Reference
Reference information: The Orthodox Church is a family of "autocephalous" (self governing) churches, with the Ecumenical (= universal) Patriarch of Constantinople holding titular or honorary primacy as primus inter pares (the first among equals). The Orthodox Church is not a centralized organization headed by a pontiff. The unity of the Church is rather manifested in common faith and communion in the sacraments and no one but Christ himself is the real head of the Church. The number of autocephalous churches has varied in history. Today there are many: the Church of Constantinople (Istanbul), the Church of Alexandria (Egypt), the Church of Antioch (with headquarters in Damascus, Syria), and the Churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania and America There are also "autonomous" churches (retaining a token canonical dependence upon a mother see) in Czech and Slovak republic, Sinai, Crete, Finland, Japan, China and Ukraine. In addition there is also a large Orthodox Diaspora scattered all over the world and administratively divided among various jurisdictions (dependencies of the above mentioned autocephalous churches). The first nine autocephalous churches are headed by patriarchs, the others by archbishops or metropolitans. These titles are strictly honorary as all bishops are completely equal in the power granted to them by the Holy Spirit. https://annunciationscranton.org/whatisorthodoxy
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The head of the Orthodox Church of Antioch is called the Patriarch. The present Patriarch of Antioch is John X (Yazigi), who previously presided over the Archdiocese of Western and Central Europe (2008–2013). He was elected as primate of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East as John X of Antioch on December 17, 2012. The Patriarchate is the center for millions of Antiochian Orthodox faithful all over the world and includes the following Archdioceses: In the Middle East: Antioch and Damascus and Dependencies Akkar and Dependencies Aleppo, Alexandretta and Dependencies Bosra, Horan and Jabal al-Arab Baghdad, Kuwait and Dependencies Beirut and Dependencies Byblos, Batroun and Dependencies Hama and Dependencies Homs and Dependencies Lattakia and Dependencies Tripoli, Al-Koura, and Dependencies Tyre, Sidon and Dependencies Zahleh, Baalbek, and Dependencies https://antiochianprodsa.blob.core.windows.net/websiteattach...
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By 2019, the Orthodox Church of America now reaches, with its Dependencies, throughout all the world, with Provinces in Africa, Australasia, Europe and in America...all "holding fast" to the same Apostolic Doctrine and Faith of the Early Undivided Church of the Seven Ecumenical Councils...being "Orthodox: in Faith and "Catholic" in Communion...witnessing Jesus Christ into all the world. https://oca-uaoc.org/index.html In 1975 the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New York and North America combined with the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Toledo, Ohio, and Dependencies in North America, to form the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1139563?c=people
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The Episcopal Assemblies, the new effort to establish hierarchical unity for the Orthodox in America, accepts the assumption that there is a division within the universal Church between “mother” churches and then some form of immature/infant churches. The immature churches in this thinking apparently do not hold the fullness of the Faith, and are somehow less full or less catholic than the mother churches and so must keep a dependency on the mother churches. When any Orthodox “jurisdiction” acts as if it is a dependency on a “mother” church rather than the fullness of faith incarnate in its locality in North America, then it is denying Orthodox ecclesiology. https://frted.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/mother-churches/
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The first question that arises concerning Ukraine is this: with what right and based on which holy canons, does Russia today claim the ecclesiastical and administrative dependency of the Metropolis of Kyiv? The jurisdiction of each autocephalous Church (excepting the ancient Patriarchates and the Church of Cyprus, whose boundaries were established by Ecumenical Councils) is established and recorded in the tomos granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. If, therefore, we refer to the Chrisoboulo, which the Patriarchate of Moscow received in 1590 from Constantinople, we will discover that the Metropolis of Kyiv is not included amongst her jurisdictions. Talk of a 1030-year relationship between Moscow and Kyiv is an argument likely belonging to the context of “Russian-ecclesiastical diplomacy,” but is not a fact—something easily demonstrated by historical sources. https://risu.ua/en/a-different-approach-to-the-ecclesiastica...
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Church of Imereti and Abkhazia: Granted autocephaly by the Church of Antioch in the 1470s, but suppressed by the Russian Empire in 1814 and continued to be a dependency of the Church of Moscow and all Russia until 1917 when it was reunited with Church of Georgia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodox_Church_of_Antio...
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Eastern Orthodox Church organization The Orthodox Church is a communion comprising the fourteen or sixteen separate autocephalous hierarchical churches that recognize each other as "canonical" Orthodox Christian churches. Each constituent church is self-governing; its highest-ranking bishop (a patriarch, a metropolitan or an archbishop) reports to no higher earthly authority. Each regional church is composed of constituent eparchies (or dioceses) ruled by bishops. Some autocephalous churches have given an eparchy or group of eparchies varying degrees of autonomy (self-government). Such autonomous churches maintain varying levels of dependence on their mother church, usually defined in a Tomos or other document of autonomy. In many cases, autonomous churches are almost completely self-governing, with the mother church retaining only the right to appoint the highest-ranking bishop (an archbishop or metropolitan) of the autonomous church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church_organi... Also see , including interesting diagram: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocephaly
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And: with for example: The transfer of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 enabled the latter to free itself from its ecclesiastical dependency on Heraclea and in little more than half a century to obtain this recognition of next-after-Rome ranking from the first Council held within its walls. Alexandria's objections to Constantinople's promotion, which led to a constant struggle between the two sees in the first half of the 5th century,[21] were supported, at least until the Fourth Council of Constantinople of 869–870, by Rome, which proposed the theory that the most important sees were the three Petrine ones, with Rome in first place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentarchy
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Interesting. I had seen this already, but refrained from mentioning it in order not to complicate matters further. I mean, I saw 'dependency', can have two (or more) meanings in this context. However, I looked now at it directly and, actually, there's Wiki reference about it: A metochion or metochi (Greek: μετόχιον, romanized: metóchion or Greek: μετόχι, romanized: metóchi; Russian: подворье, romanized: podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or autonomous church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation (or dependency) of a monastery or a patriarch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metochion I think they may be talking about parish representations here: The Archdiocese of Aleppo, Alexandretta and Dependencies Het aartsbisdom Aleppo, Alexandretta en parochies die het aartsbisdom vertegenwoordigen
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Tom, could you explain why you opted for 'suffragane bisdommen'. Would be interesting to see what I miss. Thank you! Barend
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