"The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church,[a] 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 the territory of the former Soviet Union, most of those living in Russia. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the bishop of Rome (Pope), but the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares ("first among equals") of the bishops. Historically the Ecumenical Patriarchate was a supranational church in the Orthodox-inhabited territories of the Ottoman Empire, preceding some of today´s independent Orthodox churches of the Balkans. 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." - (en.wikipedia.org 16.05.2021)
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