The Orthodox Church in the World Today

In the twenty-first century the Orthodox Church numbers approximately 300 million Christians worldwide who follow the faith and practices that were defined by the first seven Ecumenical Councils.

At the time of the Great Schism of AD 1054 between Rome and Constantinople, the membership of the Eastern Orthodox Church was spread throughout the Middle East, the Balkans, and Russia, with its center in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which was also called New Rome.

The vicissitudes of history have greatly modified the internal structures of the Orthodox Church, but, even today, the bulk of its members live in those same geographic areas.

Missionary expansion toward Asia and emigration toward the West, however, have helped to maintain the importance of Orthodoxy worldwide.

Today, the Orthodox Church is present almost everywhere in the world and is bearing witness to all peoples of the true, Apostolic and patristic tradition.
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Eclesiastically, the Orthodox Church is a family of “autocephalous” (self-governing) Churches, preserving the first millennium ecclesiology of Christianity.
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Ecclesiastical vs. Ecclesiological
The terms “ecclesiastical” and “ecclesiological” are not synonymous. Ecclesiastical is an administrative word describing the organizational structure of a church. Ecclesiological is a theological category referring to the sacred nature and role of a church.

Ecclesiology of the Western Denominations
The Roman Catholic Church differs from the earlier model of governance and is a centralized organization headed by a universal pontiff (pope). The Anglican Communion generally speaking follows the ancient ecclesiology and somewhat resembles the organization of Orthodox Church as a “worldwide communion of Churches.”
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