Eastern Christianity

The Eastern Christianity is the Christianisme such as it developed starting from the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire (Greece, the Middle East, Egypt). These rites in particular extended to the the Middle East, in Eastern Europe, Arménie, India of the South, Ethiopia… It is characterized (in opposition to Western Christianity, in particular with the Roman Catholicism) by a not centralized organization, by the place of the culture and the language Greek and by the multiplicity of the denominations and the practices.

Historical origin

Christianity was born and initially developed in the oriental party of the Roman Empire. Beside Rome (which makes go up the foundation of its Church to the Apôtre Pierre), the towns of Jerusalem, Antioche and Alexandria play the part of ecclesiastical capitals. In 330, the emperor Constantin I {{er}} transfers the capital from the empire of Rome to Byzance (renamed Constantinople), which becomes a large intellectual hearth. The First council of Constantinople in 381 place the head office of Constantinople to the second rank, just after that of Rome.

One leads then to what is known under the name of Pentarchie: five historical centres of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioche and Jerusalem (in their order of precedence and primacy). Apart from the Roman Empire, the Christians were free to organize themselves in independent Churches. It was in particular the case of the Armenian Église and the Église géorgienne.

The Christian East then will know several christologic controversies, as well as crises and upheavals ideological and political, which explain the situation of today.

301 (or 314): Conversion of the Arménie to the Christianity. Thus, this country becomes the first officially Christian country.
424 : The Christian Churches of the Persian Empire are proclaimed independent, not to more be suspected of supporting the Roman Empire.
431 : The theses nestoriennes are recognized like heretics with the Concile of Éphèse.
451 : The Concile of Chalcédoine proclaims that the single person of Christ is at the same time of divine and human nature. This dogma, accepted in Occident and by the hellenized populations of the East (like by the Church géorgienne), is rejected by many Christians of the East. This schism is at the origin of the Églises of the three councils. One will call chalcédoniens or melkites the partisans of the dogmas of the council and monophysites their opponents.
484 : The Christians of the Persian Empire adopt the Nestorianisme as official doctrines (it is the origin of the Églises of the two councils and the Catholic church chaldéenne).
7th-8th century: Three of the centers of Eastern Christianity (Alexandria, Antioche and Jerusalem) fall to the hands from the Moslem : there remains only Constantinople and Rome
687: The Église Maronite (chalcédonienne) breaks with Constantinople.
9th century: Evangelization of the Eastern Slavic people (around Kiev) which are attached to Constantinople rather than in Rome.
1054 : At the time of the Great schism of the East, Constantinople and Rome are excommunicated mutually. The Churches remained in communion with Constantinople constitute what is called the “orthodoxe Église” (Églises of the seven councils).
1182 : The Église Maronite enters in communion with Rome at the time of the crusades.
1204 : Destruction of Constantinople by the cross armies (roman catholics).
1439 - 1445: With the Council of Florence, the Catholic church decides to grant liturgical freedom to the Churches of the East in exchange of their recognition of the pope.
1453 : Taken of Constantinople by the Othoman Turks Moslem which renames it Istanbul.
1551 : Rome succeeds in making recognize its authority with certain faithful of the Église of Persia (Catholic church chaldéenne).
1589 : Creation of the patriarchat of Moscow which proclaims “third Rome” and new center of the Orthodoxie.
1596 : By the Union of Brest, a left the orthodoxe Ukrainians are linked in Rome, while preserving their Byzantine rite. They form the first Eastern catholic community uniate.
17th century: Thanks to the efforts of the Maronites, the authority of Rome is recognized by part of the orthodoxe Église of Antioche (chalcédonienne), orthodoxe syriaque Église (monophysite) and Armenian Catholicossat of Cilicie (Monophysite). Thus create for themselves the Églises Greek-catholic melkite, catholic syriaque and catholic Armenian.

Families of Eastern Churches

The Eastern Christians of today have a historical and cultural heritage common, but they also knew many divisions and recombinings, often more political than religious.

The Eastern Churches can be gathered in four units, which forms each one a “communion”:

the Churches of the two councils:

the Churches of the three councils (Eastern orthodoxe Churches):

the Churches of the seven councils (the orthodoxe Church itself):

the Eastern Catholic churches or “uniates”, plain with the Roman Catholic church, with which one can associate the Latin Église of Jerusalem:

Some Eastern Churches are also attached to the whole of the Protestant Églises, in particular in India (for example, the Église malankare Mar Thoma).

Recent evolution

The Close relation-and-Means-East

The tendency of the last decades is that of an emigration of the Christians of the countries of the Proche - and the Middle East towards Western Europe, North America, Australia. Today, certain Eastern Churches can practically be regarded as “Churches as a diaspora”, with the example of the Assyrian apostolic Église of the East whose primacy and majority of faithful are installed today in Occident.

These departures of traditionally Christian zones can have various causes, economic, political or religious.

The communities once installed in Occident can know very diverse evolutions: assimilation and the loss of the cultural identity and nun to the reaffirmation and the revival of this identity.

Eastern Europe

The end of the Soviet Union and the domination Russo-Soviet in Central and Eastern Europe allowed a new religious liberty and a revival of the orthodoxe and catholic Churches Eastern in this area. That does not go without conflict situations. The situation is particularly complex in Ukraine with in particular the restoration of the Église Greek-catholic (which had been liquidated in 1946 for the benefit of the Russian orthodoxe Église) and the creation of several orthodoxe Churches. The tension is often sharp because of conflicts in connection with attribution-restitution of places of worship. The Russian orthodoxe Église, for which the Ukraine belongs to its traditional canonical territory and which is regarded as being the only legitimate heiress of old Rus' kievienne, follows this evolution with interest and concern. Similar evolutions can be observed in Bielorussia (where the religious liberty is very relative), in Moldavie and in the Baltic States.

The Russia itself knows many debates and conflict situations (role and positioning of the official orthodoxe Church and its leaders for the Soviet period, relationship with the Russian orthodoxe Église except borders, development of the Église Russian Greek-catholic, left the clandestinity of the “Church of the catacombs”, framing of the Russian diaspora to Occident…).

Western Europe and Western rest of the world

The arrival of new Eastern immigrants coming from the Close relation-and-Means-East or of Eastern Europe reinforced and renewed the Eastern Christian communities already installed and integrated often well. Two tendencies are perceptible, in particular in the orthodoxe communities: to keep and transmit the cultural heritage and linguistics or to adapt to the new situation. One thus sees multiplying the parishes of French language or English language. In the same way, one sees developing experiments of ritual occidentalization. Lastly, always at the orthodoxe ones, one perceives a will of jurisdictional clarification (organization of the Churches on a “territorial” principle and not “national”).

See too

Internal bonds

alphabetical List of the articles on the Christians of the East
Theme index of the articles on the Christians of the East

External bonds

Christianity orthodoxe.ru - the directory of the orthodoxe Web sites
the Work of the East
CNEWA - general Presentation
the Solidarity-East
RCMO - Gathering of the Christians of the Middle East (Canada)

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