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::Patriarch Alexii regards the Russian Orthodox Church as a "Local Church". Similarly Metropolitan Kalistos Ware in "The Orthodox Church" (eg p7 2nd edition). [[User:Chrisg|Chrisg]] 15:10, July 3, 2008 (UTC)
There is more than one sense of "local" when it modifies "Church." When it is discussed in ecclesiology, "local Church" usually refers to the diocese. As Metropolitan John Zizioulas points out, New Testament usage refers to the Church (singular) of a city. The local Church is the Church gathered around the bishop. It is a commonplace of ecclesiology that the local Church, i.e., the diocese, is the "whole" Church. It is not lacking. As Metropolitan Kallistos himself writes, "In particular, the fullness of the local Church is not to be found in each eucharistic celebration considered in isolation: it is to be found rather in the local diocese – all the priests and eucharistic gatherings in communion with the local bishop, who in his turn is in communion with all the other bishops of the universal Church" ("How to Build the Local Church."(http://www.exarchate-uk.org/Exarchate/Local_church.html)
