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Oriental
Orthodox The
earliest decisive split in Christendom took place in the year
451AD on the outcome of the
Council of
Chalcedon, the fourth Ecumenical Council which was called
to consider the claims of the Monophysites. The churches that rejected the statement of
faith adopted by the council are the Armenian church, the
Coptic church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian church, the Syrian
church, and the Syrian church in India or the Malankara
Orthodox Church. Sometimes known as the Oriental Orthodox,
these churches today include more than 22 million members.
They were denounced by the Eastern
Orthodox as heretics and also referred to as the Lesser
Orthodox or Far-Eastern Orthodox. For more on the actual
reasons of the doctrinal split read
'The Christological Controversies that split the Early
Church'.
The six Oriental Orthodox
churches -- Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean and
the (Indian) Malankara -- are in communion with each other and
are also called ancient Oriental, lesser Eastern, and pre- or
ante-Chalcedonian churches. They are the churches of the first
three ecumenical councils (Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus)
and do not accept Chalcedon (451). The Ethiopian, Coptic and
Indian churches have been full members of the WCC since its
inauguration in Amsterdam in 1948. The Syrian church joined at
the New Delhi assembly (1961), and the central committee in
Paris admitted the Armenian church in 1962. Since the entry of
Byzantine (Eastern) Orthodox churches at New Delhi, there have
been a number of bilateral consultations between the Byzantine
and Oriental churches which have brought them closer to each
other, though communion has not yet been achieved.
Five of the Oriental churches have contributed leaders to the
ecumenical movement: Aboon Theophilus, patriarch of Ethiopia,
was one of the presidents of the WCC from Evanston to New
Delhi; Armenian catholicos Karekin (Sarkissian) was the
vice-moderator of the central committee from Uppsala to
Nairobi; Paulos Mar Gregorios of the Orthodox Syrian Church
(India) has been one of the presidents since Vancouver and was
also moderator of the Sub-unit on Church and Society from
Nairobi to Vancouver; Patriarch Shenouda and the late Bishop
Samuel of the Coptic Church, Patriach Ignatius Zakka of the
Syrian Church and V.C. Samuel of the Malankara Church have
done signal service for the ecumenical movement; Vasken,
former catholicos of All Armenia, has hosted a number of
ecumenical meetings in Holy Etchmiadzin. The contributions
have been greater in the area of Faith and Order than in the
other sub-units of the WCC.
To read more about
Each Oriental Orthodox Community click on the associated
Links.
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