Tag: Autocephaly
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Romania’s Recognition of Macedonian Autocephaly Has Revived Chambésy
On February 9, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Romania announced its decision to recognize the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in the Republic of North Macedonia. This decision is much more significant…
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The Georgian Patriarch’s Rebuke of St Tikhon
For centuries, the Orthodox Church in Georgia was autocephalous, with its own Patriarch (also known as “Catholicos”). In fact, for a long time there were actually two autocephalous Georgian Churches, one in the east…
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When Did Today’s Autocephalous Churches Come into Being?
The oldest autocephalous church in the world attained its current form in 1845. Today, depending on whom you ask, there are fourteen or fifteen or maybe sixteen (or seventeen?) autocephalous Orthodox Churches in the…
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The Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Eve of War, 1840-1852
The great Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VI was deposed by the Ottoman authorities in 1840. After this, next few Ecumenical Patriarchs came and went in rapid succession: after a year on the throne, Anthimus IV…
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The Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Mercy of the Sultan
At around five o’clock in the afternoon on Holy Saturday, 1821, Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory was celebrating the Vesperal Divine Liturgy at the Phanar when Ottoman police surrounded and seized Gregory and the other bishops…
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Autocephaly or Subjugation to the State? The Church of Greece after the Revolution
The Greek War of Independence began 200 years ago, in 1821, and one of the big consequences of the war was the estrangement of the Orthodox Church in revolutionary Greece from its mother church…
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Turkish Interference in the 1972 Ecumenical Patriarchate Election
Athenagoras Spyrou was elected Ecumenical Patriarch in 1948 thanks largely to the influence of the United States government, particularly Secretary of State George Marshall. At the time, Marshall had consulted the powerful Greek-American businessman…
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Jerusalem Wasn’t Really Autocephalous from 1669-1845
From the fall of the Byzantine Empire until the 17th century, it was customary for the Patriarch of Jerusalem to appoint his own successor, usually by making the chosen heir the Metropolitan of Caesarea.…
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Was Alexandria Really Autocephalous in the 19th Century?
The Patriarchate of Alexandria was founded by the Apostle Mark, at a time when Alexandria was essentially the second city of the Roman Empire, after Rome itself. Largely because of this, in the earliest…
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Fr. Alexander Schmemann in Detroit, 1962
Recently, I was alerted to several photographs of a visit Fr. Alexander Schmemann made to Detroit in the winter of 1962. Today would have been Fr. Alexander’s ninety-first birthday, so I thought this to…