Q 01/05

What official name does the Eastern Orthodox Church use for itself in its liturgical texts?

A) Orthodox Catholic Church

B) Greek Apostolic Church

C) Orthodox Byzantine Church

D) Eastern Christian Communion

Answer · why

A) Orthodox Catholic Church

Orthodox Catholic Church. After the split of 1054 each side went on calling itself 'Catholic', and 'Eastern Orthodox' is the everyday label that avoid...

Q 02/05

Eastern Orthodox Christians form the majority in which of these central and eastern European countries?

A) Poland

B) Romania

C) Hungary

D) Croatia

Answer · why

B) Romania

Romania. Its church was proclaimed independent of Constantinople in 1865, but the patriarch took another twenty years to recognise it.

Q 03/05

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople holds which standing in relation to the other Orthodox church leaders?

A) Supreme head

B) Rotating chairman

C) First among equals

D) No special rank

Answer · why

C) First among equals

First among equals. Unlike the pope, he holds a primacy of honour only and has no authority over the other self-governing churches.

Q 04/05

How many ecumenical councils does the Eastern Orthodox Church recognise?

A) Three

B) Seven

C) Twenty-one

D) Forty-nine

Answer · why

B) Seven

Seven. The Catholic Church went on to count twenty-one, but the Orthodox accept only the councils held while East and West were still one church, the ...

Q 05/05

What do historians call the 1054 break between the churches of Rome and Constantinople?

A) The Western Schism

B) The Investiture Controversy

C) The Photian Schism

D) The East–West Schism

Answer · why

D) The East–West Schism

The East–West Schism. The excommunications of 1054 named only a handful of men, and although they were formally lifted in 1965 the two churches remain...