The word autocephaly, a technical term in Orthodox canon law, denotes the independence of a church, manifested in the independent election and consecration of its head (compare the meaning of the Greek words autós, “self,” and kephalḗ, “head”) and all bishops as well as the independent regulation of all internal and ecumenical affairs on the basis of the liturgical, doctrinal, and canonical tradition that links all Orthodox churches. Autocephaly is distinct from  Autonomy, which denotes a limited independence, in which a church is internally independent in the elect…