Eastern Orthodoxy
is one of the main branches of Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy consists of a group of churches, most of which are associated with a particular country. The patriarch, or leader, of Constantinople
(present-day Istanbul, Turkey) is the general representative of Eastern Orthodoxy. But each church is independent and selects its own head. There are more than 200 million Orthodox Christians in all. Most of them live in Greece, Russia, Ukraine, the Balkans, and the Middle East.
The Orthodox Christians trace their history back to the beginnings of Christianity. They believe that they follow Christianity in the same way that the first Christians did. Unlike Roman Catholics, they do not recognize the authority of the pope.
Every Sunday, Orthodox churches celebrate their most important service, the Divine Liturgy. During the service, church members eat bread in memory of Jesus’ Last Supper. As in other Christian churches, this is known as Communion. It is one of the seven sacraments, or holy ceremonies, of the Orthodox church.
Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the ad 300s. In the 400s the western part of the empire fell to invaders. But the eastern part survived for another 1,000 years as the Byzantine Empire. The pope emerged as the leader of the Western church, and the patriarch of Constantinople became the head of the Eastern church.
The Eastern and Western churches disagreed on several religious issues. They grew apart over several centuries and finally officially separated in 1054. They came to be called the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic church.
Muslim Turks conquered the last part of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. The Russian church, which was outside the empire, was the only Orthodox church that remained free of Turkish rule. It therefore took a position of leadership among the Orthodox churches. Today, it is the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world.
