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From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Second question--my understanding is that although the
>Patriarch is the head of the Orthodox church, the church
>itself, after the fall of Constantinople, divided into several
>national churches.
Dear Pat,
Now we are geting into the particulars of the Machabees, I can't rely on
memory and need to start looking up references which I shall do later
today.
The Patriarch (you mean Constantinople?) is NOT the head of the Orthodox
Church. The Orthodox Church is not an accurate picture of what is a
family of fully independent autocephalous Churches, numbering 17 or so
in today's world. For the Orthodox Jesus Christ alone is the head of
the His Church.
Various ancient Orthodox Churches are headed by their own Patriarchs;
more juvenile ones by Archbishops. Theologically and sacramentally
indistinguishable, but enjoying hierarchical and administrative
independence one from the other.
It is true that Western newspapers seem to unfailingly posit the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as the spiritual leader of the
world's 350 million Orthodox, but they have the wrong picture (although,
getting down and dirty, the Ec. Patriarch may well go to sleep at night
happier to be thought of as an Eastern equivalent of the Pope!)
This system of autocephalous Local (= national)Churches was established
by the Ecumenical Councils, and maybe Bill will deal with this in "The
Threatened Series"?
Fr Ambrose
Today, is there significant
>difference in practice between, say, the Armenian Orthodox Church and
the
>Russian Orthodox Church?
>
>Thank you again.
>
>pat sloane
>
>
>
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