page_title: Eastern Orthodox Church
section_title: Traditionalist groups
hierarchical_section_title: Eastern Orthodox Church / Present / Traditionalist groups
caption_attribution_description: English: Crucession in the village of Gora. Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church. Davidovo-Gora-Yelizarovo-Lyakhovo (Guslitsa) Orekhovo-Zuevo district Moscow reg.
context_page_description: The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptised members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops in local synods. Roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in Russia. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the bishop of Rome, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares of the bishops. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.
  Eastern Orthodox theology is based on Sacred Tradition which incorporates the dogmatic decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Scriptures, and the teaching of the Church Fathers. The 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.
caption: Traditional Paschal procession by Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church
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