Eastern Orthodox Church Related Information:

The division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the oldest in Christian history, occurring in 1054. The Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of independent churches, all sharing the same faith, principles, and beliefs. This branch of Christianity is dominant in countries such as Bulgaria, Belarus, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Established by seven ecumenical councils in the Byzantine period, the Eastern Orthodox Church is represented by the patriarch in Constantinople.

As St Peter was buried in Rome, primacy was claimed by the pope in the West. However, because the seat of the Roman government was based in Constantinople, the patriarch there did the same thing, and so the rift began, although it was at first resolved through council. However, major differences arose over the ‘filoque’ (meaning and from the son) in 1014, and the way that Western Christians were taught to read "I believe ... in the Holy Spirit ... who proceeds from the Father and the Son," was considered heretic by leaders in the East.

As well as the countries mentioned above, where the Eastern Orthodox Church enjoys dominance, there is a smaller presence in a number of other countries, including: Albania, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the U.S. The word Orthodoxy means ‘right-glorifying’ and is used because the Eastern Orthodox Church considers itself to be the true Church of Christ.

Special events and Holy days

• Epiphany: This began as a celebration of the nativity of Jesus.
• The Great Lent: This is a time of penance and to repent, and begins on Clean Monday. This signified Jesus’ time in the desert where he fasted for forty days.
• The Great Week: This incorporates Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
• Easter: This celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and for Orthodox churches it lasts fifty days and ends on Pentecost.
• Lenten Season: As Orthodox churches do not have an Advent season, their Lenten season runs from 15 th November to 24 th December,
• Christmas: This season signified the incarnation of Jesus, and lasts from 25 th December to 5 th January.

Many Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar, and this runs thirteen days behind the Gregorian calendar. This means that many of the dates of events and celebrations may differ. Holy days associated with Easter, and Easter itself, is calculated using this calendar by all Orthodox churches. Some may use the calendar for other holy dates and celebration, which means that some Orthodox Churches celebrated Christmas on 7 th January, which in the Julian calendar would be the 25 th December, since it is thirteen days behind.