The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church and officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptised members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Catholic Church—the pope, although the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by them as primus inter pares. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Western Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Ecumenism – also called interdenominationalism, transdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism – is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any interdenominational initiative that encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches.
Christianity is the largest religion in Belgium, with the Catholic Church representing the largest community, though it has experienced a significant decline since the 1950s. Belgium's policy separates the state from the churches, and freedom of religion of the citizens is guaranteed by the country's constitution.
Religion in the United Kingdom, and in the countries that preceded it, has been dominated for over 1,400 years by various forms of Christianity, replacing Romano-British religions, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism as the primary religion. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.
Modern-day Birmingham's cultural diversity is reflected in the wide variety of religious beliefs of its citizens. 70% of residents identified themselves as belonging to a particular faith in the 2021 Census, while 24% stated they had no religion and a further 6% did not answer the question.
Gabriel of Komana was an Eastern Orthodox archbishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate who led the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe from 2003 to 2013.
Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) is a national ecumenical organisation of churches in Scotland, founded in 1990. It is the successor to the former Scottish Council of Churches. ACTS is one of the four national ecumenical bodies in the UK, with equivalent bodies being Churches Together in England, Cytûn in Wales and the Irish Council of Churches, plus Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The ACTS office was originally located in Dunblane, then in Alloa and finally in Stirling.
Christians in Singapore constitute 18.9% of the country's resident population, as of the most recent census conducted in 2020. Christianity is the second largest religion in the country, after Buddhism and before Islam. In 2020, about 37.1% of the country's Christians identified as Catholic with 62.9% labeled as 'Other Christians', most of which identify as Protestant, with some identifying as Orthodox or other minority Christian denominations.
Churches Together in England (CTE) is an ecumenical organisation and the national instrument for the Christian Churches in England. It helps its member churches work better together.
The Catholic Church in Finland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Catholic Church in Ukraine is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Catholics make up 10% of the population of Ukraine.
Christianity is the largest religion in Australia, with a total of 43.9% of the nation-wide population identifying with a Christian denomination in the 2021 census. The first presence of Christianity in Australia coincided with the colonial invasion and beginning of the frontier wars in what came to be known as New South Wales in 1788.
The Catholic Church in North Macedonia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome and is one of the major religious communities that exist on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. Catholic believers from North Macedonia mostly include Albanians, Macedonians and Croats and are most concentrated in the Skopje Statistical Region and the Southeastern Statistical Region of North Macedonia.
London has centres of worship for many faiths. According to the 2021 Census, the largest religious groupings are Christians (40.66%), followed by those of no religion (27.05%), Muslims (14.99%), no response (7%), Hindus (5.15%), Jews (1.65%), Sikhs (1.64%), Buddhists (1.0%), and others (0.9%).
Student Christian Movement of Great Britain is a British religious charity led by students, past and present. The movement is an ecumenical and inclusive community that recognises unity in diversity and explores faith through worship, discussion and action. SCM's vision is that "every student can find a vibrant, open and inclusive Christian community, where they can explore faith and be inspired to put faith into action."
Christianity was first introduced to Thailand by European missionaries. In 2021, it represented 1.2% of the national population, which is predominantly Buddhist. Christians are numerically and organizationally concentrated more heavily in the north, where they make up an estimated 16% of some lowland districts and up to very high percents in tribal districts.
The Awareness Foundation, formerly the Trinity Foundation for Christianity and Culture, is a Christian charity that was established in England in 2003 for the purpose of peace-building between the Middle East and West.
Operation Noah is an ecumenical Christian charity, based in the UK, that campaigns exclusively on climate change. Trustees are cross-denominational, with members from the Catholic, Anglican and free churches. The charity is managed by the Chair and Board, with a small number of support staff. It is funded through supporter donations and grants.
Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. It was established by the Archdiocese of Washington in 1960, and is dedicated to John the Baptist.
Timothy Christopher Verdon, is a Roman Catholic priest and Art Historian, specialized in Christian Sacred Art on which he has written numerous books and articles. He has organized international scholarly conferences and curated exhibitions in Italy and the USA. He was born in New Jersey, United States, and has lived in Italy for more than 50 years, now residing in Florence.
