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A., ein Terminus technicus des orth. Kirchenrechts, bezeichnet die Selbständigkeit einer Kirche. Diese manifestiert sich in der unabhängigen Wahl und Weihe des Oberhauptes (vgl. die Bedeutung der griech. Begriffe autós = selbst; kephal椃= Haupt) und aller Bischöfe sowie der eigenständigen Regelung aller inner- und zwischenkirchlichen Angelegenheiten auf der Grundlage der die orth. Kirchen verbindenden liturgischen, dogmatischen und kanonischen Tradition. Die A. wird von der Autonomie unterschieden, die eine bedingte Selbständigkeit bedeutet, insofern bei der …

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 kephal ḗ, “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…

[German Version] (May 31, 1641, Peloponnese – Feb 6/7, 1707, Constantinople). Ordained to the diaconate at the age of 16, Dositheus became metropolitan of Caesarea in September 1666, and in January 1669 patriarch of Jerusalem, a position he held for 38 years, only two of which he spent in residence; the rest of the time he spent on fund-raising journeys in Russia, Asia Minor, and the Balkans. He played a central role in the process protecting Orthodoxy against Calvinistic and “Latin” influences, which dominated the century following the Confessio of C. Lucaris (1629). Of particular…

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[German Version] (1110–1140, Constantinople – after 1195, Constantinople), a Byzantine canonist. As deacon of the Hagia Sophia, Balsamon combined the supreme authority for all affairs of the patriarchate (as its “Chartophylax”) with a juridical office in the service of the state (“Homophylax”). Having fallen out of favor after 1180, Balsamon became the patriarch of Antioch, although he never left the capital. His chief works – which remain fundamental for Orthodox canon law – are the commentaries on the …

[German Version] (Barsanorius; feast: Feb 6), an ascetic author of Egyptian origin. He died c. 545 as a hermit in the monastery of Abba Seridos near Gaza. Together with the hermit John “the prophet,” he gave spiritual advice by answering letters sent to him by monks, bishops, and laypersons. Approx. 850 such questions and responses were collected ( biblos psychophelestate). They afford deep insights into the life of the Palestinian church in the 5th/6th centuries, attest to the reception of the asc…

[German Version] (patriarch; Aug 11, 715 to Jan 17, 730; b. before 669, d. after 730; feast day: May 12). Germanus became metropolitan of Cyzicus c. 705; in 712 he signed a declaration in support of Monotheletism, which he retracted in 713. From 727 to 729, he wrote a number of letters directed against the rise of iconoclasm, but gave up in the face of the iconoclastic policies of Emperor Leo III and was sent into exile. Anathematized by the iconoclasts in 754 (Anathema), he was rehabilitated in 7…

[German Version] (from Gk σύναξις/ sýnaxis, assembly). In the Orthodox churches, the Synaxarion contains the information on the daily propers for the liturgical commemoration of the saints (Saints/Veneration of the saints: III, 2). This information usually includes the day of the month, an epigram concerning the saint, brief historical notes, information about the saint’s commemoration, place of burial, and any translations of his or her relics, and an abridged vita. This information for the liturgical year, summarized in a book for the church in Constantinople (…

[German Version] denotes a model of church polity that developed in the Early Church, in which the five patriarchates (Patriarch: I), in order of rank Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, had constitutive significance for the leadership of the whole church. The developing patriarchal constitution was reflected in cc. 6 and 7 of the Council of Nicea (325), c. 3 of Constantinople (IV: 1; 381), and c. 28 of Chalcedon (451), but the pentarchical hierarchy of the five cathedrae is …

[German Version] The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, used in the Orthodox churches of the seven ecumenical councils, is Vespers (IV) with communion from sacred elements consecrated on the preceding Sunday in the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist: III, 3) and reserved for this purpose; hence the name: ῾Ιερὰ λειτουργία τῶν προηγιασμένων/ Hierá leitourgía tṓn proēgiasménōn, Lat. Missa praesanctificatorum, Liturgy of the Presanctified. It is first mentioned in the Chronicon paschale (early 7th cent.) and in canon 52 of the Quinisext Council in 692. Th…

[German Version] (660, Damascus – Jul 4, 740); Orthodox saint, feast day Jul 4. Andrew became a monk in 678; later he became archbishop of Gortyna and Metropolitan of Crete. More than 40 of his homilies for feasts of the Lord, Mary, and many saints are extant. Georgian, Latin, Arabic, and Slavonic translations attest to their wide popularity. But …

[German Version] (Πεvϑέκτη/ Penthéktē) is the name given to the ecumenical synod convoked by Emperor Justinian II (685–695; 705–711) in Constantinople (IV, 4) in 691/692, as it was meant to resolve the canonical deficits of the 5th and 6th ecumenical councils (Constantinople: IV, 2 & 3). Because it convened at the same location where the 6th ecumenical council was held (the domed hall [Trullos] of the imperial palace), it is also known as “Trullanum II.” In 102 canons (Canons/Canon collections), th…

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[German Version] (1573, Malpartida de Plasencia – c.1633, Plasencia, Spain), OP (1587), historian and preacher. He was honored in 1618 at the General Chapter of Lisbon with the title Preacher General. Fernandez authored works on the history of the Dominicans in Spain, of which a few remain unpublished. He was prior in Zamora, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Cáceres and finally in Plasencia. Heinz Ohme Bibliography Works: Historia ecclesiastica de nuestros tiempos, 1611 Historia y anales de la devoción y milagros del Rosario, 1613 De los servicios que a los Reinos de España ha hecho la …

[German Version] (1869, Kios – 1935, Athens), professor of theology and ethics at Chalki (1895–1911) and Athens (1911–1935). Androutsos was a preeminent figure in 20th-century Greek theology. His Dogmatics has been considered the first complete and authentic systematic exposition of Orthodox doctrine. To “neopatristic” theologians, Androutsos embodies a scholastic theology infiltrated by Western rationalism, unrooted in the life of Orthodoxy. Heinz Ohme Bibliography Works (Greek and Romanian): Συμβολική ἐξ ἐπόφεως ὀρθοδόξου, 21930 Δογματικὴ …

[German Version] The ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 for the first time set out to “integrate” monasticism, placing it under the authority of the local bishop; the erection of monasteries was made subject to episcopal approval (c. 4). The external sign of a monastic foundation was the erection of a cross, the so-called stavropigia (from Gk σταυρὸν πηγνύναι/ staurón pēgnýnai), mentioned in the civil ecclesiastical laws of Emperor Justinian I ( Cod. Iust. I 3.26; Novella 5.1; 67.1; 131.7), which adopted this canonical legislation ( Cod. Iust. I 3.39; Novella 133.4). The bishop h…

[German Version] (died after 1346). A monastic priest and canonist, c. 1335 Blastares compiled a handbook of Byzantine ecclesiastical law ( Syntagma kata stoicheion), in which kanones and nomoi were arranged in alphabetic association with juristic lemmas. It comprises 24 chapters, each with subdivisions. It came into widespread use in Slavic as well as Byzantine areas. Heinz Ohme Bibliography Sources: G.A. Ralles & M. Potles, eds., Σύνταγμα τῶν θείων καὶ ἱερῶν κανόνων…

[German Version] (1536, Anchialos – Sep, 1595, Constantinople), patriarch of Constantinople (1572–1579, 1580–1584, 1587–1595), contributed to the consolidation of Orthodoxy with important decisions: in his correspondence with Tübingen theologians (1573–1581) concerning the Confessio Augustana Graeca (Augsburg) he had been sent, he rejected their positions in three written responses. In 1583 and 1593, he refused to adopt the calendar reforms of Gregory XIII and a new edition of the Union and effected reconciliation with the Russi…

[German Version] (May 17, 1887, Lixurion – Aug 14, 1969, Athens) was professor of canon law and practical theology in Athens 1919–1956; academically, ecclessially and politically, he was one of the most important personalities in the Greek church in the 20th century. He authored almost 300 publications, co-authored the Church Constitution of 1923, organized the first Orthodox theological congress in Athens in 1936, was a pioneer in the ecumenical movement beginning in 1920, and was a member of the executive committee of the WCC from 1948 to 1968. Heinz Ohme Bibliography G.I. Konidares…

[German Version] (Feofan Grek; c. 1325–1404/1415), an important Byzantine artist who worked in Russia from 1378 until his death. Indisputably from his hand are the frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration in Novgorod. It has recently come into question whether the Deesis series in the iconostasis in the Cathedral of Proclamation in the Kremlin in Moscow is also his work. According to a 1415 letter by the hagiographer Epifanij Premudryj of 1415 (the most comprehensively preserved personal eval…