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The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world. It is considered by its adherents to be the very same Church established by Christ and his Apostles. It is composed of numerous theologically unified autocephalous ecclesial bodies each shepherded by a synod of independent bishops whose duty is to preserve the inner beliefs and practices (Traditions) of the Church. All Orthodox bishops can trace their lineage back to one of the twelve Apostles through the process of apostolic succession. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that the Orthodox Church is Members of the Eastern Orthodox Church do not usually refer to themselves as "Eastern" Orthodox but rather with a prefix denoting their nation of origin. Thus, within this article, the terms "Greek", "Russian", or any other "National" Orthodox; as well as The Church, The Orthodox Church, The Byzantine Church, etc., all refer to a single unified entity, what is today commonly called the Eastern Orthodox Church. Historically and theologically, Orthodox Christians use the adjective "Catholic" or "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church" to refer to the Church body which holds to the Orthodox faith. Hence, officially Orthodox documents consistently refer to "the Eastern Orthodox Church" as "the Catholic Church", as in the celebrated Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs of 1848. It is important to note that in proper Orthodox and Patristic theology, the "Church" or "Catholic Church" is the local Church the bishop, presbyters, deacons and people assembled to celebrate the Eucharist. Hence, the expression "Eastern Orthodox Church" is admittedly a practical or functional expression, not a theological one. In the same sense, it is possible to speak about the Orthodox Churches (plural) the Greek Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, etc.
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