Orthodox

3–5 sentences, or around 120 words and no more than 200 words Orthodox Christianity or Eastern Orthodoxy constitutes the second largest denomination in Europe and is the majority faith in Eastern Europe (61% of the region’s population in 2020). Although persecuted by communist regimes in the 20th century, Orthodox Christianity experienced a revival after 1989. In many Eastern European countries, the Orthodox faith is closely linked with nationalism, and many churches promote devotion to the nation as congruous with Christian teaching and spirituality. The system of autocephalous national churches is complicated by the large, worldwide diaspora of Eastern Orthodox immigrants. The most important contemporary event in Orthodox Christianity was the long-anticipated Holy and Great Council, held on the island of Crete in June 2016, after nearly a century of planning. Since 2018, there has been a partial schism between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the latter’s granting of autocephaly status to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.