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Orthodox Organization

The Orthodox Church of today consists of fifteen (or fourteen; for a time there was a political disagreement over the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America) autocephalous (self governing) churches and five autonomous churches, sometimes referred to as jurisdictions. Autocephalous churches are fully self-governing in all they do, while autonomous churches must have their primates confirmed by one of the autocephalous churches, usually its mother church. All the Orthodox churches remain in full communion with one another, sharing the same faith and praxis. There have been occasional breaks in communion due to various problems throughout history, but they generally remain brief and not developing into full schism. The Patriarchate of Constantinople is also the Ecumenical Patriarchate and has the status of "first among equals" among the Orthodox Churches. The most common estimates of the number of Orthodox Christians worldwide is approximately 225-300 million individuals.

The organization for the general government of the different Eastern Orthodox Churches varies in different countries. In general, there is a council at the head of which, as president, is a bishop elected usually by the people. Historically, and at present in some cases, this presiding bishop is called patriarch, and has special collegiates and officers for the purpose of governing his flock. The largest or most important of the bishoprics connected with the patriarchate or synod are called "metropolitan sees," though the title carries with it no special ecclesiastical authority. In early times, both the clergy and the laity of the local churches had a voice in the election of bishops, priests, and deacons, but of late that right has been much restricted, and the priests and deacons are usually appointed by the bishops, and the bishops are subject to the approval of the civil authorities.

Patriarch

This title, borrowed from the Jews, was originally given to all bishops. But, by the fifth century, the title had become restricted to the bishops of a few of the most eminent cities of the Empire, who exercised some jurisdiction over the other metropolitans of their district. The term is first used in this confined sense by the ecclesiastical historian Socrates, A.D. 440, and authoritatively by the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. The Bishops of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, as the heads of Churches of Apostolic foundation, claimed the title in a special sense; but with these were generally associated the Bishops of Constantinople and Jerusalem, the former from the political, and the latter from the religious, importance of his See. The powers of the patriarchs varied in different parts. Theypresidcd atthelocal councils,and claimed the right of consecrating, and sometimes also of nominating, the metropolitans and inferior bishops of their province, and, in fact, exercised the supervision of their district generally.

The Four Patriarchs acting in association are undoubtedly the most venerable and authoritative institution in the Orthodox Church. The Greek Church was distributed into many nations, the Iberians, Colchians, Arabs, Chaldeans, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Muscovites, Kussians, Bulgarians, Servians or Sclavians, Albanians, Caramanians, Wallachians, Moldavians and Greeks. In the late 19th Century the Orthodox Church of Austria-Hungary consisted of Serbs, Rumanians and Ruthenians resident in the empire, under distinct heads, while the Orthodox Church of Montenegro was under the rule of bishops.

All these nations preserve the faith of Christ, obeying the Greek Church and their own rules. These nations had four lawful Patriarchs among whom the Patriarch of Constantinople held the first place, the Patriarch of Alexandria the second, the Patriarch of Antioch the third and the Patriarch of Jerusalem the last. The most famous occasions on which the collegiate power of the four Patriarchs has been exercised have been in connexion with the Church of Russia. In 1642 a Synod over which the four Patriarchs presided approved a confession of the Orthodox faith of the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ submitted by the Church of Russia. In 1593 the four Patriarchs approved of the erection of the Church of Russia into a separate Patriarchate. The four Patriarchs have acted together on occasions when such joint action was thought necessary for the good of the Church, for example, on the occasion of the troubles in the Church of Alexandria. In 1847 the three Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem by their representatives took part in the election and consecration of Hierotheos as Patriarch of Alexandria. It appears clear that never at any time during the history of the Church have the four Patriarchs been held to constitute a supreme authority for the determination of disputes arising in the autocephalous Churches. All that can be said is that the august and venerable nature of their offices gives a profound weight to their fraternal advice, particularly when it is tendered as the result of common consideration.

Metropolitan

A metropolitan town is the capital, or mother city, from which colonies are sent. It has been said that metropolitans in the ecclesiastical sense are of apostolical institution, or that at least the Apostles prepared the way for them, inasmuch as when travelling about they chose the civil metropolis as the best place to fix their head-quarters and to found the Church. The term was not used till the fourth century; but the Council of Nice speaks of the existence of metropolitans as no new thing, and, in fact, treats the still more extensive authority of the Bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome as established by ancient custom. The Council of Antioch has explicit decrees as to the precedency of the bishop of the metropolis, and as to the necessity of his presence when questions of a general nature are discussed, but with a strong reservation as to the powers of each bishop in matters affecting merely his own diocese. On the breaking up of the Roman Empire the disturbances made it difficult for distant bishops to attend the Councils, which led to independent action on the part of the metropolitans. In Africa the right of a metropolitan was not dependent upon the civil metropolis, but on the priority of the episcopal character; thus the eldest bishop in a province was metropolitan. The privileges of a metropolitan in a province were [1] to have precedency of the other bishops; [2] to consecrate the bishops of the province; [3] to call a provincial council for preserving orthodoxy and discipline. In England there are two metropolitans, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

In Orthodoxy, the bishop is the leading church officer, and all bishops have exactly the same sacramental position in guiding the people of God. All bishops, regardless of their title or the size and importance of their diocese, are identically equal with regard to their sacramental position. None is higher or greater than the other; none rules over another. A bishop of a large and important area of leadership (usually called a diocese) may be called archbishop or metropolitan, the latter meaning simply the bishop of a chief city, a metropolis. The patriarch is the bishop of the most important city and diocese in a local church and is normally the leading bishop of a country (patria means country). This is especially the case when within the self-governing church of which the Patriarch is primate there are other bishops with metropolitan sees. For example, in Russia the bishop of Moscow is the patriarch; the bishops of Kiev and Leningrad are metropolitans; and there are other archbishops and bishops within the local church. The term "archpriest" is awarded to certain married clergy. A somewhat comparable term for monastic clergy is "archimandrite," although this generally designates the head of a monastery. While the term "protopresbyter" (first- or lead-priest) could almost literally be translated as "archpriest," it is often used as a separate designation for certain clergy in highly visible or distinguished positions.

The espisconate is, as a rule, confined to members of the monastic order. A married priest, should his wife die or enter a convent, may enter a monastery and take monastic vows, and then be eligible to the episcopate. The parishes are, as a rule, in the care of the secular priests. Monks are gathered in monasteries; in some of these they live in communities, while in others they lead a secluded, hermitical life, each in his own cel1. There is but one order, and the vows for all are the same, obedience, chastity, prayer, fasting, and poverty.

Exarch

In ecclesiastical language an exarch was, at first, a metropolitan whose jurisdiction extended beyond his own (metropolitical) province, over other metropolitans. Thus, as late as the time of the Council of Chalcedon (451), the patriarchs are still called exarchs (can. ix). When the name "patriarch" became the official one for the Bishops of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch (and later of Constantinople and Jerusalem), the other title was left as the proper style of the metropolitans who ruled over the three remaining (political) dioceses of Diocletian's division of the Eastern Prefecture, namely the Exarchs of Asia (at Ephesus), of Cappadocia and Pontus (at Cesárea), and of Thrace (at Heraclea). The advance of Constantinople put an end to these exarchates, which fell back to the state of ordinary metropolitan sees (Fortescue, Orth. Eastern Church, 21-25). But the title of exarch was still occasionally used for any metropolitan (so at Sardica in 343, can. vi). Since the use of all these titles became gradually fixed with definite technical meanings, that of exarch has disappeared in the West, being replaced by the names Apostolic vicar" and then "primate". Peter the Great, after abolishing the Patriarchate of Moscow (1702), for twenty years before he founded the Russian Holy Directing Synod, appointed a vicegerent with the title of exarch as president of a ternporary governing commission. Since Russia destroyed the old independent Georgian Church (1802) the Primate of Georgia (always a Russian) sits in the Holy Synod at St. Petersburg with the title of Exarch of Georgia.

Bishops

There are three orders of the ministry - deacons, priests, and bishops. All the bishops of the Church, no matter their titles, are equal in their sacramental office. The various titles given to bishops are simply administrative or honorific in their essence. At an ecumenical council, each bishop may cast only one vote, whether he is the Ecumenical Patriarch or simply an auxiliary bishop without a diocese. Thus, there is no equivalent to the Roman Catholic papacy within the Orthodox Church.

The deacons assist in the work of the parish and in the service of the sacraments. Priests and deacons are of two orders, secular and monastic. Marriage is allowed to candidates for the diaconate and the priesthood, but is forbidden after ordination. Only men can be priests in the Orthodox church, but Orthodox priests can marry. There are two ranks of clergy; there's married and unmarried. The married clergy have to be married before they are ordained a deacon, and can become a deacon and a priest, and have children and a family, but cannot rise up in the hierarchy past priest.

Archimandrite

Archimandrite, a superior or general abbot in the Greek church, exercising supervision over several abbeys and monasteries. In the Greek church the archimandrite is subordinate to the bishop of the diocese, having, however, some episcopal functions in the ceremonial of worship. In Sicily, some abbots of monasteries of the order of St. Basil, founded by the Greek church, are called archimandrites. Abbots of monasteries of the United Greeks, established chiefly in Russian Poland, Galicia, and Hungary, are also called archimandrites. The term seems to have originated during the fourth century in the far East (Mesopotamia, Persia), and to have spread thence to Egypt and Asia Minor. In the fifth and succeeding centuries it occurs frequently in the writings of the Greek Fathers, also in the acts of councils, and was even adopted quite extensively in the West where it did not disappear from occasional usage until the ninth century. Originally the archimandrite seems to have been only the superior or abbot of his own monastery; gradually, however, he came to exercise authority over a number of monasteries, and by the eleventh century the archimandrites of such monastic centres as Mount Athos, and Mount Olympus in Bithynia, were the equivalent of the Western abbots-general.

There are two kinds of archimandrites - the original monastic officers exercising jurisdiction in their respective monasteries, and honorary archimandrites and well-educated priests attached to the chanceries of the great patriarchates (e. g. Constantinople), or at the head of certain branches of temporal administration; in a word, not unlike the Roman prelates or the principal officers of a Western diocese. The office is found not only in all Greek Churches subject to Constantinople, but also in the Russian, Bulgarian, and other socalled autocephalous Churches, that once owed allegiance to that patriarchal see; it exists also among the Catholic (Melchite or Uniat) Greeks. It is not known among the Armenians, Chaldeans, Syrians, Maronites, Copts, or Abyssinians.