Orthodox churches in Columbia South Carolina, United States

The Eastern Orthodox Church,[1] also known as the Orthodox Church,[2] or officially as the Orthodox Catholic Church,[3] is the second-largest Christian Church, with over 250 million members.[4][5] As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern Europe, Greece (including Anatolia), the Caucasus, and the Near East.[6] It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches ("jurisdictions", or national churches), each typically governed by its own group of Bishops called a Holy Synod.[2] The Church has no central doctrinal or governance authority analogous to the Roman Catholic Church's pope; however, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares ("First among equals") of the bishops.