Everything about Oriental Orthodoxy totally explained
Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of
Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three
ecumenical councils — the
First Council of Nicaea, the
First Council of Constantinople and the
Council of Ephesus. They reject the
dogmatic definitions of the
Council of Chalcedon. Hence, these Churches are also called
Old Oriental Churches. Despite the potentially confusing nomenclature, Oriental Orthodox churches are distinct from those that are collectively referred to as the
Eastern Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox communion comprises six groups:
Coptic Orthodox,
Syriac Orthodox,
Ethiopian Orthodox,
Eritrean Orthodox,
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and
Armenian Apostolic churches. These six churches, while being in communion with each other are completely independent hierachically and have no equivalent of the
Bishop of Rome or
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
The Oriental Orthodox and the rest of the Church split over differences in
Christology. The
First Council of Nicaea (321) declared that Jesus Christ was God, "consubstantial" with the Father; and the
Council of Ephesus (431) that Jesus, though divine as well as human, was only one person. Twenty years after Ephesus, the
Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus had two complete natures, one human and one divine. Those who opposed Chalcedon likened its doctrine to the Nestorian heresy, condemned at Ephesus, that Christ was two distinct persons, one divine and one human.
History
The
schism between Oriental Orthodoxy and the rest of the Church occurred in the 5th century. The separation resulted in part from the refusal of
Pope Dioscorus, the Patriarch of Alexandria, to accept the
Christological dogmas promulgated by the Council of Chalcedon, which held that
Jesus has two natures: one divine and one human. This wasn't because Chalcedon stated that Christ has two natures, but because the council's declaration didn't confess the two natures as inseparable and united. Pope Dioscorus would accept only "of or from two natures" but not "in two natures."
To the hierarchs who would lead the Oriental Orthodox, this was tantamount to accepting
Nestorianism, which expressed itself in a terminology incompatible with their understanding of Christology. Founded in the Alexandrine School of Theology it advocated a formula stressing the unity of the Incarnation over all other considerations.
The Oriental Orthodox churches were therefore often called
Monophysite, although they reject this label, as it's associated with Eutychian Monophysitism; they prefer the term "non-Chalcedonian" or "
Miaphysite" churches. Oriental Orthodox Churches reject what they consider to be the heretical Monophysite teachings of
Eutyches and of
Nestorius as well as the
Dyophysite definition of the Council of Chalcedon.
Christology, although important, wasn't the only reason for the Alexandrian Church's refusal of the Council of Chalcedon; political, ecclesiastical and imperial issues were hotly debated during that period.
In the years following Chalcedon the patriarchs of Constantinople remained in communion with the non-Chalcedonian patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, while Rome remained out of communion with them, and in unstable communion with Constantinople. It wasn't until 518 that the new Byzantine Emperor,
Justin I (who accepted Chalcedon), demanded that the Church in the Roman Empire accept the Council's decisions. Justin ordered the replacement of all non-Chalcedonian bishops, including the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria. The extent of the influence of the
Bishop of Rome in this has been a matter of debate.
By the 20th century the Chalcedonian schism wasn't seen with the same relevance, and from several meetings between the authorities of Roman Catholicism and the Oriental Orthodoxy, reconciling declarations emerged in the common statement of the Oriental Patriarch (Mar
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas) and the Pope (
John Paul II) in 1984.
According to the canons of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the four bishops of
Rome,
Alexandria,
Ephesus (later transferred to
Constantinople) and
Antioch were all given status as
Patriarchs; in other words, the ancient apostolic centres of Christianity, by the First Council of Nicaea (predating the schism) — each of the four patriarchs was responsible for those bishops and churches within his own area of the Universal Church, (with the exception of the
Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was independent of the rest). Thus, the Bishop of Rome has always been held by the others to be fully sovereign within his own area, as well as "First-Among-Equals", due to the traditional belief that the
Apostles Saint Peter and
Saint Paul were martyred in Rome.
The technical reason for the schism was that the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople excommunicated the non-Chalcedonian bishops in 451 for refusing to accept the "in two natures" teaching, thus declaring them to be out of communion. In recent declarations, we can see that Catholicism now regards itself as being in a state of partial communion with the other patriarchates; while full communion hasn't been restored, the mutual excommunications between Constantinople and Rome were lifted by
Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras I when they met in
Jerusalem in 1964.
Whilst the Roman Catholic Church teaches that it's the
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus, it affirms that the Holy Spirit is operative also in other churches. In paragraph 15 of its major declaration
Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), the
Second Vatican Council stated: "In some real way [non-CatholicChristians] are joined with us in the Holy Spirit, for to them too He gives His gifts and graces whereby He is operative among them with His sanctifying power."
Geographical distribution
Oriental Orthodoxy is a dominant religion in
Armenia (94%), the ethnically Armenian breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (95%), and in
Ethiopia (51%, the total Christian population being 62%), especially in two regions in
Ethiopia:
Amhara (82%) and
Tigray (96%), as well as the chartered city of
Addis Ababa (82%), and is also important in
Oromia Region (41%). It is also one of two dominant religions in
Eritrea (50%). It is a minority in
Egypt (15%),
Sudan (3-5% out of the 15% of total Christians),
Syria (2-3% out of the 10% of total Christians) and
Kerala,
India (.8% out of all 2.3% of total Christians). In terms of total number of members, the Ethiopian Church is the largest of all Oriental Orthodox Churches, and is second among all Orthodox Churches among Eastern and Oriental Churches (exceeded in number only by the
Russian Orthodox Church).
Oriental Orthodox Communion
The Oriental Orthodox Communion is a group of churches within Oriental Orthodoxy which are all in
full communion with each other. The communion includes:
- The Oriental Orthodox Communion
Occasional confusions
The
Assyrian Church of the East is sometimes incorrectly considered as Oriental Orthodox. Being largely centered in what was then the
Persian Empire, it was separated administratively from the Church of the
Roman Empire around 400, and then broke communion with the latter in reaction to the
Council of Ephesus(431). Additionally, it accepts a
Nestorian-like Christology that's categorically rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Communion, and venerates
saints anathematized by the latter.
There are many overlapping
ecclesiastical jurisdictions in India, mostly with a Syriac liturgical heritage centered in the state of
Kerala. Two of these, the autonomous
Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church and the autocephalous
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, are Oriental Orthodox; the others include two
Eastern Catholic Churches, and various independent churches, one of which, the
Mar Thoma Church is in communion with the
Anglican Communion.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Oriental Orthodoxy'.
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