With more than 200 million followers, Eastern Orthodoxy is one of the three main divisions of Christianity. The other divisions are Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Eastern Orthodoxy is made up of a family of national Christian churches. Each Orthodox church has its own language and customs, but they all share the same beliefs and a similar tradition of worship. The word orthodox comes from the ancient Greek words orthos, meaning “rightly,” and doxa, which means “opinion.”

Beliefs and practices

Orthodox church services appeal to the senses. Incense is burned as the priest chants the words of the service and is answered in song by the choir and the congregation. Around the church are many icons, or holy pictures.

The Orthodox church building is designed to represent the universe. A large icon of Jesus is often painted on the ceiling, which represents heaven. The floor of the church represents the world. At the far end of the church is the sanctuary, where the altar stands. The sanctuary is separated from the main floor of the church by a large screen called an iconostasis. Only the priests, on behalf of the people, may enter this part of the church.

Every Sunday, Orthodox churches celebrate their most important service, the Divine Liturgy, during which the faithful receive Holy Communion. Holy Communion is considered one of the seven sacraments, or holy ceremonies, of the Orthodox church. The others are baptism and chrismation, confession, marriage, ordination, and anointing of the sick.

Organization

Eastern Orthodoxy consists of a group of independent churches, most of which are associated with a particular country. They are the churches of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey), Alexandria (Egypt), Antioch (Syria), Jerusalem, Russia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia, Albania, Poland, Finland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and America. The patriarch, or leader, of Constantinople is the general representative of Eastern Orthodoxy, but all of the Orthodox churches are independent, and each church elects its own head. In addition there are churches in Ukraine, Finland, and Japan that have some measure of independence, though they maintain ties to one of the above churches.

History

During its first four centuries, Christianity grew from a small group of followers to the official religion of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century AD, the western part of the Roman Empire fell to invaders. The pope emerged as the leader of the church in the lands of the former empire. The eastern part of the empire, however, survived for another 1,000 years as the Byzantine Empire. The patriarch of Constantinople, which was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, became the head of the Eastern church.

The patriarch of Constantinople refused to recognize the pope as the supreme head of the entire church. The Eastern and Western churches also disagreed on some religious issues. They slowly grew apart over several centuries and made a final separation in 1054. Leaders of both churches attempted to reunite but were not successful. The two churches came to be called the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox Catholic church.

The Muslim Turks conquered the last part of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. This lessened the power and importance of the Orthodox churches in the former empire. The Russian church, which was outside the Byzantine Empire, was the only church that remained free of Turkish rule. It therefore took a position of leadership among the Orthodox churches. The Russian church was very powerful in Russia as well until the country became part of the Soviet Union in the early 20th century. The Communist government discouraged the practice of religion, and the church suffered greatly. With the fall of Communism in 1991, the church revived and took its traditional place in Russian society. It is the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world, with an estimated membership of between 40 and 80 million people.

In the second half of the 20th century the leaders of different Orthodox churches met with the Roman Catholic pope to establish better relations between the Eastern and Western churches. Orthodox churches also joined with the major Protestant churches as members of the World Council of Churches. They discuss the different teachings of their faiths to encourage understanding of one another. However, they remain faithful to their rich past and Orthodox customs.