The Eastern Cross/Guides/Why so many Orthodox churches?
Greek, Russian, Antiochian, OCA…
Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian, Antiochian: one Church with one faith, organized as a family of local churches. Here's how it all fits together.
I · The big picture
The Orthodox Church is a family of self-governing churches. Each one has its own bishops, its own head and usually its own country, and all of them share the same faith, the same sacraments and one Communion. Orthodox Christians call this autocephaly, from the Greek for "self-headed".
It's the way the Church was organized from the beginning. In the New Testament, Paul writes to the church in Corinth, the church in Rome, the churches of Galatia: many local churches, one Church. A "Greek Orthodox" or "Russian Orthodox" parish is a parish of the Orthodox Church that belongs to the Greek or Russian local church, and keeps its language and customs.
Every parish belongs to a diocese, every diocese to a local church, and every local church to the one Orthodox Church.
There is no pope. Each church is led by a synod of its bishops, presided over by its patriarch, archbishop or metropolitan. When questions touch everyone, the churches meet in council, as they have since Nicaea in 325. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is "first among equals": first in honour, presiding when the churches gather, without authority over the other churches.
II · Who they are
The 16 self-governing churches, listed in their traditional order of honour. The four ancient patriarchates come first, then the churches that grew from them.
Istanbul · Patriarchate since the 4th century
First in honour among all the Orthodox churches. Besides Turkey, it oversees Crete, the Dodecanese islands, Mount Athos, and many dioceses abroad, including the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses of America and Canada.
Alexandria, Egypt · Founded by St. Mark, by tradition
The Orthodox Church of all Africa, with fast-growing dioceses from Kenya and Uganda to Congo and South Africa.
Damascus, Syria · 1st century
Where the disciples were first called Christians. Its faithful are mostly Arabic-speaking, in Syria, Lebanon and across the world, including the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America.
Jerusalem · 1st century
The mother church of all, guardian of the Holy Sepulchre and the holy places of the Holy Land.
Moscow · Self-governing since 1448, patriarchate since 1589
By far the largest Orthodox church, with dioceses across Russia, Belarus and beyond. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) belongs to it.
Belgrade · 1219, under St. Sava
The church of Serbia, Montenegro and the Serbs of Bosnia, with dioceses in North and South America and Australia.
Bucharest · 1885, patriarchate since 1925
The second-largest Orthodox church, with a strong monastic life and the painted monasteries of Moldavia.
Sofia · Patriarchate first in 927, restored 1953
The land where the disciples of Sts. Cyril and Methodius brought the Slavic alphabet, and where the Cyrillic script was born.
Tbilisi · Christian since St. Nino in the 4th century
One of the oldest Christian nations in the world, with its own alphabet, chant and ancient monasteries.
Nicosia · Self-governing since 431
Founded by Sts. Paul and Barnabas, and independent since the Council of Ephesus.
Athens · 1850
The church of most of Greece. Crete, the Dodecanese and Mount Athos belong to Constantinople instead.
Warsaw · 1924
A church of mostly Belarusian and Ukrainian heritage in eastern Poland. It returned to the Old Calendar in 2014.
Tirana · 1937
Rebuilt almost from nothing after 1991, when the communist ban on every religion in Albania ended.
Prague and Prešov · 1951, recognized by Constantinople in 1998
A small church in the land where Sts. Cyril and Methodius began their mission to the Slavs.
Kyiv · 2019, from Constantinople
Recognized by Constantinople, Alexandria, Greece and Cyprus, and rejected by Moscow and several others. Another church in Ukraine, historically tied to Moscow, also has millions of faithful.
Syosset, New York · 1970, from Moscow
The heir of the original Russian mission to Alaska. Moscow and several churches recognize it as self-governing. Constantinople and others don't, though they remain in communion with it.
This order follows Constantinople. The Russian Church lists Georgia sixth and the OCA in place of the Church of Ukraine. Besides these, several autonomous churches run their own affairs under a mother church, among them the churches of Finland, Estonia, Sinai, Japan and China.
III · History
In Greece there's the Church of Greece, and in Romania the Romanian Church. In Toronto or Chicago you can find a Greek, an Antiochian, a Serbian, a Ukrainian and an OCA parish within a few miles of each other, each with its own bishop.
That's because Orthodoxy came to the Americas with missionaries and immigrants, and history split them apart before they could grow together.
The Church's own canons say there should be one bishop in each city. The Council of Nicaea said so in 325. So every church agrees that overlapping dioceses are a temporary situation, and the bishops now meet together in national assemblies, in the United States and in Canada, to work toward one Orthodox Church for the continent.
IV · Today
The main canonical jurisdictions you'll meet in the United States and Canada, grouped by the church they belong to. All of them share one faith.
Constantinople
Antioch
Moscow
Serbia
Romania
Bulgaria
Georgia
Self-governing (OCA)
V · Visiting
Walk from a Greek parish into a Russian one and it will feel different. The faith underneath is the same.
The two calendars only affect the fixed feasts. Pascha (Easter) is celebrated by almost every Orthodox church on the same day. Our Orthodox calendar shows today on both, and our guide to your first Divine Liturgy explains what to expect inside any parish.
VI · Practical
A few small groups use the name "Orthodox" without being in communion with the churches above. Some broke away over the calendar, others never belonged. The easiest check is whether a parish belongs to one of the jurisdictions on this page.
Which one to choose? Usually the closest parish where you can pray in a language you understand, and where you'd like to get to know the people. Visit a few if you can. You aren't choosing a denomination.
VII · Questions
No. They are the same faith with the same sacraments, the same creed and the same Liturgy. "Greek" and "Russian" name the local church a parish belongs to and the language and customs it keeps. A Greek Orthodox Christian can go to Communion in a Serbian, Antiochian or OCA parish.
Christ. On earth each self-governing church is led by its own synod of bishops and its patriarch, archbishop or metropolitan. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first in honour, a kind of elder brother who presides when they meet, without the authority a pope has in the Catholic Church.
It means "self-headed": a church that chooses its own head and governs itself, while sharing one faith and one Communion with all the others. An autonomous church, like the churches of Finland, Sinai or Japan, governs itself day to day but its head is confirmed by a mother church.
Because the churches arrived with immigrants, and after the Russian Revolution each community organized under its own mother church. The Church's own canons ask for one bishop in each city, so everyone agrees the overlap is a temporary situation. Since 2010 the bishops meet together in national assemblies to work toward unity.
Both come from the Russian Church. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was organized by Russian bishops in exile after the Revolution, and since 2007 is a self-governing part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Orthodox Church in America grew from the original Russian mission to Alaska and was granted self-government by Moscow in 1970.
Almost all. Since 2018 the Russian Church has been out of communion with Constantinople over the church in Ukraine, so Russian Orthodox clergy and faithful, including ROCOR, don't receive Communion in parishes under Constantinople. Most other churches remain in communion with both. There are also groups using the Orthodox name that aren't in communion with any of the churches on this page, so check a parish in the Assembly of Bishops directory.
They are the Oriental Orthodox churches, which separated from the Eastern Orthodox after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. They are a separate family of churches. Our guide to the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox explains how they differ.
Usually the parish closest to you where you can pray and grow, in a language you understand. Every canonical jurisdiction has the same faith and sacraments, so choosing between them is about community, language and distance.
VIII · Sources
Where this page's history and facts come from.
Spotted an error? Tell us on our Discord and we'll fix it.
The Eastern Cross is a Discord server where Orthodox Christians from every jurisdiction, and people just looking into Orthodoxy, talk, pray and learn together. Pick your jurisdiction role when you join.
Request Entry