This last part is to contain some account of what is a tangled subject, the present state of the Orthodox Church. In the first place we must distinguish three great groups of Eastern Christians: (1) the Orthodox Churches in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, (2) the other schismatical Churches, that is, the four Monophysite bodies, Armenians, Jacobites, Copts, and Abyssinians, and the one Nestorian body, all of whom are out of communion with either Pope or Œcumenical Patriarch, (3) the people who in order of honour should come first, the Uniates, Christians of Eastern rites, who are in communion with the Holy See, and who, of course, are just as much Catholics as we are. It is important to remember the difference between groups 1 and 2 above. Group 1 (the Orthodox) consists of sixteen Churches, all independent, but all in union with one another (except for one schism now going on). Group 2 (the non-Orthodox) has nothing whatever to do with those sixteen Churches. Thus we speak of the Church of Russia, of Greece, of Armenia; but we must remember that the Churches of Russia and Greece are in full communion with one another, whereas the Armenians are to them as much heretics and schismatics as Latins or Protestants. We have here to consider only the Orthodox communion, which is enormously the largest and most important of the Eastern Churches. It will be convenient to discuss it in this order: first, a sketch of the political situation in general will clear the ground, then a list of the Churches of which it consists, with a word about their rise, development, and numbers. Descriptions of the Orthodox Hierarchy, Faith, Calendar, Rites, and Liturgy will then complete our account. And, last of all, there will be something to say about the question of reunion between Catholics and Orthodox.
