The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox 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 bishops as primus inter pares and 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 officially calls itself the Orthodox Catholic Church.
The ecumenical patriarch is the archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome and primus inter pares among the heads of the several autocephalous churches which compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch 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 The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene, a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire, and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon.
Bartholomew I is the 270th and current archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.
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 Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the fourteen to sixteen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, currently Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople.
The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, officially the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and sometimes known as the Church of Zion, is an autocephalous church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Established in the mid-fifth century as one of the oldest patriarchates in Christendom, it is headquartered in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and led by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, currently Theophilos III. The Patriarchate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction includes roughly 500,000 Orthodox Christians across the "Holy Land" of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.
Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America was the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America from 1959 until his resignation in 1996.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki, was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki, the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the Turkish parliament enacted a law banning private higher education institutions in 1971. The theological school is located at the top of the island's Hill of Hope, on the site of the Byzantine-era Monastery of the Holy Trinity. The premises of the school continue to be maintained by the monastery and are used to host conferences. It is possible to visit the island where it is located via boat in approximately one hour from the shore of Istanbul. An international campaign to reopen this theological school is ongoing.
Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) is an Orthodox Christian liberal arts college and seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. Its mission is to educate individuals for life and service in the Orthodox Christian community; this includes men preparing for the priesthood of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and other Orthodox Christian entities, as well as men and women for leadership roles in the church or within secular society. HCHC includes a graduate school of theology, seminary for clerical training and education, and several undergraduate and certificate programs in business, education, literature, and other secular professions.
The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are honorees of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who have been selected from among the laity due to service to those portions of the Eastern Orthodox Church under his particular guidance.
Kallistos Ware is an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 1982, he has held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia, later made a titular metropolitan bishopric in 2007, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He is one of the best-known contemporary Eastern Orthodox hierarchs and theologians. From 1966 to 2001, he was Spalding Lecturer of Eastern Orthodox Studies at the University of Oxford.
The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe, also called Archdiocese of Parishes of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe, is a Paris-headquartered diocese consisting of parishes in Russian orthodox tradition, located in Western Europe. The diocese hails from the Provisional Administration of Russian Parishes in Western Europe, created in 1921.
The timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents timeline of the historical development of religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate in America comprises five separate jurisdictions, along with a number of stavropegial institutions, and includes roughly two-thirds of all Eastern Orthodox Christians in America. The archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, by far the largest of Constantinopolitan jurisdictions in the US, is considered the local primate and may convene a Holy Synod of all the hierarchs of the Ecumenical throne in America.
Archbishop Nikitas (Lulias) of Thyateira and Great Britain is the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, elected by the Sacred and Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 12 June 2019.
Athenagoras I, born Aristocles Matthew Spyrou, initially the Greek archbishop in North America, was the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, from 1948 to 1972.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America is a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. On 22 June 2019 he became the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The official title of Archbishop Elpidophoros: His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America, Most Honorable Exarch of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He is the eighth Archbishop of America elected since the establishment of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in 1922.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Canada. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The present Archbishop and Exarch of All Canada is Sotirios Athanassoulas. Its jurisdiction covers members of the Greek Orthodox community living in Canada. Archbishop Sotirios was born in Arta, Epiros in Greece. The headquarters of the archdiocese is in the East York district of Toronto.
