Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, (Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía), is any of three classes of Christian churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Greek Byzantine Empire
The broader meaning refers to “the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also called ‘Eastern Orthodox’, ‘Greek Orthodox’, or generally ‘the Greek Church’.
A second, narrower meaning refers to “any of several independent churches within the worldwide communion of [Eastern] Orthodox Christianity that retain the use of the Greek language in formal ecclesiastical settings”. In this sense, the Greek Orthodox Churches are the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and its dependencies, the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, the Church of Greece and the Church of Cyprus.
The third meaning refers to the Church of Greece, an Eastern Orthodox Church operating within the modern borders of Greece.
Historically, the term “Greek Orthodox” has been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox churches, since the term “Greek” can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire.
During the first eight centuries of Christian history, most major intellectual, cultural, and social developments in the Christian Church took place in the Byzantine Empire or its sphere of influence, where the Greek language was spoken and used for most theological writings.
The empire’s capital, Constantinople, was an early important center of Christianity, and its liturgical practices, traditions, and doctrines were gradually adopted throughout Eastern Orthodoxy, still providing the basic patterns of contemporary Orthodoxy.
Thus, Eastern Orthodox came to be called “Greek” Orthodox in the same way that Western Christians came to be called “Roman” Catholic. However, the appellation “Greek” was abandoned recently by the Slavic and other Eastern Orthodox churches.
Thus, by the early 21st century, generally only those churches most closely tied to Greek or Byzantine culture and ethnicity around the world, were called “Greek Orthodox” in common parlance.
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