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| - On the basis of the numbers of adherents, Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church, and the third largest grouping overall after Protestantism. There are approximately 240 million Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. Eastern Orthodoxy is the largest single religious denomination in Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Serbia and many nations in Eastern Europe, but there are also large Orthodox communities in Africa, Asia, North America and Australia.
- One of the two Churches resulting from the 11th century Great Schism of the Christian Church, the other being the Roman Catholic Church. The schism gradually developed; for several centuries before the formal break, contact had been intermittent between the Eastern and Western churches, with each pretty much running its own show. As a result, when the schism occurred, each side could honestly believe "we never changed, they left us". The "Great Schism" is generally dated from when a Papal legate and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other in 1054, but it had been a long time coming; go to [[wikipedia:East%E2%80%93West Schism|the Other Wiki]] if you want all the gorey details.
- Orthodox Christianity is a generalized reference to the Eastern traditions of Christianity, as opposed to the Western traditions which descend through, or alongside of, the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodoxy is a Christian body whose adherents are largely based in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with a growing presence in the western world. Eastern Orthodox Christians subscribe to the first seven ecumenical councils. It claims to be the original Christian church founded by Christ and the Apostles, and traces its lineage back to the early church through the process of Apostolic Succession. Eastern Orthodox distinctives include the Divine Liturgy, Mysteries or Sacraments, organization into self-governing jurisdictions, and an emphasis on the preservation of Tradition, which it hold
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| abstract
| - Orthodox Christianity is a generalized reference to the Eastern traditions of Christianity, as opposed to the Western traditions which descend through, or alongside of, the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodoxy is a Christian body whose adherents are largely based in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with a growing presence in the western world. Eastern Orthodox Christians subscribe to the first seven ecumenical councils. It claims to be the original Christian church founded by Christ and the Apostles, and traces its lineage back to the early church through the process of Apostolic Succession. Eastern Orthodox distinctives include the Divine Liturgy, Mysteries or Sacraments, organization into self-governing jurisdictions, and an emphasis on the preservation of Tradition, which it holds to be Apostolic in nature. It is estimated that there are 250 million Orthodox Christians in the world although this number is probably high. Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keep the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church—the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus - and rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. Hence, these churches are also called Old Oriental Churches. Nestorian churches refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keep the faith of only the first two ecumenical councils of the undivided Church - the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople. These churches are also called the Church of the East or the Assyrian Church of the East. The Nestorian churches are sometimes classified under "Oriental Orthodox" churches as well.
- One of the two Churches resulting from the 11th century Great Schism of the Christian Church, the other being the Roman Catholic Church. The schism gradually developed; for several centuries before the formal break, contact had been intermittent between the Eastern and Western churches, with each pretty much running its own show. As a result, when the schism occurred, each side could honestly believe "we never changed, they left us". The "Great Schism" is generally dated from when a Papal legate and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other in 1054, but it had been a long time coming; go to [[wikipedia:East%E2%80%93West Schism|the Other Wiki]] if you want all the gorey details. No Pope (one of the main reasons for the split, and the biggest obstacle to reunification in the present); the church is instead led by several Patriarchs, each responsible for a different region. Cyril I is the current Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, by far the largest church, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (currently Bartholomew I) is considered "first among equals". Married men can become priests, priests' wives are important in the church. Some jurisdictions follow a different calendar from the Catholic church (the Julian calendar, originated in Ancient Rome, which is considered the "holy calendar"), thus Christmas takes place January 7th. Others use a Revised Julian calendar that is almost exactly the same as the secular calendar (but will diverge at some point in the future); however, almost all of those churches still calculate Easter and related holidays according to the old calendar (yes, it's complicated). Easter ("Paskha") can be up to several weeks after Catholic Easter, both from the difference in calendar and by being determined by a different method. The look-and-feel of the religion is very similar to Catholicism, much more than to Protestantism: there are bishops, monks, nuns, saints and other pre-Reformational trappings. Church services have lots of chanting, gold vestments, incense, candles. But the liturgical languages are Greek, Old Church Slavonic or the national language of the country the particular Church is from (e.g., Japanese in Japan, English in the OCA, etc.) and the spirituality is decidedly more "Eastern" than western churches (see for an example). Orthodox Christians make the sign of the cross up-down-right-left, whereas Catholics go up-down-left-right; in some spy stories, a westerner might give himself away by crossing himself the wrong way while saying grace. This religion has strong historical ties to the Eastern Roman Empire, which is why a good deal of the religion is centred on historically Greek areas (Alexandria, in Egypt, for instance), and beyond Russia the religion is predominant in much of the Balkans including Greece. There are also "Eastern Catholic" churches, which look and smell like Orthodox churches, and have many Orthodox practices (including even married priests), but are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and accept the Pope's authority. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is one of the largest and best known of these. Note about married priests: a married man may become a priest, but a priest may not marry. Thus, while a married man can continue to live with and have marital relations with his wife (subject to fasting restrictions), he cannot take a wife after he has been ordained, regardless of whether or not he was married when ordained. The same rules apply to Catholic deacons and the rare instances of married Latin Rite Catholic priests.
- On the basis of the numbers of adherents, Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church, and the third largest grouping overall after Protestantism. There are approximately 240 million Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. Eastern Orthodoxy is the largest single religious denomination in Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Serbia and many nations in Eastern Europe, but there are also large Orthodox communities in Africa, Asia, North America and Australia.
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