page_title: Oriental Orthodox Churches
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: Oriental Orthodox Churches / Geographical distribution / Organization
caption_attribution_description: Cathédrale copte d'Assouan vue du Nil (Egypte)
context_page_description: The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Christian churches adhering to miaphysite Christology and theology and have about 60 million members worldwide.
  As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of Armenia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and parts of the Middle East and India. An Eastern Christian body of autocephalous churches, its bishops are equal by virtue of episcopal ordination, and its doctrines can be summarized in that the churches recognize the validity of only the first three ecumenical councils.
  The Oriental Orthodox Churches are composed of six autocephalous churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Collectively, they consider themselves to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, and that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles. Most member churches are part of the World Council of Churches.
context_section_description: The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a communion of six autocephalous (that is, administratively completely independent) regional churches. Each church has defined geographical boundaries of its jurisdiction and is ruled by its council of bishops or synod presided by a senior bishop–its primate (or first hierarch). The primate may carry the honorary title of pope (in the Alexandria tradition), patriarch, abuna (in the Ethiopian tradition) or catholicos.
  Each regional church consists of constituent eparchies (or, dioceses) ruled by a bishop. Some churches have given an eparchy or group of eparchies varying degrees of autonomy (self-government). Such autonomous churches maintain varying levels of dependence on their mother church, usually defined in the document of autonomy.
  Below is a list of the six autocephalous Orthodox churches forming the main body of Oriental Orthodox Christianity, all of which are titled equal to each other. Based on the definitions, the list is in the alphabetical order, with some of their constituent autonomous churches and exarchates listed as well.
  Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
  French Coptic Orthodox Church
  Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch
  Jacobite Syrian Christian Church
  Armenian Apostolic Church
  Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
  Holy See of Cilicia
  Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
  Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
  Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
  Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
  Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
  
  There are a number of churches considered non-canonical, but whose members and clergy may or may not be in communion with the greater Oriental Orthodox communion. Examples include the Celtic Orthodox Church, the Ancient British Church, and lately the British Orthodox Church. These organizations have passed in and out of official recognition, but members rarely face excommunication when recognition is ended. The primates of these churches are typically referred to as episcopi vagantes or vagantes in short.
caption: Aswan Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Egypt
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