FAQs About our Western-rite Orthodox Jurisdiction

By the Rt. Rev. Fr. Paul Molina (Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia) 

1) What is the Orthodox Church?

The Orthodox Church is the 2nd largest Christian Church with around 220 million baptized members.

2) Is the Orthodox Church the same as the Orthodox Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church?

The Orthodox Church is officially known as the Orthodox Catholic Church. The term Eastern Orthodox Church is also often used. Before the schism of 1054, the Roman Catholic Church was also known as the Western Orthodox Church. 

3) How is the Orthodox Church governed?

The Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by bishops in local synods; patterned after the example of the apostles and the early church. 

A Diagram of the Canonical Church Government of the Eastern Orthodox Communion, Consisting of National Churches, Missionary Exarchates, and Subsidiary Local Orthodox Churches, with Many Individual Churches Canonical Disputed by Other Local Churches with Conflicting Claims. The Unity of the Orthodox Church is Found in its United and Unchanged Apostolic Faith and through Communion with Local Canonical Bodies that are Recognized by a Majority of the Other Local or National Churches. 

4) When did Orthodox Christianity arrive in the British Isles?

The canonization of St. Edward the Confessor, the advocacy for the canonization of King Harold II, and the migration of Anglo-Saxons to Byzantium following the Battle of Hastings are evidence that the English Church prior to the Norman conquest was more closely aligned to the Orthodox East that it was to the Roman Catholic West since the faith was introduced by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century during the Gregorian Mission. 

5) What is Anglo-Orthodoxy?

Anglo-Orthodox is the English expression of the Orthodox Catholic faith codified by the Carolinian divines and received through the Anglican patrimony. Anglo-Orthodoxy as a movement in the Orthodox Church was revived on 15 August 2018 when the Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia was established to receive Anglicans / Episcopalians from the Anglican Communion who desire to follow biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality, among other things. We use the universally recognized Orthodox liturgy, approved by both the Russian and Antiochian Western Rite Vicariates, called the Divine Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow. 

6) Where is the Anglican Vicariate canonically resident? 

Similar in structure with the pastoral provision of the Anglican Ordinariates of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Vicariate is canonically resident in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in East Asia, which is in communion with the Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

7) In which countries is The Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia present?

The Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia is present in the Far East, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

8) Is the Missionary Diocese of East & South East Asia in communion with the Anglican Communion / Continuum? 

We are not canonically affiliated with the Anglican Communion. We strictly adhere to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1.3). However, we do maintain cordial relationships with conservative Anglicans / Episcopalians and pray for the day that our sad divisions that separate us will disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one” (John 17.21). For avoidance of doubt, we are not (yet) in communion with the following members of the Anglican Communion: The Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia (Diocese of Kuching, Diocese of Sabah, Diocese of Singapore, Diocese of West Malaysia), Episcopal Church in the Philippines, and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipay Church).

9) Is the Orthodox Church recognized by the Roman Catholic Church?

It is probably much safer and more correct to approach Orthodoxy solely on her own grounds since our ‘validity’ is not determined by others’ recognition. Nonetheless, we can assuredly share that the Roman Catholic Church has no objections in extending Eucharistic hospitality to Orthodox Christians since Orthodoxy is a legitimate expression of apostolic Christianity and a guardian of the deposit of faith. As Orthodox we “hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all, for this is truly and properly catholic” (Canon of St. Vincent of Lerins).

How the Orthodox Church Understands its Own Continuity with the Ancient Church on the Cover of US News, March 4th, 1991