Orthodox Church

(Greek: orthodoxos, right believer)

Name appropriated, some time before the 9th century, by the Christians of the largest group of the Non-Uniat or schismatical churches, to distinguish themselves from heretics. Originally comprising the four Eastern patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, they were separated from the West in the schism of the 9th and 11th centuries. The Orthodox Church is subdivided into the following independent Churches, which, however, all recognize each other, and no other Christian Church, as Orthodox. The majority of them have become national churches, governed by a Holy Directing Synod and absolutely independent upon the state.

New Catholic Dictionary

NCD Index SQPN Contact Author