The Orthodox Church of Constantinople is one of the fifteen autocephalousEastern Orthodox churches. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch, who has the status of "first among equals" among the world's Orthodox bishops. In hierarchical Christian churches, especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... First among equals is a phrase which indicates that a person is the most senior of a group of people sharing the same rank or office. ...
The local Churches of the Ecumenical Patriarchate consist of six archdioceses, eight churches, and 13 metropolises ("metropolis" is preferred use over "metropolitanate" within this particular Orthodox jurisdiction), each of which reports directly to the Patriarch of Constantinople with no intervening authority. In addition, three of the six archdioceses have internal metropolises (16 in all), which are part of their respective archdioceses rather than distinct administrative entities, unlike the other metropolises.
Church tradition is full of the lives of these early martyrs for the faith, and one cannot but admire the courage and perseverance of these heroes who willingly gave up their lives rather than denounce Christ.
The OrthodoxChurch does not accept the Catholic dogma of 1854--the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, in the sense that she was exempt at birth from original sin.
Orthodox often call themselves 'the Church of the Seven Councils'...Nicea was the first of the seven general councils; and these...occupy a central position in the history of Orthodoxy...next to the Bible, it is the seven councils which the OrthodoxChurch takes as its standard and guide" (Ware, pp.19,35).
The OrthodoxChurch in Ukraine was moving toward autonomous status in the early 2000s, although this move was a point of dispute with the Russian patriarchate.
By the 10th century Bulgarian was the language of the church, and in the early 10th century, by decree of Tsar Simeon, it became an autocephalous patriarchate in defiance of Constantinople.
The OrthodoxChurch of Greece is headed by the archbishop of Athens and all Greece, who serves as president of a synod of bishops that governs the church.
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