The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt, servicing Africa and the Middle East. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the Patriarch of Alexandria on the Holy See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Coptic Pope. The See of Alexandria is titular, and today the Coptic Pope presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District in Cairo. The church follows the Alexandrian Rite for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony. With approximately 10 million members worldwide, it is the country's largest Christian denomination.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, 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 in local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the bishop of Rome (Pope), but the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares of the bishops among the world's Eastern Orthodox prelates and is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians. 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 Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, like the Catholic Church, claims to be the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ.
The Russian Orthodox Church, alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The ROC, as well as its primate, officially ranks fifth in the Orthodox order of precedence, immediately below the four ancient patriarchates of the Greek Orthodox Church: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. As of 15 October 2018, the ROC suspended communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, having unilaterally severed ties in reaction to the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was finalised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 5 January 2019.
The ecumenical patriarch is the archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome and ranks as primus inter pares among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that make up the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene, a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire, and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon.
Autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with that of the churches (provinces) within the Anglican Communion.
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, the Hussite Church, and the Church of the East are termed patriarchs.
Patriarchate is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch.
Pentarchy is a model of Church organization historically championed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was formulated in the laws of Emperor Justinian I (527–565) of the Roman Empire. In this model, the Christian church is governed by the heads (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa, also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, is an autocephalous patriarchate that is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its seat is in Alexandria and it has canonical responsibility for the entire African continent.
Religion in Ukraine is diverse, with a majority of the population adhering to Christianity. A 2018 survey conducted by the Razumkov Centre found that 71.7% of the population declared themselves believers. About 67.3% of the population declared adherence to one or another strand of Orthodox Christianity, 7.7% 'Christian' with no declared denominational affiliation, 9.4% Ukrainian Byzantine Rite Catholics, 2.2% Protestants and 0.8% Latin Rite Catholics, 2.5 % Islam, Judaism was the religion of the 0.4%; while a small percentage follow Hinduism, Buddhism and Paganism (Rodnovery). A further 11.0% declared themselves non-religious or unaffiliated. According to the surveys conducted by Razumkov in the 2000s and early 2010s, such proportions have remained relatively constant throughout the last decade, while the proportion of believers overall has decreased from 76% in 2014 to 70% in 2016 and 72% in 2018.
The History of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the formation, events, and transformation of the Eastern Orthodox Church through time.
Western Rite Orthodoxy, also called Western Orthodoxy or the Orthodox Western Rite, are congregations within the autocephalous churches of Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy which perform their liturgy in Western forms.
George Alexander McGuire is best known for his prominence in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). McGuire was elected in 1920 as Chaplain-General of the UNIA and wrote important documents about black ritual and catechism, drawing from his knowledge of religion and African history. Both he and Garvey were immigrants to the United States from Caribbean islands who had a vision of Pan-African goals.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Uganda refers to adherents and religious communities of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Uganda. Majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Uganda are under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Madagascar refers to adherents and religious communities of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Madagascar. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Madagascar are under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with a total of approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are broadly part of the trinitarian Nicene Christian tradition shared by today’s mainstream churches, and represent one of its oldest branches.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Estonia is practiced by 16.5% of the population, making it the most identified religion and Christian denomination in this majority-secular state after surpassing Lutheran Christianity with 9.1% for first time in country's modern history. Eastern Orthodoxy, or more specifically Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is mostly practiced within Estonia's Russian ethnic minority and minority within native population. According to the 2000 Estonian census, 72.9% of those who identified as Orthodox Christians were of Russian descent.
The Eastern Orthodox Slavs form a religious grouping of the Slavic peoples, including ethnic groups and nations that predominantly adhere to the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith and whose Churches follow the Byzantine Rite liturgy. Eastern Orthodoxy spread to Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages through Byzantine influence, and has been retained in several countries until today.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Iraq refers to adherents, communities and institutions of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Iraq. Within the ecclesiastical order of the Eastern Orthodox Church, territory of Iraq traditionally belongs to patrimonial jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. The Patriarchate has a diocese in Iraq, the Eastern Orthodox Archdiocese of Baghdad, headed since 2014 by metropolitan Ghattas Hazim.
