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independence=—|
recognition= 1924 by [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]], 1948 by [[Church of Russia|Russia]]|
primate=[[Sawa (Hrycuniak) of Poland|Metropolitan Sawa]]|
hq=Warsaw, Poland|
territory=Poland|
}}
The '''Church of Poland''' is the [[autocephalous]] Orthodox Christian [[church]] in the country of Poland. The church has six [[diocese]]s and is currently led by Metropolitan [[Sawa(Hrycuniak) of Poland|Sawa]], [[Archbishop]] of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland.
While the majority of people in Poland are Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christians have resided in the land areas that have constituted Poland since the missions of Ss. [[Cyril and Methodius]] in the 9th century. In the 13th century there were two Orthodox [[diocese]]s centered around Kholm and Prezemysl. Under the "[[Union of Brest]]" in 1596 the vast majority of these Orthodox believers were brought under the spiritual leadership the [[Bishop]] of Rome as Greek Catholics ([[Unia]]tes) although they were allowed to continue their Eastern rites including a Slavonic [[liturgy]], married [[priest]]s, and communion with both wine and bread. Loyalties of the faithful between Orthodoxy and the Unia have varied over the ensuing centuries and tolerance between the ruling regimes and the people has varied as the borders changed. The [[martyr]]dom of [[Maxim Sandovich]] illustrates the tenseness of these relations.
