Christianity: General

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Further reading

Autocephalous

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Autocephalous (Gk., autos, ‘self’ + kephalē, ‘head’). Term describing an Orthodox church whose hierarchy is independent of any other. Thus ‘the Orthodox Church’ comprises a variable number of autocephalous ‘Orthodox churches’, whose patriarchs are ranked only in honour (1. Constantinople, 2. Alexandria, 3. Antioch, 4. Jerusalem, 5. Moscow, etc.). Some autocephalous churches are very small, e.g. Sinai (one monastery) and Czechoslovakia (autocephalous since 1951).

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

JOHN BOWKER. "Autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Autocephalous.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Autocephalous.html

Learn more about citation styles

autocephalous

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Copyright

autocephalous. The term was used in the early Church of bishops who were under no superior authority and thus were independent of both Metropolitan and Patriarch, and of those directly dependent on the Patriarch without intermediate reference to a Metropolitan. It is currently used of those national Churches of the E. Orthodox Church which are governed by their own synods.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-autocephalous.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "autocephalous." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-autocephalous.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	The consequences of the enlightenment, from the perspective of the Orthodox... Magazine article from: International Review of Mission; 7/1/2006
	A choice-of-law rule for conflicts involving stolen cultural property. Magazine article from: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law; 10/1/2005
	The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East: A Brief Introduction... Magazine article from: The Ecumenical Review; 4/1/1999