syrian liturgy of the church was gradually replaced by that of the tradition of the Great Church, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later This process was completed sometime in the 12th century.

Crusader and Muslim conquests
In 1098, Crusaders took the city and set up a Latin Patriarchate of Antioch to adorn its Latin Kingdom of Syria, while a Greek patriarchate continued in exile in Constantinople. After nearly two centuries of Crusader rule, the Egyptian Mamelukes seized Antioch in 1268, and the Orthodox patriarch, Theodosius IV, was able to return to the region. By this point, Antioch itself had been reduced to a smaller town, and so in the 14th century Ignatius II transferred the seat of the patriarchate to Damascus, where it remains to this day, though the patriarch retains the Antiochian title.

The Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1517, under whose control it remained until the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. During this period, in 1724, the Church of Antioch was again weakened by schism, as a major portion of its faithful came into submission to the Roman Catholic Church. The resultant Uniate body is known as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which in the current day maintains close ties with the Orthodox and is currently holding ongoing talks about healing the schism and returning the Melkites to Orthodoxy.

By the 18th century the great majority of the communicants of the Antiochian church were Arabs. In 1898 the last Greek patriarch was deposed, and an Arab successor was elected in 1899. Thus the patriarchate became fully Arab in character. A strong renewal movement, involving Orthodox youth in particular, has been under way since the 1940s. ^[93]

Church of Greece

Main article: Church of Greece

See also: Megali Idea

Influenced by the French Revolution's explosive ideas, Greece was the first to break the Turkish yoke, winning its independence early in the 19th century in the Greek War of Independence. The Church of Greece ( Greek: Ekklēsía tês Helládos, ekliˈsia tis eˈlaðos is one of the fifteen Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches Megali Idea ( Modern Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα "Great Idea" was an Irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal The Greek War of Independence (1821–1829 also commonly known as the Greek Revolution (Ελληνική Επανάσταση Elliniki Epanastasi; Ottoman Before long, a synod of bishops declared the Church of the new Kingdom of Greece autocephalous. The new Greek nation, in short, could not be headed by the patriarch. Indeed, Greece's autocephalous status, recognized by Constantinople in 1850, meant that it could elect its own head or kephale. The Church of Greece is today governed by a Holy Synod presided over by the Archbishop of Athens.

Church of Cyprus

Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Church of Cyprus has been engaged in a struggle between rejoining the mainland Church of Greece, being reunited with the Turkish Empire and independence. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The ancient Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus ( Greek: Ekklēsía tês Kýprou) is one of the fourteen or fifteen independent (' autocephalous The Church of Greece ( Greek: Ekklēsía tês Helládos, ekliˈsia tis eˈlaðos is one of the fifteen Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches

Church of Egypt in Alexandra

St Mark

The Orthodox Church of Alexandria Egypt claims succession from the Apostle Mark the Evangelist who founded the Church in the 1st century, and therefore the beginning of Christianity in Africa. The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ( Greek:) is one of the autocephalous "Saint Mark" redirects here For other uses see Saint Mark (disambiguation. It is one of the five ancient patriarchates of the early Church, called the Pentarchy. Pentarchy is a Greek -derived word meaning "rule by five"

Sometimes called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. In Egypt, members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate were also called Melkite, because they remained in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople. The term Melkite (also written Melchite) is used to refer to various Christian churches and their members originating in the Middle East.

Since the schism occurring as a result of the political and Christological controversies at the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Greek Orthodox have liturgically been Greek-speaking. After the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the Eastern Orthodox were a minority even among Christians, and remained small for centuries.

The church in recent years, has grown due to considerable missionary efforts lead by Patriarch Petros VII. Petros VII ( September 3, 1949 &ndash September 11, 2004) was the Eastern Orthodox During his seven years as patriarch (1997-2004), he worked tirelessly to spread the Orthodox Christian faith in Arab nations and throughout Africa, raising up native clergy and encouraging the use of local languages in the liturgy. Particularly sensitive to the nature of Christian expansion into Muslim countries, His Beatitude worked to promote mutual understanding and respect between Orthodox Christians and Muslims. His efforts were ended as the result of a helicopter crash on September 11, 2004, in the Aegean Sea near Greece, killing him and several other clergy, including Bishop Nectarios of Madagascar, another bishop with a profound missionary vision. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

Today, the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt comprises some 300,000 Orthodox Christians, the highest number since the Roman Empire.

Georgian Orthodox Church

St Nino of Cappadocia

Main article: Georgian_Orthodox_Church

The first Eparchy was founded in Georgia, traditionally by the Apostle Andrew. 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 Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between In 327, christianity was adopted as the state religion by the rulers of Iberia (Estern Georgia). This article is about the people of ancient Georgia For the Iberians of ancient Iberian Peninsula see Iberians. From the 320s, the Georgian Orthodox Church was under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic See of Antioch. Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also The Georgian Orthodox Church become autocephalous (independent) in 466 when the Patriarchate of Antioch elevated the Bishop of Mtskheta to the rank of "Catholicos of Kartli". Mtskheta (მცხეთა one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia (in Kartli province of Eastern Georgia is located approximately 20 kilometers northeast On March 3, 1990, the Patriarch of Constantinople re-approved the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church (which had in practice been exercised or at least claimed since the 5th century) as well as the Patriarchal honour of the Catholicos. "Patriarch of Constantinople" redirects here For the institutional church itself see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Catholicos (plural Catholicoi) is a title used by the Patriarch (head/regional head Bishop) of any of certain Eastern churches Today the Georgian Orthodox Church has around 5 million members around the world (of whom about 3,670,000 live within Georgia) and administers, as of 2007, 35 eparchies (dioceses). As of 2007, the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church is subdivided into thirty-five eparchies:

Eastern Bloc Churches

Humor Monastery of Romania

The Eastern Bloc churches include the Bulgarian and Romanian Orthodox Churches. Humor Monastery located about 5 km north of the town of Gura Humorului, Romania. During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were The Orthodox Church of Romania, today the largest self-governing Church after Russia, was declared autocephalous in 1885 and became a patriarchate in 1925. The Romanian Orthodox Church ( Biserica Ortodoxă Română in Romanian) is a Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church lost its autocephalous status after the fall of Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Българска православна църква Bălgarska pravoslavna cărkva) is an Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church Bulgarian autocephaly was restored in 1953. The Orthodox Church of Albania was the only Orthodox church to exist under a government that legally established atheism as the state religion. The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania ( Albanian: Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqipërisë) is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern The Orthodox Churches in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, and Poland have seen drastic changes since the fall of Communism. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Czech Church has recognized contemporary New Martyrs, such as Gorazd (Pavlik) of Prague. The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr ( Greek: νεο, neo, the prefix for "new" and μάρτυς, martys, "witness" Bishop Gorazd of Prague, given name Matěj Pavlík, was the Hierarch of the revived Orthodox Church in Moravia, the Church of Czechoslovakia

Balkan churches

Saint Sava Cathedral with the monument of Saint Sava

After the tragic defeat of Prince Lazar by Muslim forces at the Battle in the Field of Black Birds. Stefan Lazar (Стефан Лазар Tzar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Кнез Лазар Хребељановић or Knez Lazar This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of 1389; for other battles see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation. The ethnarchic system introduced by the Ottomans brought most of the autocephalous and patriarchal Slavic Churches under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. This subjection, with its loss of patriarchal status, was never popular. As a result, several independent national Churches came into being once political freedom was achieved. The Orthodox Church of Serbia, lost their respective patriarchates in the Turkish period. The Serbian Orthodox Church ( Serbian: Српска Православна Црква / Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva; СПЦ / SPC) or the Serbia became autocephalous again in 1879, and its primate was recognized as patriarch by Constantinople in 1922. Serbia also has the largest Orthodox church currently in use (see Temple of Saint Sava). The Temple of Saint Sava ( Serbian: Храм светог Саве or Hram svetog Save) is the largest Orthodox church in the world situated in Belgrade The Balkan churches are one of the few Orthodox communities to have lived under both Ottoman rule and communist rule. Serbia is famed for its monasteries and churches most of which are located in Kosovo. The Orthodox churches of ex-Yugoslavian providences in the Balkans of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro as well as Slovenia, Croatia and Republic of Macedonia where all deeply effected during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Montenegro ( British English) Montenegrin / Serbian: PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE LANGUAGES WITHOUT CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE! Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between The Republic of Macedonia (Република The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY that took place between 1991 and

Russian Orthodox Church

Kizhi Transfiguration church

Main article: History of the Russian Orthodox Church

Russia's patriarchate, which was never part of the Ottoman Empire, was recognized by Constantinople in 1589. Kizhi (Ки́жи Кижи́ Kiži is an Island on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia ( Medvezhyegorsky District) Russia with Foundation by St Andrew The Russian Orthodox Church is traditionally said to have been founded by the Apostle Andrew, who is thought to have visited Scythia and Though Russia was under conquest by the Mongols. Mongol rule lasted from the 13th (Genghis Khan's army entered Russia in 1220s) through the 15th century, the Russian church enjoyed a favored position, obtaining immunity from taxation in 1270. Genghis Khan ( or;, Chinggis Khaan, ʧiŋgɪs χaːŋ Činggis Qaɣan; 1162–1227 born (meaning "ironworker" was the Mongol founder Through a series of Wars with the World of Islam the church did indeed establish itself as the protector of Orthodoxy (see the Eastern Question and the Russo-Turkish wars). The " Eastern Question " in European history, encompasses the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire The Russo-Turkish wars were a series of wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the 16th 17th 18th 19th and 20th centuries Peter the Great replaced the Russian patriarchate by a governing Synod (a government office that got its power from the Tsar) in 1721. The Synodal Period that followed lasted until the Bolshevik Revolution, when the patriarchate was once again restored (1917). Today, Russia ranks fifth after the four ancient patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

American Orthodox Church

Founded in Alaska by the early Alaskan Russian missionaries, the American Orthodox church has seen itself caught between the role of evangelizing the New World and maintaining their ethnic heritage. This heritage was threatened by the Russian Revolution and other persecutions that caused the diaspora of various Orthodox groups to migrate to the West from their homelands, usually in the Mediterranean or Middle East. Many of the Orthodox church movements in the West are fragmented under what is called jurisdictionalism. This is where the groups are divided up by ethnicity as the unifying character to each movement. As the older ethnic laity become aged and die off more and more of the churches are opening to new converts. Ten years or so ago, these converts would have faced a daunting task in having to learn the language and culture of the respective Orthodox group in order to properly convert to Orthodoxy. In recent times many of the churches now perform their services in modern English or Spanish or Portuguese (depending on the Metropolitian or district). Currently both the OCA and ROCOR are now in communion with the Patriarch of Moscow. The Orthodox Church in America ( OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church in North America. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей ru Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey

Celtic Orthodox Church

See also: Celtic Orthodox Saints and Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Main article: Ukrainian Orthodox Church

See also: History of Christianity in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church or UOC, sometimes abbreviated as UOC(MP), operates as an autonomous church under the Moscow Patriarchate and is also the only Orthodox denomination canonically recognised within the Eastern Orthodox Communion. The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland contain various Russian Orthodox groups This article should include material from Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian The head of the church is Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) who was enthroned in spring 1992 as the "Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine". The UOC(MP) is currently the largest religious body in Ukraine with the greatest number of parishes churches and communities counting up to half of the total in Ukraine and totaling over 10 thousand. The church also claims to have up to 75% of the Ukrainian population although independent survey results vary widely both from this figure.

The UOC's main rival is the Greek Catholic Church in the capital of Kiev is where their biggest Orthodox rivalry takes place. There the UOC(MP) has only half of the Orthodox communities. The UOC(MP) does not have any parishes abroad, as its followers identify themselves under the same umbrella as those of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Asian Churches

View of the Mogao Caves from outside

Main article: History of Eastern Christianity in Asia

See also: Jesus Sutras

Judging from the New Testament account of the rise and expansion of the early church, during the first few centuries of Christianity, the most extensive dissemination of the gospel was not in the West but in the East. The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes ( (also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves) form a system of 492 temples 25km (15 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 The Jesus Sutras or the Lost Sutras of Jesus are early Chinese language manuscripts of Christian teachings brought to China during the 7th century In fact, conditions in the Parthian empire (250 BC - A. D. 226), which stretched from the Euphrates to the Indus rivers and the Caspian to the Arabian seas, were in some ways more favourable for the growth of the church than in the Roman world. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת And though opposition to Christianity increasingly mounted under successive Persian and Islamic rulers, Christian communities were eventually established in the vast territory which stretches from the Near to the Far East possibly as early as the first century of the church.

• Chinese Orthodox Church
• Orthodox Church of Japan
• Philippine Orthodox Church

Church today

Distribution of Eastern Orthodoxy in the world by country      Dominant religion      Important minority religion (over 10%)

The various autocephalous and autonomous churches of the Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture, but for the most part exist in full communion with one another, with exceptions such as lack of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Moscow Patriarchate (the Orthodox Church of Russia) dating from the 1920s and due to the subjection of the latter to the hostile Soviet regime. The Chinese Orthodox Church is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church in China, which prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966 was estimated The Japanese Orthodox Church (日本ハリストス正教会 is an autonomous The Philippine Orthodox Church refers to the officially established Eastern Orthodox presence in the Philippines as a whole Full communion is a term used in Christian Ecclesiology to describe the relationship of communion, with mutually recognized sharing of the same essential The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей ru Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 However, attempts at reconciliation were made between the ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate with the ultimate purpose of reunification being reached on May 17, 2007^[94]. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Further tensions exist between the New Calendarists and the Old Calendarists. The New calendarists are those Eastern Orthodox Churches that adopted the Revised Julian calendar, namely the Orthodox churches of Constantinople Alexandria Antioch The term Old Calendarist refers to any Orthodox Christian or any Orthodox Church body which uses the historic Julian calendar (called " Old Style Calendar

References

Sources

• The Orthodox Church. Ware, Timothy. Penguin Books, 1997. (ISBN 0-14-014656-3)
• The Orthodox Church; 455 Questions and Answers. Harakas, Stanley H. Light and Life Publishing Company, 1988. (ISBN 0-937032-56-5)
• The Spirituallity of the Christian East: A systematic handbook by Tomas Spidlik, Cistercian Publications Inc Kalamazoo Michigan 1986 ISBN 0-87907-879-0
• History of the Orthodox Church in the History of Russian Dimitry Pospielovsky 1998 St Vladimir's Press (ISBN 0-88141-179-5)
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise Exposition Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood press 1994 (ISBN 0938635-69-7)

See also

• History of Eastern Christianity
• History of Christianity
• Christian Church
• History of the Orthodox Churches in North America
• Eastern Catholic Churches
• Timothy Ware
• James H. Billington - Western Russian Orthodox Historian
• Sergey Solovyov - Eastern Russian Orthodox Historian
• Alexei Volkov
• History of Arab Christians
• The Decline of Eastern Christianity: From Jihad to Dhimmitude
• Right opinion

External links

• OrthodoxWiki
• Orthodox Research Institute
• List of most patriarchates
• The Orthodox Tradition
• History of the Eastern Orthodox in the Carpathian Mountains
• Orthodox Tradition and the Liturgy
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Directory of Orthodox Internet Resources
• Orthodox Library: History, Doctrine, Practices, Saints
• Background information on the Orthodox Church
• Orthodox Life Info Portal: catalog of resources
• Turkish Atrocities