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Further, even the idea The stance that any mother church can grant a daughter church autocephaly is not supported by history or the canons as they now stand. The modern conception of autocephaly postdates the primary formation of the Orthodox canonical tradition by some centuries, and so the canons don't currently directly address the question of how one obtains autocephaly in the 21st century.:
The truth is "Further, even the idea that, historically and canonically, there is no one way to attain any mother church can grant a daughter church autocephaly. Why? It is because there is no "theology of autocephaly" to be found in the [[Church Fathers|Fathers]] not supported by history or the [[Holy Scripture]]canons as they now stand. Indeed, the very idea The modern conception of autocephaly probably would have seemed a little odd to postdates the [[apostles]]. That doesn't mean that it is wrong, but autocephalous and [[autonomy|autonomous]] churches are not essential to the nature primary formation of the [[Church]]. That is, they are not inherently [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] matters. They are a practical, administrative, Orthodox canonical developmenttradition by some centuries, and they continue to develop, though within so the canons don't currently directly address the context question of ecclesiologyhow one obtains autocephaly in the 21st century.
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'''Autocephaly''' (literally "self-headed") is the status of a church within the [[Orthodox Church]] whose [[primate|primatial]] bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. When an [[ecumenical council]] or a high-ranking [[bishop]], such as a [[patriarch]] or other [[primate]], releases an [[Ecclesiastical Province|ecclesiastical province ]] from the authority of that bishop while the newly independent church remains in [[full communion]] with the hierarchy to which it then ceases to belong, the council or primate is granting '''autocephaly'''. Historically, however, autocephaly is not always obtained in such a manner.
==Church usage==
* The [[Church of Russia]] declared independence from the [[Church of Constantinople]] in 1448 and then in 1589 styled its primate as ''[[patriarch]]''.
* The [[Church of Greece]] declared autocephaly in 1833 but was not granted a ''[[tomos]]'' for it by [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]] until 1850.
* The [[Church of Romania]] declared its autocephaly in 1865 with strong protests from [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]], who eventually recognized the autocephaly in 1885.
* The [[Church of Albania]] claimed its autocephaly in 1922, which was recognized by [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]] in 1937.
* In 466, the [[Church of Antioch]] elevated the bishop of Mtskheta to the rank of Catholicos of Kartli, thus rendering the [[Church of Georgia]] autocephalous.
* The [[Orthodox Church in America]] received autocephaly from the [[Church of Russia]] in 1970 (though that action is still not formally recognized by any many of the older other autocephalous churches).
==New autocephalous churches==
The notion that the [[Church of Constantinople]] has the sole authority to grant autocephaly is largely based on an interpretation of Canon 28 of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council|Council of Chalcedon]] (451) stating that the Ecumenical Patriarch has authority in "barbarian lands." However, that is argued by many to refer only to certain areas on the borderlands of the ancient [[Roman Empire]] and having nothing whatsoever to do with the modern world some 1500 years later. Historically (see above), many of today's autocephalous churches were originally under the authority of Constantinople by virtue of geographical proximity or a tradition of Constantinopolitan missionary activity. So what may seem like a clear pattern of ecclesiastical order to some is argued by others to be merely coincidental and not [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]].
There is, however, a good deal more historical evidence to suggest that Constantinople has a sort of missionary authority in the areas outside those territories which have been explicitly defined by pan-Orthodox synods to constitute autocephalous churches.[http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8148.asp] This claim is disputed particularly by the [[Church of Russia]] and its daughter and dependency churches,[http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/PatAlexisCanon28.shtml] especially sometimes as an expression of the idea that Moscow is the [[Third Rome]].
=== Patterns of Autocephaly ===
The truth is that, historically and canonically, there is no one pattern which does seem way to prevail attain autocephaly. Why? It is that autocephaly because there is an expression no "theology of autocephaly" to be found in the [[Church Fathers|Fathers]] or the [[Holy Scripture]]. Indeed, the whole community very idea of Orthodox churches and that autocephaly probably would have seemed a little odd to the voice of [[apostles]]. That doesn't mean that community it is most often found in wrong, but autocephalous and [[autonomy|autonomous]] churches are not essential to the leadership nature of the first among them, the [[Church of Constantinople]]. Where autocephaly That is proclaimed without Constantinople's assent, it historically tends they are not inherently [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] matters. They are a practical, administrative, canonical development, and they continue to find itself on difficult grounddevelop, though within the context of ecclesiology."
is dated in the last decade of the 20th century, and is contradicted by history, the most notable example being the autocephalia of Georgian Patriarchate.
The one pattern which does seem to prevail is that autocephaly is an expression of the whole community of Orthodox churches and that the voice of that community is most often found in the leadership of the first among them, the Church of Constantinople. Where autocephaly is proclaimed without Constantinople's assent, it historically tends to find itself on difficult ground.
== See also ==
* [http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8131.asp Unity and Autocephaly: Mutually Exclusive?], by Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos, a canonist at [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)]]
* [http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8148.asp The Origins and Authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church], by [[Demetrios Constantelos|Demetrios J. Constantelos]]
* [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/PatAlexisCanon28.shtml A Letter To The Ecumenical Patriarch Concerning The Situation Of The Diaspora], by Patr. [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow]]
* [http://www.oca.org/QAindex-autocephaly.asp?SID=3 Questions and Answers on Autocephaly], an ''apologia'' for the [[OCA]]'s autocephaly by Fr. [[Thomas Hopko]] (1971)
* [http://www.holy-trinity.org/modern/theodosius.html The Path to Autocephaly and Beyond: "Miles to go before we sleep"], a reflection on the [[OCA]]'s autocephaly by Metropolitan [[Theodosius (Lazor) of Washington]], its former primate (1995)
* [http://www.oca.org/DOCindex-autocephaly.asp?SID=12 Agreement on the Autocephaly for the Orthodox Church in America], Agreement made by [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate]], and the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America
* [http://www.imd.gr/html/en/section02/ecclesia/01/01/01.htm ''The Role Of The Protos Or Primate In The Church Of Greece,''] a presentation given by [[Metropolitan]] [[Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens|Christodoulos]] of Demetrias (now later Archbishop of Athens) to the VIII International Congress of the Society ïn Canon Law of the Eastern Churches.
[[Category:Ecclesiology]]
