List of autocephalous and autonomous churches
| Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches of Orthodoxy |
| Autocephalous Churches |
| Four Ancient Patriarchates: Constantinople · Alexandria · Antioch · Jerusalem Russia · Serbia · Romania · Bulgaria · Georgia · Cyprus · Greece · Poland · Albania · Czech Lands and Slovakia · OCA* · Ukraine* |
| Autonomous Churches |
| Sinai · Finland · Estonia* · Japan* · China* · Ukraine* |
| The * designates a church whose autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized. |
The autocephalous and autonomous Orthodox churches are those churches which have self-government.
Despite these churches all being in full communion with one another, there is not currently unanimous agreement on which churches are considered autocephalous or autonomous. There is, however, an order which is followed in international Inter-Orthodox gatherings, which is included here first. There is an expanded order which is recognized by some churches, most notably the Church of Russia and its dependencies and historical daughter churches.
Contents
Inter-Orthodox order
Autocephalous churches
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
- Patriarchate of Alexandria
- Patriarchate of Antioch
- Patriarchate of Jerusalem
- Patriarchate of Moscow
- Patriarchate of Serbia
- Patriarchate of Romania
- Patriarchate of Bulgaria
- Patriarchate of Georgia
- Church of Cyprus
- Church of Greece
- Church of Poland
- Church of Albania
- Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
Autonomous churches
Expanded order
Autocephalous churches
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
- Patriarchate of Alexandria
- Patriarchate of Antioch
- Patriarchate of Jerusalem
- Patriarchate of Moscow
- Patriarchate of Serbia
- Patriarchate of Romania
- Patriarchate of Bulgaria
- Patriarchate of Georgia
- Church of Cyprus
- Church of Greece
- Church of Poland
- Church of Albania
- Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
- Orthodox Church in America (autocephaly recognized only by Moscow, Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, and the Czech Lands and Slovakia)
It should be noted that in the diptychs of the Moscow Patriarchate and some of its daughter churches (e.g., the OCA), the ranking of four of the patriarchal churches is different. Following Moscow in rank is Georgia, followed by Serbia, Romania, and then Bulgaria. The remainder of the rankings beginning with Cyprus is the same.
Autonomous churches
- Church of Sinai
- Church of Finland
- Church of Estonia (autonomy recognized by Constantinople but not Moscow)
- Church of Japan (autonomy recognized by Moscow but not Constantinople)
- Church of China (virtually non-existent, autonomy recognized by Moscow but not Constantinople)
- Church of Ukraine (autonomy recognized by Moscow but not Constantinople)
- Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
- Archdiocese of Ohrid (autonomy recognized only by Serbia]]
Formerly independent churches
These churches were formerly autocephalous or autonomous, no longer Orthodox, or in some cases no longer exist.
Unrecognized independent churches
The following churches are variously unrecognized by the mainstream churches as independent and/or canonical.
- Church of Ukraine (Kiev Patriarchate)
- Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
- Macedonian Orthodox Church
- Montenegrin Orthodox Church
- Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
See also
Sources
- Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity (ISBN 0631232036)
- Fitzgerald, Thomas E. The Orthodox Church. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998, p. 151.
- World Orthodox Churches, from the OCA website
