The Orthodox Church is thus a family of self-governing
Churches. It is held together, not by a centralized organization, not by a
single prelate wielding absolute power over the whole body, but by the double
bond of unity in the faith and communion in the sacraments. Each Church, while
independent, is in full agreement with the rest on all matters of doctrine, and
between them all there is full sacramental communion. (Certain divisions exist
among the Russian Orthodox, but the situation here is altogether exceptional
and, one hopes, temporary in character).
There is in Orthodoxy no one with an
equivalent position to the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church. The Patriarch of
Constantinople is known as the "Ecumenical" (or universal) Patriarch, and since
the schism between east and west he has enjoyed a position of special honor
among all the Orthodox communities; but he does not have the right to interfere
in the internal affairs of other Churches. His place resembles that of the
Archbishop of Canterbury in the worldwide Anglican communion.
This decentralized system of independent local Churches has
the advantage of being highly flexible, and is easily adapted to changing
conditions. Local Churches can be created, suppressed, and then restored again,
with very little disturbance to the life of the Church as a whole. Many of these
local Churches are also national Churches, for during the past in Orthodox
countries Church and State have usually been closely linked. But while an
independent State often possesses its own autocephalous Church, ecclesiastical
divisions do not necessarily coincide with State boundaries. Georgia, for
instance, lies within the U.S.S.R., but is not part of the Russian Church, while
the territories of the four ancient Patriarchates fall politically in several
different countries. The Orthodox Church is a federation of local, but not in
every case national, Churches. It does not have as its basis the
political principle of the State Church.
Among the various Churches there is, as can be seen, an
enormous variation in size, with Russia at one extreme and Sinai at the other.
The different Churches also vary in age, some dating back to Apostolic times,
while others are less than a generation old. The Church of Czechoslovakia, for
example, only became autocephalous in 1951.
Such are the Churches which make up the Orthodox communion
as it is today. They are known collectively by various titles. Sometimes they
are called the Greek or Greco-Russian Church; but this is
incorrect, since there are many millions of Orthodox who are neither Greek nor
Russian. Orthodox themselves often call their Church the Eastern Orthodox
Church, the Orthodox Catholic Church, the Orthodox Catholic Church
of the East, or the like. These titles must not be misunderstood, for while
Orthodoxy considers itself to be the true Catholic Church, it is not part of the
Roman Catholic Church; and although Orthodoxy calls itself eastern, it is
not something limited to eastern people. Another name often employed is the
Holy Orthodox Church. Perhaps it is least misleading and most convenient
to use the shortest title: the Orthodox Church.
Orthodoxy claims to be universal — not something exotic and
oriental, but simple Christianity. Because of human failings and the accidents
of history, the Orthodox Church has been largely restricted in the past to
certain geographical areas. Yet to the Orthodox themselves their Church is
something more than a group of local bodies. The word "Orthodoxy" has the double
meaning of "right belief" and "right glory" (or "right worship"). The Orthodox,
therefore, make what may seem at first a surprising claim: they regard their
Church as the Church which guards and teaches the true belief about God and
which glorifies Him with right worship, that is, as nothing less than the Church
of Christ on earth. How this claim is understood, and what the Orthodox think of
other Christians who do not belong to their Church, it is part of the aim of
this book to explain.
From "The Orthodox Church" by Timothy Ware.
