Orthodox Catholic

The Eastern Orthodox Church, also known as the Orthodox Church, or officially as the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian Church, with over 250 million members. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern Europe, and the Near East, including Slav and Greek peoples. A communion of churches, each typically governed by Holy Synods, its bishops are equal by virtue of ordination, with doctrines summarised in the Nicene Creed. Although Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is considered the most prominent, it lacks central governance analogous to the Papacy in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, and that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles. It maintains that it practices the original Christian faith, passed down by sacred tradition. Of its several patriarchates four reminiscent the pentarchy, while its and autonomous churches reflect or variety of hierarchical organisation.