Orthodox Church  (Greek: orthodoxos, right believer)  Name
appropriated, some time before the 9th century, by the
Christians of the largest group of the Non-Uniat or schismatical
churches, to distinguish themselves from heretics. Originally
comprising the four Eastern patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch,
Constantinople, and Jerusalem, they were separated from the West
in the schism of the 9th and 11th centuries. The Orthodox Church
is subdivided into the following independent Churches, which,
however, all recognize each other, and no other Christian
Church, as Orthodox. The majority of them have become national
churches, governed by a Holy Directing Synod and absolutely
independent upon the state.  New Catholic Dictionary  NCD Index
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