Organization of the Orthodox world
The 260 million Orthodox Christians are organized by ethnicity, language and/or country. Each community has its own church, headed by a patriarch or a metropolis (archbishop): the Patriarchate of Moscow extends to all Russian Orthodox throughout the world, the Archbishopric of Albania to all Albanian Orthodox, etc. Each community has its own liturgical language, but all follow the Byzantine rite established in the Middle Ages. There is no supreme authority like the pope among Catholics, equality is the rule. The Orthodox Churches, however, recognize a primacy of honor to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, called "ecumenical" ("of the whole known world"). This Greek-headed patriarchate is located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the heir to the Byzantine patriarchate that dominated Christianity before 1054. It administers dioceses and monasteries in Turkey, France, Asia or America and even in Greece, where the territories acquired by the country in 1912, such as Macedonia and Mount Athos, remain under its jurisdiction. Thus, depending on the region where they live, the Greeks depend either on the Patriarchate of Athens or on the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In all, there are approximately 23 million Greek Orthodox, mainly in Greece, Cyprus, Australia and North America. They are in the minority compared to the 140 million Russian Orthodox, but they still occupy a predominant place: because of history, the Greeks control the "head" (the Patriarchate of Constantinople) and the "heart" (Mount Athos) of Orthodoxy.
The weight of orthodoxy in Greece
The vast majority of Greeks, 98%, are Orthodox Christians. They are less and less practising, but they remain very attached to their churches and monasteries, which they attend in large numbers for major religious and civil ceremonies. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek state are still not separated and priests are paid as civil servants. Although Orthodoxy is no longer the official religion, the Church remains a major player in Greece. While it is the richest landowner in the country, its connections in the circles of power mean that it still escapes taxation. More symbolically, it is the prelates who are asked to organize the inauguration ceremony of each prime minister. To date, only one head of government, an atheist and a leftist, has refused to take the oath of office on the Bible: Alexis Tsipras, in 2015.
The main differences with Catholics
The theological differences between Catholics and Orthodox are very small. This is because all Christian churches recognize the seven ecumenical councils as the basis of their respective dogmas. Between the fourth and seventh centuries, these ecclesiastical meetings convened by the Byzantine emperors codified almost all aspects of Christian life. However, divergences gradually appeared from the seventh century until the schism of 1054. And the separation became definitive after the great betrayal of the West: the taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204.
Pope. The Orthodox recognize neither the authority nor the independence of the Pope, whom they consider to be a "patriarch" among others. In 325, the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea organized Christianity into five patriarchates: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. In theory, an honorary primacy is recognized in Rome. In reality, it is the patriarch of Constantinople who leads the Christians. But from the seventh century onwards, due to distance and political pressure, the patriarch of Rome (the pope) challenged the authority of Constantinople until he declared himself independent in 1054.
Eucharist. Called "divine liturgy" by the Orthodox, the sacrament of the Eucharist occupies the same central place in both confessions: the shared bread is the symbol of the body of Christ. The only variation is the yeast. Traditionally, Western Christians eat their meals with leavened bread and reserve unleavened bread (ostia) for worship. In the East, it is the opposite: unleavened bread (without yeast) at the table, leavened dough in the church. This difference is not theological, it is cultural. It is however this pretext which was used by the legates of the pope to pronounce the excommunication of the patriarch and the emperor of Constantinople in 1054, thus starting the Schism, the separation between orthodox and catholic.
Marriage of priests. The ecumenical councils established, among other things, "the prohibition of the marriage of priests". A rule completely flouted by the Catholics. Among the Orthodox, celibacy is required only for monks, bishops and the patriarch. Thus, in Greece, no one pays attention to the pope (priest) walking around with hissticharion (black robe) and his kamilavkion (cylindrical hat) accompanied by his wife and their children.
Filioque. In 800, Charlemagne was the first European ruler to take over the Roman title of Emperor of the West. To assert himself against the Eastern Roman emperors (the Byzantines), he introduced a mini-transformation of dogma: the Filioque. This Latin term means "and the Son". It concerns the nature of the Holy Spirit. For the ecumenical councils, the Holy Spirit "proceeds from God", that is to say that God occupies the first place, that he is "source of divinity". With the Filioque, Westerners now say that he proceeds "from God and the Son," making Christ equal to God. This is the only real theological difference between Catholics and Orthodox. It was also a weapon: Charlemagne forced the bishops of the West to recognize the Filioque, thus marking his authority over the Pope of Rome, who agreed to crown him emperor. Despite the protests of Constantinople, Charlemagne and his successors now had a clergy at their command.
Cult of the icons. The veneration of images developed from the sixth century in the East. If it surprises or even shocks the Catholics, it has also caused debate among the Orthodox. For two centuries, the Byzantine Empire was torn over whether or not to accept human representations in churches. In 843, the empress Theodora put an end to this "iconoclastic crisis". From then on, icons are recognized as sacred: these images are considered by the Orthodox as a manifestation of the holy figures they represent. In the West, the frescoes, paintings and stained glass windows of churches have only an illustrative purpose.
