Page 20 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
In this way, the Orthodox Church avoided the overgrowth
of authority in ecclesiastical offices, making them, on the one
hand, icons that refer to the authority of Christ, and on the
other, interdependent ministries—none of which can exist
without the other, saying, “I have no need of you” (1 Cor 12:21).
Thus Orthodoxy has been blessed, throughout its history,
not to experience the phenomenon of clericalism or anti-cler-
icalism, without ever losing the sense of hierarchy within the
ministries of the Church.
Applying the ancient canonical tradition in her entire ad-
ministrative structure, the Orthodox Church has taken shape
as a system of autocephalous Churches—equal and self-gov-
erning—which remain united in the same faith and worship.
They make decisions synodically, under the presidency of the
first among them, who, according to her canonical order, is
the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
He coordinates all common actions and decisions that con-
cern the whole of Orthodoxy, and he expresses the common
will of the Orthodox. This is a primacy of service within the
Orthodox Church—one that respects the independence of the
local Churches, each of which is itself structured synodically,
while at the same time expressing the unity of Orthodoxy
throughout the inhabited world.
Outwardly as well, in her relationship with the world and
with state authority, the Orthodox Church has faithfully ren-
dered “to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the
things that are God’s.” She has never claimed secular power,
except in times when her people lacked political strength and
representation. Her history does not record conflicts with the
State; rather, in Byzantium—which constitutes the most for-
mative period of her history—the so-called “principle of sym-
phonia” prevailed in the relationship between Church and
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