In the year 1054 a major split occurred in Christianity. The churches in Western Europe, under the authority of the pope at Rome, separated from the churches in the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire, under the authority of the patriarch (bishop) of Constantinople. The churches of the Eastern Empire have come to be known by the collective term Eastern Orthodoxy. The Word orthodoxy simply means "correct teaching," or "right belief." The official designation is actually Orthodox Catholic Church to set it off from the Roman Catholic churchThe Eastern Orthodox ChurchAs the Christian faith evolved, its spread was facilitated greatly by both the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Emperors of these powerful nations not only practiced Christianity, but eventually made it the official religion of their states.The result was that the affairs of the church became closely tied to the political affairs of the empire. Leaders of these empires exerted great control and influence over the developing religion.In Rome, the Bishop known as the Pope gradually grew in authority, until he was recognized throughout the western world as the highest authority in the Church.The Orthodox Church is the one Church founded by Jesus Christ and his apostles, begun at the day of Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit in the year 33 A.D.It may also be called the Orthodox Catholic Church, the Orthodox Christian Church, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, or simply the Church.The holy mysteries or sacraments in the Orthodox Church are vessels of the mystical participation in divine grace of mankind. In a general sense, the Orthodox Church considers everything which is in and of the Church as sacramental or mystical.All the bishops of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, no matter their titles, are equal in their sacramental office.Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and founded the Church, through His Apostles and disciples, for the salvation of man. In the years which followed, the Apostles spread the Church and its teachings and founded many churches, all united in faith, worship, and the partaking of the Mysteries of the Holy Church.The number of independent churches has varied throughout history. Today there are the Church of Constantinople, the Church of Alexandria (Egypt), the Church of Antioch (headquartered at Damascus, Syria), the Church of Jerusalem, the Russian Orthodox church, the Church of Georgia, the Church of Serbia, the Church of Romania, the Church of Bulgaria, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the Church of Albania, the Polish Orthodox church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the churches of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There are also smaller autonomous churches in Finland, Crete, and Japan and many in the United States. Many of the churches existed in hostile surroundings. The Russian Orthodox church suffered severe persecution in the past. It was forced to cooperate with the authorities of the Soviet Union in order to function until the restructuring of Communism allowed open worship after 1990. The church in Albania has been outlawed altogether. The members of the churches in Turkey, Egypt, and the Middle East live as minorities amid large Muslim majorities. Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States is represented by almost every national Orthodox body.The Orthodox understanding of the church is based on the principle that each local community of Christians, gathered around its bishop and celebrating the Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, is a local realization of the whole church on Earth. This concept of wholeness is called catholicity. This may seem an abstract concept, but what it means essentially is that everything necessary to be a church is found in the local congregation. The idea of catholicity may be compared to a loaf of bread. Each single slice is not the whole loaf, but each slice has all the ingredients necessary to be bread. Hence, wherever a bishop and congregation are gathered together, there is the church.Eastern Orthodoxy considers itself the bearer of an unbroken living tradition of Christian faith and worship inherited from the earliest believers. Its beliefs are based on consistency with the Bible and tradition as expressed in the ancient councils---the seven ecumenical church councils that took place between 325 and 787. The churches also accept the decrees of some later councils as reflecting the same faith.Countries and how many people are Orthodox and who is in that country;
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