In 1453 when the last vestige of ancient Roman power fell to the Turks, the city officially shifted religions -- although the Patriarch, or Pope, of the Orthodox Church continued to live there, and still does -- and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

With a membership currently estimated at over 85 million members worldwide, the Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Anglican clergy who join the Orthodox Church are reordained ; but Orthodox Churches hold that if Anglicanism and Orthodoxy were to reach full unity in the faith, perhaps such reordination might not be found necessary.

** Herman of Alaska ( Russian Orthodox Church and related congregations )

The Eastern Orthodox Church observes several All Souls ' Days during the year.

The Eastern Orthodox Church dedicates several days throughout the year to the dead, mostly on Saturdays, because of Jesus ' resting in the Holy Sepulchre on that day.

* 1962 – Representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and Vatican City meet in Metz, France, and come to an agreement wherein the Russian church would send observers to the Second Vatican Council and in exchange, the Roman Catholic Church would refuse to condemn Communism.

In the Orthodox Church, only actual monastics are permitted to be elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.

Normally there are no celibate priests who are not monastics in the Orthodox Church, with the exception of married priests who have been widowed.

** Basil Fool for Christ ( Russian Orthodox Church )

Arianism is defined as those teachings attributed to Arius which are in opposition to mainstream Trinitarian Christological doctrine, as determined by the first two Ecumenical Councils and currently maintained by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and most Reformation Protestant Churches.

In the Catholic Church ( both the Latin Rite and Eastern Catholic ), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and Anglican abbeys, the mode of election, position, rights, and authority of an abbess correspond generally with those of an abbot.

( Eastern Orthodox Church )

* 1927 – Metropolitan Sergius proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union.

*** Buhe ( Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church )

( Russian Orthodox Church and Georgian Orthodox Church )

** Abraham of Smolensk ( Eastern Orthodox Church )

It was then that he began to study the principles of law and administration under Konstantin Pobedonostsev, then a professor of civil law at Moscow State University and later ( from 1880 ) chief procurator of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in Russia.

* Saint Anastasius Sinaita ( of Sinai ) – theologian, Father of the Eastern Orthodox Church, monk, priest, and abbot of the monastery at Mt.

The Orthodox Churches would not accept the validity of any ordinations performed by the Independent Catholic groups, as Orthodoxy considers to be spurious any consecration outside of the Church as a whole.

Orthodoxy considers apostolic succession to exist only within the Universal Church, and not through any authority held by individual bishops ; thus, if a bishop ordains someone to serve outside of the ( Orthodox ) Church, the ceremony is ineffectual, and no ordination has taken place regardless of the ritual used or the ordaining prelate's position within the Orthodox Churches.

So does the Coptic Church, which, being part of Oriental Orthodoxy, is not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church and considers itself " the True Church of the Lord Jesus Christ ".

Today, in addition to the Orthodox Church, a number of other Christian churches lay claim to this title ( including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church ); however, the Orthodox Church considers these other churches to be schismatic and, in some cases, heretical.

The Church considers the first seven Ecumenical Councils ( held between the 4th and the 8th century ) to be the most important ; however, there have been more, specifically the Synods of Constantinople, 879 – 880, 1341, 1347, 1351, 1583, 1819, and 1872, the Synod of Iaşi ( Jassy ), 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox Synod of Jerusalem, 1672, all of which helped to define the Orthodox position.

The Eastern Orthodox Church considers ordination ( known as Cheirotonia, " laying on of hands ") to be a Sacred Mystery ( what in the West is called a sacrament ).

Orthodox belief considers that God reveals his saints through answered prayers and other miracles.

Orthodox Judaism considers organ donation obligatory if it will save a life, as long as the donor is considered dead as defined by Jewish law.

Orthodox Judaism considers this usage inappropriate, as it does not consider synagogues a replacement for the Temple in Jerusalem ( there were local places of worship contemporaneous with the existence of the Temple, e. g. the one that can be seen at Masada ).

With most widespread practice in the U. S, becoming the Reform Judaism, it doesn't require or see the Jews as direct descendants of the ethnic Jews or Biblical Israelites, but rather adherents of the Jewish faith in its Reformist version, in contrary to the Orthodox Judaism, the mainstream practice in Israel, which considers the Jews as a closed ethnoreligious community, with very strict procedures of conversion.

Orthodox Judaism considers itself to be in direct continuity with historical rabbinic Judaism.

Neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox tradition considers the rule of clerical celibacy to be an unchangeable dogma, but instead as a rule that could be adjusted if the Church thought it appropriate and to which exceptions are admitted.

The Roman Catholic Church considers Protestant and most Anglican ordinations invalid, while recognizing Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and some Anglican ordinations as valid.

Whereas the Patriarch of Constantinople is now considered first among the Orthodox patriarchs, the Orthodox Church considers the Bishop of Rome ( regarded as the " Patriarch of the West ") the " first among equals " in the Pentarchy of the Patriarchal Sees according to the ancient, first millennial order ( or " taxis " in Greek ) of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem after Constantinople became the eastern capital of the Roman / Byzantine Empire.

The fragmentary chronicle of John of Antioch, a 7th century monk formerly identified with John of the Sedre, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch considers Bauto to have also fathered Arbogast.

MOC considers itself to be the sole legitimate representative of Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro.

Orthodox Christianity relies heavily on these teachings and considers them to be amplifications and explanations of the teachings of Jesus.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church considers itself an inseparable member of the one, holy, synodal and apostolic church and is organized as a self-governing body under the name of Patriarchate.

Hildesheimer notes regarding Hirsch's opinion of his Rabbinical Seminary ( where Hoffmann worked after leaving Hirsch's institution ) that " a question certainly exists as to whether Rabbi Hirsch considers the seminary to be an Orthodox institution.

In The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, popular author and text critic Bart D. Ehrman argues that the Adoptionist Theology may date back almost to the time of Jesus and his view is shared by many other scholars.

In the Coptic Orthodox Church chapter three is chanted on the twelfth hour of the Good Friday service, that commemorates the burial of Jesus.

In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Arminian Protestants believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in Jesus.

Like the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholic Church through Apostolic succession traces its origins to the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ.

It is especially important in the Catholic Church, but is also used in Orthodox and Eastern Catholic, as well as Anglican, and Lutheran churches, ( though less often in other Protestant churches ), and it emphasizes Jesus ' sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind.

Some Christian denominations hold that salvation depends upon transformational faith in Jesus, which expresses itself in good works as a testament ( or witness ) to ones faith for others to see ( primarily Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism ), while others ( including most Protestants ) hold that faith alone is necessary for salvation.

Many Orthodox theologians believe that all people will have an opportunity to embrace union with God, including Jesus, after their death, and so become part of the Church at that time.

On the left of the altar, towards the Eastern Orthodox chapel, there is a statue of Mary, believed to be working wonders ( the 13th Station of the Cross, where Jesus ' body was removed from the cross and given to his family ).

File: 5208-20080122-1255UTC -- jerusalem-calvary. jpg | The place where it is believed Jesus died, now under the Eastern Orthodox altar on Calvary

The Greek Orthodox allege that the real place that Jesus was held was the similarly named Prison of Christ, within their Monastery of the Praetorium, located near the Church of Ecce Homo, at the first station on the Via Dolorosa.

* Greek Chapel of St. Longinus-The Orthodox Greek chapel is dedicated to St. Longinus, a Roman soldier who according the New Testament pierced Jesus with a spear.

Although the identification of the Aedicule as the site of Jesus ' tomb is not a tenet of faith for any major Christian denomination, many Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold fast to this traditional location.

The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of the " Holy Righteous Prophet and King David " on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers ( two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord ), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus.

Orthodox Church | Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Jesus.

These successors of the Apostles were ordained to their office by the laying on of hands, and according to Orthodox theology formed a living, organic link with the Apostles, and through them with Jesus Christ himself.

Thus to kiss an icon of Christ, in the Eastern Orthodox view, is to show love towards Christ Jesus himself, not mere wood and paint making up the physical substance of the icon.

Russian Orthodox Church | Russian icon of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century ( iconostasis of Transfiguration of Jesus | Transfiguration Church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia ).

The saint's right hand, with which he baptised Jesus, is claimed to be in: the Serbian Orthodox Cetinje monastery in Montenegro ; Topkapi Palace in Istanbul ; and also in the Romanian skete of the Forerunner on Mount Athos.

This imagery is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church's Holy Saturday liturgy ( between Good Friday and Pascha ) and in Eastern Orthodox icons of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Despite this religious purging, the spiritual significance assigned to the heretofore " sacred " numbers had not disappeared ; several numbers, such as the " Jesus number " have been commented and analyzed by Dorotheus of Gaza and numerology still is used at least in conservative Greek Orthodox circles.