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Question 416

My question today, is about juristiction within the church...   Is the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain only the Archbishop of Greek Orthodox christians living in Great Britain, or is he over all Orthodox churches such as Serb, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian etc???   If yes, then does the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain have to be Greek or can an Archbishop be elected from any of those ethnic churches???   Could a Serb, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian be the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain?   

 

 

Answer to Question 416

 

The Orthodox Church does not have a central government like the Church of Rome with a Pope as the universal leader. The Orthodox Church is made up of many different national and independent Churches who are united in faith and communion. Thus in England each national church has its own head, but as none of them have the status of Autonomous or autocephalous, each bishop is a representative of the Patriarch he is under. For example the Antiochian Archbishop is under the Patriarch of Antioch, the Russian Archbishop is under Moscow and the Greek Archbishop is under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. When the time comes for Gregorios to be replaced by a new Archbishop, the person who will replace him will have been decided by the Synod of Constantinople. They may choose an existing bishop serving in the UK or may choose another bishop from Greece or Cyprus

 

Same member

So the Archbishop of Thyteria and Great Britain must be from the Greek Orthodox church???

 

Reply

He doesn't have to be Greek but yes he has to be a member of the Greek Orthodox Church