50 Fun Facts About Eastern Orthodox Christianity

What official name does the communion use for itself in its liturgical texts?

Its theologians still call the church 'Catholic'; 'Eastern Orthodox' simply avoids confusion with Rome.

Roughly how many adherents does the Eastern Orthodox Church have?

That makes it the second-largest Christian communion after the Catholic Church.

Who is recognised by Orthodox churches as primus inter pares, 'first among equals'?

The title belonged to the patriarch of Rome before the East–West Schism.

How many ecumenical councils does the Eastern Orthodox Church recognise?

Some expect the 879 council that vindicated Patriarch Photius to be counted as an eighth one day.

In which year did the East–West Schism conventionally take place?

Scholars have also proposed 1009, 1204, 1277 and 1484 as the 'real' date.

Which cardinal laid a bull of excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia in 1054?

Pope Leo IX had already died three months earlier, so the bull's validity was questionable.

Which Patriarch of Constantinople was excommunicated by the papal legates in 1054?

He had ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople the year before.

Which type of bread did Constantinople attack the Latins for using in the Eucharist?

Leo of Ohrid's letter also criticised fasting on Saturdays and other Western customs.

The dispute over which clause added to the Nicene Creed helped drive the schism?

The Latin word means 'and the Son', describing the procession of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Paul VI and which Ecumenical Patriarch nullified the anathemas of 1054 in 1965?

The joint declaration was a goodwill gesture and did not reunite the churches.

In 2004 Pope John Paul II apologised for the sack of Constantinople during which event?

The 1204 sack had been condemned at the time by Pope Innocent III; Patriarch Bartholomew accepted the apology.

What does the Greek title Theotokos, given to the Virgin Mary, mean?

The Council of Ephesus in 431 affirmed the title against Nestorius.

Which 431 council affirmed Mary as Theotokos against the teachings of Nestorius?

It was presided over by the Patriarch of Alexandria with 250 bishops.

Which Roman emperor convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325?

More than 300 bishops condemned Arius's view that the Son was a created being.

Which empress regent called the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the second of Nicaea, in 787?

The council restored the veneration of icons after the first wave of iconoclasm.

What is the wall of icons separating the nave from the sanctuary called?

It evolved from the Byzantine templon in the 11th century.

Who designed the first ceiling-high, five-level Russian icon screen in 1408?

It stood in the cathedral of the Dormition in Vladimir.

On the Russian Orthodox cross, what does the small top crossbar represent?

The slanted foot-rest points up to Heaven on Christ's right and down to Hades on his left.

On the Russian cross, the slanted foot-rest points up on Christ's right toward what?

Its other end points down to Hades, on Christ's left.

What are the sacraments called in Eastern Orthodoxy?

Seven are counted as major, with the Eucharist as the principal one.

Which Orthodox mystery grants the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with chrism?

It is usually given immediately after baptism, even to infants, and is sometimes called confirmation.

What is the Orthodox term for humanity's calling to become like God?

The church teaches that everyone, born in God's image, is called to fulfil that image in likeness.

From which ranks are Orthodox bishops almost always chosen?

Bishops must remain unmarried, while parish priests may be married men.

The Octoechos used in Orthodox chant is a system of how many tones?

It is analogous to the Gregorian modes of the West; chant is treated as prayer, not 'music'.

Which weekday does Orthodox tradition dedicate to the apostles and Nicholas of Myra?

Tuesday goes to the prophets, especially John the Baptist; Saturday to All Saints and the departed.

Which Byzantine emperor sent Cyril and Methodius at Rastislav of Moravia's request?

Their translations grew into Church Slavonic; their disciples were driven to Bulgaria in 886.

The Cyrillic script was developed at which Bulgarian literary school?

Old Church Slavonic was declared official in Bulgaria in 893.

Kievan Rus' accepted Christianity in which year?

Bulgaria had converted earlier, in 864.

In 1589 Constantinople granted autocephaly to which city, later styled the Third Rome?

It was by then the capital of the largest Orthodox polity.

Ivan III of Russia married Sophia Palaiologina, a niece of which last Byzantine emperor?

Ivan then styled himself Tsar, from 'Caesar'.

The Old Believers split from the Russian church in 1666 over reforms by which patriarch?

The tsar deposed Nikon the same year; the Russian church then lost its independence from the state.

Old Calendarists broke with mainstream churches over the adoption of which calendar?

They hold that the 1920s reform contradicts the ecumenical councils.

Since 2018, Constantinople has been out of full communion with which patriarchate?

The break followed the creation of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019.

How many autocephalous regional churches make up the main Orthodox communion?

Plus the Orthodox Church in America and two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.

Which national church received autocephaly from the Serbian church in 2022?

It is formally styled the Ohrid Archbishopric.

In the Middle East, Orthodox Christians are usually called by what name?

Rum means 'Roman', a nod to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

Hagia Sophia was built under which Byzantine emperor between 532 and 537?

On completion it was the world's largest interior space, with one of the first fully pendentive domes.

Hagia Sophia was designed by Isidore of Miletus and which other Greek geometer?

Earthquakes in 553 and 557 cracked the main dome.

Hagia Sophia served as a museum between 1935 and which year?

It was then redesignated a mosque, as it had been after 1453.

Who founded the Great Lavra monastery on Mount Athos in 963?

He had the backing of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas.

Who is barred by Greek law and tradition from entering Mount Athos's monastic territory?

Tradition holds the mountain is the garden of the Mother of God, off limits to all other women.

What is the special permit needed to visit Mount Athos called?

The monastic community was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.

In which year was the monastic community of Mount Athos inscribed on the UNESCO list?

UNESCO cited its religious history, architecture and preserved natural environment.

What is the Greek name for Mount Athos that translates as 'Holy Mountain'?

Bulgarian, Serbian and Georgian use names meaning the same thing.

What is the term for icons believed to have appeared miraculously, not by a painter's hand?

The word literally means 'not made by hand'; the Image of Edessa is the most famous example.

The oldest surviving panel icons, from the 6th century, are kept at which monastery?

Older examples in Rome have all been drastically over-painted.

Bartholomew I's ecological efforts have earned him which colour-based epithet?

He is counted as the 270th bishop of the see of Constantinople.

The Ecumenical Patriarch is regarded as the successor of which apostle?

Peter is claimed by Rome and Antioch, Mark by Alexandria.

Turkey's law requires candidates for Ecumenical Patriarch to hold what?

Turkey also refuses the title 'Ecumenical', calling him the Rum Orthodox patriarch of Fener.

In which Istanbul district does the Turkish state locate the 'Rum Orthodox patriarch'?

The Greek spelling Phanar gives the patriarchate its common nickname.