Greek Orthodox Church

The phrase 'Greek Orthodox Church' may be used in a number of different ways.

Sometimes the phrase is used to refer to the Eastern Orthodox Church in its entirety, i.e., the branch of Christianity which comprises a number of self-governing national Churches in Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia Minor, and the Middle East. The Eastern Orthodox Church is referred to as the Greek Orthodox Church because it was originally the Church of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire, (i.e., the eastern half of what had once been the Roman Empire). In fact, however, most of the Churches which constitute the Eastern Orthodox Church reject the word 'Greek' as part of their name since they wish to be considered national churches and do not use the Greek language in their services.

It is perhaps better, therefore, to confine use of the phrase 'Greek Orthodox Church' to refer, either individually or collectively, to those Eastern Orthodox Churches which still use a form of the Greek language in their services. These Churches are the national Church of Greece, the national Church of Cyprus, and the four Churches which correspond to the four ancient Patriarchates of the eastern Church, namely, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. All these Churches use Koine Greek (i.e., the language of the New Testament) in their services.

See further Eastern Orthodox Church.