Index
back to Eastern Orthodox, Soviet Union
| Group | Where | Number of Adherents |
% of total pop. |
Number of congreg./ churches/ units |
Number of countries |
Year | Source | Quote/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Orthodox | Soviet Union | - | - | 10,000 units |
- | 1964 | Shoemaker, M. Wesley. Russia, Eurasian States, and Eastern Europe 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997); pg. 89. | "Even so, about 10,000 additional churches were closed between 1959 and 1964--about half the remaining total in the Soviet Union. " [Apparently referring to both Orthodox and Islamic places of worship.] |
| Eastern Orthodox | Soviet Union | 30,000,000 | - | - | - | 1982 | Shoemaker, M. Wesley. Russia, Eurasian States, and Eastern Europe 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997); pg. 90. | "Russian nationalism enjoyed something of a revival at this time as well, and that was often extended to include the Orthodox Church. As a result, it was the best-treated of all the organized religious groupings in the U.S.S.R. under Brezhnev and saw even a modest growth in its nominal membership to more than 30 million. In the last years of the Brezhnev regime, church services were overflowing, and, in a change from the past, many young people began attending services... Brezhnev died in November 1982... " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Soviet Union | - | - | - | - | 1991 | Shoemaker, M. Wesley. Russia, Eurasian States, and Eastern Europe 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997); pg. 90. | "Some 4,000 new parishes opened between 1985 and 1991. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Soviet Union | - | - | 6,000 units |
- | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 324. | "The Russian, Ukrainian and other Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe went into virtual seclusion during the more than 70 years of Communist rule, when religious worship was considered antithetical to Marxist dogma. With the lifting of Communist domination beginning in the late 1980s, however, the Orthodox church once again asserted itself as a spiritual force in these countries. Millions of Russians, for instance, have been baptized in recent years, including many former members of the Communist party. Over 6,000 churches and monasteries have been reopened and rebuilt in the former Soviet Union, and Russian leaders have begun attending services on major church holidays like Easter and Christmas as part of their civic duties. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Sweden | - | 1.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; total population: 8,326,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox | Switzerland | - | 1.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; total population: 6,552,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox | Syria | - | 5.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; total population: 14,904,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox | Turkey | - | - | - | - | 1998 | Stack, Peggy Fletcher. A World of Faith. USA: Signature Books (1998); pg. 15. | "Eastern Orthodox... Illustration: The Hagio Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey... " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Turkmenistan | 380,632 | 9.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Total population: 4,229,249. Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ukraine | - | - | 80,000 units |
- | 1917 | Bassis, Volodymyr. Ukraine (series: Cultures of the World). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1997); pg. 76. | "There were about 80,000 Orthodox churches in the Russian Empire before the Revolution of 1917, of which less than 8,000 remained by 1980. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ukraine | - | - | 8,000 units |
- | 1980 | Bassis, Volodymyr. Ukraine (series: Cultures of the World). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1997); pg. 76. | "There were about 80,000 Orthodox churches in the Russian Empire before the Revolution of 1917, of which less than 8,000 remained by 1980. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ukraine | 42,400,000 | 80.00% | - | - | 1997 | "'Standing All Amazed' in Ukraine " in Ensign (June 1997); pg. 76. | "... about 80 percent of today's 53 million Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ukraine | 35,000,000 | 65.00% | - | - | 1997 | Bassis, Volodymyr. Ukraine (series: Cultures of the World). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1997); pg. 71, 75. | "Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion throughout Ukraine. In fact, over 35 million Ukrainians belong to the Orthodox Church. "; Pg. 75: "It is difficult to know exactly how much of Ukraine's population has professed allegiance to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, (also called the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church) and how many profess allegiance to the Russian Orthodox Church, but together they make up about 65% of the country's total population. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ukraine | - | 55.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; total population: 53,770,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox | United Kingdom | 350,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year; pg. 781-783. | Table: "Religion ": Divided by nations, with 2 columns: "Religious affiliation " & "1996 pop. " [of that religion]. Based on best avail. figures, whether census data, membership figures or estimates by analysts, as % of est. 1996 midyear pop. |
| Eastern Orthodox | United Kingdom | - | 1.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; total population: 58,210,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 1,400,000 | - | 700 units |
- | 1917 | Spence, Hartzell. The Story of America's Religions; New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1960) [1st printing 1957]; pg. 120. | "By 1917, there were probably 1,400,000 Eastern Orthodox believers in the United States, in some 700 prosperous perishes. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 3,000,000 | - | - | - | 1957 | Spence, Hartzell. The Story of America's Religions; New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1960) [1st printing 1957]; pg. 115. | "Its followers number about 3,000,000 in the U.S. There are more than 150,000,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world, making them the second largest Christian communion. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 2,000,000 | 1.19% | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 204-205. | Table: "Christians, Their Practices "; "Eastern Orthodox: Members in... U.S. over 2 million, Greek Archdiocese largest of about a dozen groups in U.S. Total U.S. assets, $251 million. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 2,400,000 | - | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 199. | "...the Orthodox Church... include 18 self-governing churches with a total of 150 million communicants, about 2.4 million of them in the U.S. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 2,600,500 | - | - | - | 1959 | Stuber, Stanley I. How We Got Our Denominations: A Primer on Church History. New York: Association Press Revised Ed., 1959); pg. 142. | "There are 2,600,500 members of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the U.S.A., and about 250,000,000 throughout the world. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,000,000 | - | - | - | 1963 | Rosten, Leo (ed.). Religions in America; New York: Simon & Schuster (1963), 8th ed. [1st pub. in 1952. 8th ed. completely revised]; pg. 93-94. | "Over 20 Orthodox groups are represented in America... Their communicants total about 4,000,000. The Greek orthodox Church in North and South america, the largest of the American bodies, has almost 1,500,000 members. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,387,000 | - | - | - | 1970 | Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything 1999. New York: DK Publishing (1998); pg. 76. | Table: "Top 10 Fastest-Growing Religious Affiliations in the US "; "Based on increases/decreases between 1970 and 1995 "; Rank: #7; 28.4% growth. Listed in table as 'Orthodox' |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,000,000 | - | - | - | 1975 | Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace; The People's Almanac; Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1975); pg. 1266. | List of "Major World Religions ": "American adherents number about 4 million, the largest group being Greek Orthodox. World membership in Eastern Orthodox churches is estimated to be about 100 million. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | - | 2.10% | - | - | 1977 | Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace; The People's Almanac: #2; New York: William Morrow & Co.: (1978); pg. 309. | United States of America: "Religions: Roman Catholic, 24.1%; Baptist, 13.1%; Methodist, 6.3%; Lutheran, 4.3%; Eastern Orthodox, 2.1%; Presbyterian, 1.9%; Jewish, 1.9%; Episcopal, 1.4%; Latter-day Saints, 1.3%; other or no religion, 43.6% " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,618,000 | - | - | - | 1982 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Orig. source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1982. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, 1982, pp. 351-352.]; pg. 446. | Table: "Religious Membership in the United States "; Listed in table as "Eastern Orthodox Catholic ", but clearly does not refer to Uniate because figure is too high and no other entry is in table for Orthodox Christians. |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 3,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Mead, Frank S. (revised by Samuel S. Hill), Handbook of Denominations in the United States (9th Ed.), Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tenn. (1990); pg. 179. | "Membership statistics are confusing and often unreliable, inasmuch as membership is based on baptismal records rather than communicant status... There probably are more than 3 million Orthodox church members in the U.S. It must be kept clear, however, that other so-called Orthodox churches in the U.S. are not recognized as canonically 'Orthodox.' These irregular Eastern churches might be called autogenic, or self-starting, but they cannot properly be called Orthodox, since Orthodox churches must be in canonical relationship with the Patriarch of Constantinople and with one another. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 3,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | *LINK* web site: "End of Times Apostacy Online Database " (1998) [Orig. source: Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, David W. Cloud (1994), Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277.] | "In 1990 there were an estimated 3 million Orthodox church members in [U.S.], though membership statistics are unreliable [because] based on baptismal records rather than active participation in church life. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,500,000 | - | - | - | 1992 | Russell, Chandler. Racing Toward 2001; Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, MI (1992). [Original sources: University of Massachusetts; National Council of Churches; denominational officials; American Jewish Yearbook.]; pg. 189. | Table: "Some Major Religious Groups in the United States " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 3,500,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | Mead, Frank S. (revised by Samuel S. Hill), Handbook of Denominations in the United States (10th Ed.), Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tenn. (1995). | - |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | - | 2.20% | - | - | 1993 | O'Brien, J. & M. Palmer. The State of Religion Atlas. Simon & Schuster: New York (1993); pg. 36-37. | "Religious make-up of USA: percentages early 1990s (Sources: D.B. Barrett, ed. World Christian Encyclopedia, 1982) " Protestant: 52%; Roman Catholic: 30%; Orthodox Christian: 2.2%; marginal Christian: 3.6%; Jewish: 3.2%; other: 2.3%; non-religious: 6.7%. |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 4,000,000 | - | - | - | 1994 | Neusner, Jacob (ed). World Religions in America: An Introduction; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press (1994); pg. 131. | "There are about four million Esatern Orthodox Christians in the United States, with varying firmness binding them to mother churches in Greece, the Middle East, and the Slavic lands of Eastern and Central Europe. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 1,885,436 | - | - | - | 1995 | 1995 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches | - |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 1,900,000 | - | - | - | 1995 | 1995 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches | - |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 1,885,436 | - | - | - | 1995 | *LINK* OPPOSING VIEW (anti-) web page: "Orthodox " (viewed 26 Feb. 1999); [Orig. source: 1995 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches] | "The Orthodox in the U.S.A.: Total: 1,885,436; Orthodox Church of America: 600,000; Armenian Diocese: 414,000; Antiochian Archidioceses: 350,000; Coptic Church: 180,000; Armenian Apostolic: 150,000; Other (8 denominations): 191,000 " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 5,680,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year; pg. 781-783. | Table: "Religion ": Divided by nations, with 2 columns: "Religious affiliation " & "1996 pop. " [of that religion]. Based on best avail. figures, whether census data, membership figures or estimates by analysts, as % of est. 1996 midyear pop. |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | - | 1.00% | - | - | 1996 | Gallagher, Winifred. Working on God. New York: Random House (1999). [Orig. source: George H. Gallup, Jr. Religion in America (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Religion Research Center, 1996).]; pg. 147. | "Gallup surveys show that Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are eeach claimed by about 1 percent of Americans (some perspective: 2% profess Judaism; 1%, Eastern Orthodox Christianity; 2% are Mormons). " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 3,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 323-324. | "...Eastern Orthodoxy places greater emphasis on the role of monasticism and on the concomitant pursuit of mystical union with God than either Roman Catholicism or Protestant Christianity. However, with about 50 million practitioners worldwide, including about 3 million in the U.S., the Orthodox make up only a small fraction of the Christian population. The Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople later became known as Greek Orthodox and then as Serbian or Russian Orthodox as conversion spread northward... Modern branches include the Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Ukrainian, and Carpatho-Russian Orthodox, all of which have branches in the U.S. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | - | 3.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 5,302,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (viewed circa Nov. 1998); "last updated October 1998 " | Table: "Christian Organizations "; "Membership numbers, as supplied by various denominations " |
| Eastern Orthodox | USA | 5,302,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (viewed circa Nov. 1998); "last updated October 1998 " | Table: "Largest Religious Groups: The 16 US faith groups and ethical systems with memberships over 1 million are: "; listed in table as "Eastern Orthodox Churches " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Uzbekistan | 2,112,095 | 9.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Total population: 23,467,724. Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3% |
| Eastern Orthodox | Virgin Islands (U.S.) | - | 0.50% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions " |
| Eastern Orthodox | Western Hemisphere | 7,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Magida, Arthur J. (ed). How to be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing (1996); pg. 142. | Chapter about Greek Orthodoxy. "There are now about seven million Orthodox Christians in the Western Hemisphere. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | - | - | - | - | 1054 C.E. | Stack, Peggy Fletcher. A World of Faith. USA: Signature Books (1998); pg. 15. | "Eastern Orthodox... By 1054 a split in the church was unavoidable. Those in the east became the Eastern Orthodox and those in the west were known as Roman Catholics. This split is known as 'the Great Schism.' " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | - | - | - | 1957 | Spence, Hartzell. The Story of America's Religions; New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1960) [1st printing 1957]; pg. 115. | "Its followers number about 3,000,000 in the U.S. There are more than 150,000,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world, making them the second largest Christian communion. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | 6.00% | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 199. | "...the Orthodox Church in both of its major groupings, Greek and Russian, is significant. Its many patriarchates are, in effect, all part of one large, loosely knit ecclesiastical federation, of which the senior partner is the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. They include 18 self-governing churches with a total of 150 million communicants, about 2.4 million of them in the U.S. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | - | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 245. | "...Eastern Orthodox Church... is the world's second largest Christian communion. It spiritually dominates Eastern Europe and its 150 million followers also extend from the Belgian Congo to the Aleutians to Australia. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | 6.00% | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 204-205. | Table: "Christians, Their Practices "; "Eastern Orthodox: Members in world, 150 million children and adults, Russian Orthodox probably largest group... Concepts of Salvation and Afterlife: Salvation, either from original sin or breaking of God's law, comes only through the Church, faith in Christ (Whoe atonement removes sin) and good works. At death souls go to heaven, hell or intermediate state which are real places and states of mind. Last Judgment will be at Christ's Second Coming. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 250,000,000 | - | - | - | 1959 | Stuber, Stanley I. How We Got Our Denominations: A Primer on Church History. New York: Association Press Revised Ed., 1959); pg. 142. | "There are 2,600,500 members of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the U.S.A., and about 250,000,000 throughout the world. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 180,000,000 | - | - | - | 1969 | Hutchinson, John A. Paths of Faith; New York: McGraw-Hill (1969); pg. 440. | "At present there are some fourteen independent, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches... It is estimated the total number of Eastern Christians is approximately 180 million. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 200,000,000 | - | - | - | 1970 | 1998 Catholic Almanac: Our Sunday Visitor: USA (1997); pg. 274. | "The Division of Archives and Statistics of the Eastern Othodox World Foundation reported a 1970 estimate of more than 200 million Orthodox Church members throughout the world. A contemporary estimate put the number close to 220 million. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | - | - | - | 1973 | Zehavi, A.M. (editor) Handbook of the World's Religions. New York: Franklin Watts (1973); pg. 14. | "The Orthodox Church embraces the four ancient patriarchates of Constantinople (100,000), Alexandria (200,000), Antioch (300,000), and Jerusalem (35,000); the churches of the Soviet Union (50,000,000), Rumania (14,000,000), Bulgaria (6,000,000), Serbia (7,500,000), and Greece (7,500,000); the independent churches in Georgian S.S.R, Cyprus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Finland; and others scattered throughout the world. The total membership is about 150,000,000. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 100,000,000 | - | - | - | 1975 | Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace; The People's Almanac; Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1975); pg. 1266. | List of "Major World Religions ": "American adherents number about 4 million, the largest group being Greek Orthodox. World membership in Eastern Orthodox churches is estimated to be about 100 million. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | - | - | - | - | 1981 | Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 552. | "Orthodox Churches... Hierarchical self-governing churches, headed by a patriarch, metropolitan or archbishop... The patriarchates today are those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Soviet Georgia. There are also Orthodox churches in Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Finland. Churches outside the traditional Orthodox areas include those in the Americas, western Europe, Japan, and Australia. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 76,444,600 | - | - | - | 1981 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433. | Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 74,174,600 | 1.65% | - | - | 1982 | Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981 2nd edition; updated since 1977 1st ed.). [Orig. source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, 1982]; pg. 405. | Table: "Estimated membership of the principal religions of the world " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 80,000,000 | - | - | - | 1983 | Berger, Gilda. Religion: A Reference First Book. New York: Franklin Watts (1983); pg. 27. | "An estimated 80 million people belong to the Eastern Orthodox religion. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 70,000,000 | - | - | - | 1983 | Carmody, Denise Lardner & John Tully Carmody. Western Ways to the Center: An Introduction to Western Religions; Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co. (1983); pg. 112. | "Today the Orthodox church represents an understanding of Christianity somewhat different than that of Western Christianity. It numbers perhaps 70 million persons, depending on the estimates used for Russia... " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 150,000,000 | - | - | - | 1985 | Roussou, Maria. I Am a Greek Orthodox. London: Franklin Watts (1985); pg. 30. | "The different branches of the Orthodox Church in the world are thought to have a total membership of 150 million members. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 173,000,000 | - | - | - | 1987 | *LINK* web site: "End of Times Apostacy Online Database " (1998) [Orig. source: Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, David W. Cloud (1994), Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277.] | "A 1987 report estimated 173 million Orthodox worldwide, but again, this statistic is almost meaningless in relation to how many adults actually practice the Orthodox faith. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 123,000,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | *LINK* web site: InfoPlease @ Lycos: Encyclopedia; web page: "Orthodox Eastern Church " (viewed 16 July 1999). [Orig. source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition Copyright (c)1993, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Inso Corporation.] | "Orthodox Eastern Church: community of Christian churches whose chief strength is in the Middle East and E Europe. Their members number over 123 million worldwide. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | - | - | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Hexham, Irving. Concise Dictionary of Religion. Carol Stream, USA: InterVarsity Press (1994). (v. online 6 Oct. 1999) | "ORTHODOX CHURCH: also termed the 'Eastern', 'Greek' or 'Greco-Russian Church.' A family of churches which are situated mainly in eastern Europe. Each member Church is independent in its internal administration but share the same FAITH in communion with other churches of the same tradition. All Orthodox churches acknowledge the honorary primacy of the PATRIARCH of CONSTANTINOPLE and reject the claims of the POPE. Orthodox churches are distinguished by their rich LITURGICAL TRADITION and use of IKONS in worship. In recent years they have experienced rapid growth in North America. " |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 187,582,000 | 3.30% | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* [Orig. source: Barrett, David B. World Christian Encyclopedia (1994 Update)] | Of these, slightly over a billion (1,034,322,000) or 54 percent are Roman Catholic and 187,582,000 million or 9.9 percent are Orthodox. |
| Eastern Orthodox | world | 218,000,000 | - | - | - | 1995 | *LINK* 1996 Britannica Book of the Year | Orthodoxy (since 1045): 218 million. |
