Home > Autocephaly
In hierarchical Christian churches, especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical church whose head 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 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. For example, the Cypriot Orthodox Church was granted autocephaly by the Council of Ephesus and is ruled by the Archbishop of Cyprus, who is not subject to any higher ecclesiastical authority, although his church remains in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox churches. Similarly, the Tewahedo Church of Ethiopia was granted autocephaly by the Coptic pope in 1950, and the Orthodox Church in America was granted autocephaly by the Patriarch of Moscow in 1970. (The Greek Orthodox ChurchGreek Orthodox Church can refer to: the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also the "first among equals" of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. the Church of Greece, which has been autocephalous since 1833. in North America is not autocephalous, but is subject to the Patriarch of ConstantinopleThe Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch the " first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. In this capacity he serves as spiritual leader and primary spokesperson for the Communion (hence "first"), but has no official authori.)One step short of autocephaly is autonomyAutonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. In politics, a self-governing city or region, e. Kurdistan, Kosovo or Hong Kong SAR (not necessarily as a result of formal secession), is autonomous . True autonomy is usually a. A church that is autonomous has its highest-ranking bishop, such as a patriarch or metropolitan, appointed by the patriarch of the parent church, but is self-governing in all other respects. For instance, the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America became autonomous in 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom.
See also Episcopalian church governanceEpiscopalian government in the church is rule by a hierarchy of bishops (Greek: episcopoi . Episcopalian government is adopted by the majority of churches, and for most of the history of Christianity it has been the only form known to Christendom. There a.
Eastern OrthodoxyEastern Orthodox Christianity (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox) is the modern name primarily applied to the Christian church that claims to be the original historical church started by Christ Jesus and his Apostles 2000 years ago. They claim unbroken apo
Oriental Orthodoxy
