Find a Church
The Living Church You Can Stand In
The history this site tells is not a museum. The same Church confessed at the councils worships this Sunday — in Damascus and Moscow, Athens and Alaska. Here are the self-governing (autocephalous) churches and where their primates are seated; a parish locator to find a church near you is on the way.
Map of the autocephalous churches
The communion
The Fourteen Universally Recognized Churches
One faith in many self-governing churches — four ancient patriarchates and ten that grew from them, in full communion with one another.
Ecumenical Patriarchate
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Seat: Istanbul (the Phanar), Turkey
First in honor among the Orthodox churches and a see of the ancient pentarchy. Its canonical care includes much of the Orthodox diaspora and the monastic republic of Mount Athos.
Ancient Patriarchate
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
Seat: Alexandria, Egypt
An ancient apostolic patriarchate traced to the Evangelist Mark. Its canonical territory is the whole African continent.
Ancient Patriarchate
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Seat: Damascus, Syria
An ancient apostolic patriarchate — the city where the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). Its faithful are concentrated in Syria and Lebanon and across a wide diaspora.
Ancient Patriarchate
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Seat: Jerusalem, the Holy Land
Guardian of the Holy Places of the Christian East. Its rank as a patriarchate was affirmed at the Council of Chalcedon (451).
Patriarchate
Russian Orthodox Church
Seat: Moscow, Russia
The largest Orthodox church by population. Self-governing from 1448 and a patriarchate from 1589; its canonical territory centers on Russia and much of the former Soviet space, with a wide diaspora.
Patriarchate
Serbian Orthodox Church
Seat: Belgrade, Serbia
Granted autocephaly under Saint Sava in 1219; raised to a patriarchate in 1346 and restored in 1922. Centered in Serbia and the wider Balkans.
Patriarchate
Romanian Orthodox Church
Seat: Bucharest, Romania
Recognized as autocephalous by Constantinople in 1885 and raised to a patriarchate in 1925. A Latin-language Orthodox people in a Slavic and Greek neighborhood.
Patriarchate
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Seat: Sofia, Bulgaria
Ancient roots reaching to the medieval Bulgarian patriarchate; the modern church's autocephaly was recognized by Constantinople in 1945 (a patriarchate again since that year).
Patriarchate
Georgian Orthodox Church
Seat: Tbilisi, Georgia
One of the oldest Christian nations, evangelized by Saint Nino. Anciently autocephalous; its independence was restored in 1917 and recognized by Constantinople in 1990.
Autocephalous Archbishopric
Church of Cyprus
Seat: Nicosia, Cyprus
One of the oldest autocephalous churches; its independence was affirmed at the Council of Ephesus (431). Founded by the apostles Paul and Barnabas.
Autocephalous Archbishopric
Church of Greece
Seat: Athens, Greece
Recognized as autocephalous by Constantinople in 1850, following Greek independence. Its northern dioceses remain under the spiritual care of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Autocephalous Metropolitanate
Polish Orthodox Church
Seat: Warsaw, Poland
Recognized as autocephalous by Constantinople in 1924. Serves a historic Orthodox population in eastern Poland and a wider faithful.
Autocephalous Archbishopric
Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
Seat: Tirana, Albania
Autocephaly recognized by Constantinople in 1937; reborn after the militant-atheist Communist era that had outlawed all religion.
Autocephalous Metropolitanate
Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
Seat: Prešov, Slovakia
Autocephaly was granted by the Russian Church in 1951 and recognized by Constantinople in 1998; the primatial seat is at Prešov, with the church also centered in Prague.
Recognition still developing
Partially Recognized Churches
These churches are recognized as autocephalous by some of the communion and not yet by others. We report the state of recognition and take no side in the disputes; each church's page lists who recognizes it.
Autocephalous Metropolitanate
Orthodox Church in America
Seat: Syosset, New York, United States
Rooted in the eighteenth-century Russian Orthodox mission to Alaska. Autocephaly was granted by the Russian Church in 1970; its recognition across the communion is partial.
Autocephalous Metropolitanate
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Seat: Kyiv, Ukraine
Formed by a unification council in 2018 and granted a tomos of autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2019; its recognition across the communion is partial and contested.
Autocephalous Archbishopric
Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric
Seat: Skopje, North Macedonia
After decades of separation, communion was restored and autocephaly granted by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2022. Its name and autocephaly are recognized in part across the communion.
A parish near you
A searchable parish locator — by city or “near me,” filtered by jurisdiction, language, and calendar — is being built. Because it must point you to real buildings, we are sourcing parish data carefully and will never stand in an invented photograph for a real church. In the meantime, the jurisdiction websites linked from each church above list their parishes directly.
Are you a priest or parishioner who would like your parish listed? A moderated submission form is coming with the locator. Read how we handle sourcing.