who has supreme power in the eastern orthodox church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The religious authority for Eastern Orthodoxy is not a Patriarch or the Pope as in Catholicism , nor the Bible as in Protestantism , but the scriptures as interpreted by the seven ecumenical councils of the Church . The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of `` autocephalous '' ( Greek for self - headed ) Churches , with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople being the only autocephalous head who holds the title primus inter pares , meaning `` first among equals '' in Latin . The Patriarch of Constantinople has the honor of primacy , but his title is only first among equals and has no real authority over Churches other than the Constantinopolitan . The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body . It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands -- a practice started by the apostles , and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an essential element of the true Church ( Acts 8 : 17 , 1 Tim 4 : 14 , Heb 6 : 2 ) . However , the Church asserts that Apostolic Succession also requires Apostolic Faith , and bishops without Apostolic Faith , who are in heresy , forfeit their claim to Apostolic Succession . 
The religious authority for Eastern Orthodoxy is not a Patriarch or the Pope as in Catholicism , nor the Bible as in Protestantism , but the scriptures as interpreted by the seven ecumenical councils of the Church . The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of `` autocephalous '' ( Greek for self - headed ) Churches , with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople being the only autocephalous head who holds the title primus inter pares , meaning `` first among equals '' in Latin . The Patriarch of Constantinople has the honor of primacy , but his title is only first among equals and has no real authority over Churches other than the Constantinopolitan . The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body . It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands -- a practice started by the apostles , and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an essential element of the true Church ( Acts 8 : 17 , 1 Tim 4 : 14 , Heb 6 : 2 ) . However , the Church asserts that Apostolic Succession also requires Apostolic Faith , and bishops without Apostolic Faith , who are in heresy , forfeit their claim to Apostolic Succession .
The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of ``autocephalous'' (Greek for self - headed) Churches, with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople being the only autocephalous head who holds the title primus inter pare, meaning ``first among equals'' in Latin.  The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body.
The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of `` autocephalous '' ( Greek for self - headed ) Churches , with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople being the only autocephalous head who holds the title primus inter pares , meaning `` first among equals '' in Latin . The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body .
The religious authority for Eastern Orthodoxy is not a Patriarch or the Pope as in Catholicism , nor the Bible, but the scriptures as interpreted by the seven ecumenical councils of the Church.
The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church. It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy.
The religious authority for Eastern Orthodoxy is not a Patriarch or the Pope as in Catholicism , nor the Bible as in Protestantism , but the scriptures as interpreted by the seven ecumenical councils of the Church . The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be his body . It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands -- a practice started by the apostles , and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an essential element of the true Church ( Acts 8 : 17 , 1 Tim 4 : 14 , Heb 6 : 2 ) .