What Are the Oriental Orthodox Churches?

"Isn't Oriental Orthodox just Eastern Orthodox?" No. It is a separate family of ancient churches, divided from us over one question: who is Jesus Christ?

Short answer: The Oriental Orthodox Churches are the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Churches. They separated from the rest of Christendom after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, over how to describe Christ's divinity and humanity. Popes and Oriental Orthodox patriarchs have since signed declarations confessing the same faith in Christ. What still divides us is chiefly authority: Chalcedon and the later councils, and the office Christ gave St. Peter.

Key verses on Christ, true God and true man

• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
• "And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14)
• "Who, though he was in the form of God... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" (Philippians 2:6–7)
• "For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily" (Colossians 2:9)
• "he had to become like his brothers in every way" (Hebrews 2:17)
• "one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15)

Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Who They Are

The Oriental Orthodox are in communion with one another, but not with the Eastern Orthodox or with Rome. They accept three ecumenical councils: Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), and Ephesus (431). Common estimates put their membership at roughly 60 million or more.

In India, the Jacobite Syrian Church belongs to the Syriac Orthodox Church, which disputes the Malankara Orthodox Church's independent status.

What Catholics Actually Teach

The Catholic Church holds Chalcedon as dogma. Christ is "one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man," who "is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division or separation" (CCC 467). This "does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man" (CCC 464).

Catholics share with the Oriental Orthodox the Council of Ephesus, which "proclaimed in 431 that Mary truly became the Mother of God" (CCC 466). And "The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love" (CCC 1399).

What Catholics do not teach:

• That the Oriental Orthodox deny Christ's humanity. The old label "Monophysite" implies that; they reject it and prefer "miaphysite."
• That Chalcedon is negotiable. The question is whether they confess the same faith in other words.
• That they are the same as the Eastern Orthodox. They are two distinct families.

The Biblical Case

1. Christ is fully God

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). "For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily" (Colossians 2:9). St. Thomas confesses, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

2. Christ is fully man

"And the Word became flesh" (John 1:14). "Now since the children share in blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them" (Hebrews 2:14). He "had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest" (Hebrews 2:17), "tested in every way, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

3. One and the same Person

Philippians 2 tells one story about one subject: "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave," and "he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6–8). The One equal with God is the One who died. So St. Elizabeth calls Mary "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43), and both Churches call her Theotokos, Mother of God.

4. Why Chalcedon divided

Both sides rejected two errors: splitting Christ into two persons (charged against Nestorius) and letting His humanity be swallowed by His divinity (taught by Eutyches). Much of the dispute was over vocabulary. St. Cyril of Alexandria, revered by both sides, spoke of the one incarnate nature of God the Word (Greek mia physis), the root of miaphysite. Chalcedon confessed Christ "in two natures" in "one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis" (CCC 467), the dyophysite formula. For St. Cyril, "nature" could point to the one concrete Christ; at Chalcedon it meant what Christ is as God and as man. Each side heard the other's formula as an error it rejected. Yet St. Cyril himself wrote that "the difference of the natures is not taken away by the union" (Letter to Nestorius), and when Pope St. Leo the Great's Tome was read at Chalcedon, the bishops cried, "Leo and Cyril taught the same thing" (Session II).

5. Agreement on the same Christ

In 1973, Pope St. Paul VI and Coptic Pope Shenouda III confessed Christ "perfect God with respect to His divinity, perfect man with respect to His humanity," whose "divinity is united with His humanity in a real, perfect union without mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation" (Common Declaration, 1973).

In 1984, Pope St. John Paul II and Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas confessed that Christ "is perfect God as to His divinity and perfect man as to His humanity," and stated that later confusions and schisms "in no way affect or touch the substance of their faith," arising "only because of differences in terminology and culture" (Common Declaration, 1984).

Objections Answered

(a) Oriental Orthodox: "Chalcedon's 'two natures' divides Christ."

At its strongest: St. Cyril taught one incarnate nature of the Word. Pope St. Leo's Tome, read at Chalcedon, says, "For each form does what is proper to it with the co-operation of the other" (ch. 4). That sounds like two acting subjects, the error of Nestorius.

Answer: Scripture gives one subject to everything Christ does and suffers: "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14), and the One "in the form of God" is the One "obedient to death" (Philippians 2:6–8). Chalcedon insists on the same: "one and the same" Son, united "without... division or separation" in "one person" (CCC 467). St. Leo himself says "one and the same Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, could both die with the one and not die with the other." In the same Tome he writes, "For He who is true God is also true man" (ch. 4). One Person acts, in two natures. And Catholics embrace St. Cyril's Council of Ephesus.

(b) "Aren't they simply Monophysite heretics?"

At its strongest: For centuries they were called Monophysites. Chalcedon is binding, and rejecting a dogmatic council looks like rejecting the truth.

Answer: Heresy is "the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith" (CCC 2089). The truth at stake is the Christ of Scripture, who is still flesh after the Resurrection ("Touch me and see," Luke 24:39). Eutyches denied that Christ's humanity remained real; the Oriental Orthodox condemn that. The 1973 declaration confesses Christ "perfect man with respect to His humanity," united to His divinity "without confusion." In 1984, the Pope and the Syriac Patriarch affirmed that the substance of the faith is shared. Chalcedon still binds Catholics; the question is not whether its definition is true, but whether these Churches confess its content in other words, and on that the declarations answer yes.

(c) "If we agree on Christ, why not full communion?"

At its strongest: If 451 was mostly about words, the split should have ended in 1973.

Answer: Christology was the first wall, not the only one. The 1984 declaration itself says, "Certain questions, in fact, still need to be resolved touching the Lord's will for His Church." The deepest is St. Peter's office. Christ gave the keys to one man (Matthew 16:18–19), prayed that his faith "may not fail" and charged him, "you must strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32), and told him three times to feed His flock (John 21:15–17). The councils these Churches accept already knew it. At Ephesus, the papal legate declared that St. Peter "down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors," and the council deposed Nestorius "Compelled thereto by the canons and by the letter of our most holy father and fellow-servant Cœlestine, the Roman bishop" (Ephesus, Sessions I and III). Full case: Is the Papacy in the Bible?

Still, progress is real. In 1984, Pope St. John Paul II and Patriarch Zakka I agreed that when Catholic or Syriac Orthodox faithful find "access to a priest of their own Church materially or morally impossible," they may "ask for the Sacraments of Penance, Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick" from "lawful priests of either of our two sister Churches" (Common Declaration, 1984). This is a narrow pastoral provision for those two Churches only. It is not a general permission for Catholics to receive Communion in Oriental Orthodox churches. Catholic law still requires that it be "physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister" and that "danger of error or of indifferentism" be avoided (Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §2). Respect the Syriac Orthodox priest's discipline, and ask your pastor first.

The Early Church Agrees

• St. Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Ephesians 7, c. AD 107–110, approximate), honored by both: "There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God".
• St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Letter 101, to Cledonius, c. AD 382, approximate): "For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved."
• St. Cyril of Alexandria (Letter to Nestorius, read at Ephesus, AD 431): "the two natures being brought together in a true union, there is of both one Christ and one Son; for the difference of the natures is not taken away by the union".
• St. Cyril of Alexandria (First Anathema, Council of Ephesus, AD 431): "If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (Θεοτόκος), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh... let him be anathema."
• Pope St. Leo the Great (Tome, Letter 28, AD 449): "Without detriment therefore to the properties of either nature and substance which then came together in one person, majesty took on humility, strength weakness, eternity mortality".

Conclusion

The Oriental Orthodox Churches are among the oldest Christian communities on earth. From Egypt to Armenia to India, they kept the faith through persecution. Catholics owe them respect and gratitude.

If you are Oriental Orthodox, we share your love for St. Cyril, for the Mother of God, and for the one Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Agreement on Christ is a great gift, but Christ also willed one visible Church built on St. Peter. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). We pray that the agreements of 1973 and 1984 become, one day, a shared altar, gathered, as the Council of Ephesus was, in communion with the successor of St. Peter.

Come home. The one incarnate Word whom St. Cyril confessed, and whom our Churches now confess together, is worshiped today in the Catholic Church. You already possess true sacraments and much of the apostolic faith, in "a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church" (CCC 838). Those gifts draw their power "from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church" and "are in themselves calls to 'Catholic unity'" (CCC 819). The Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, yet your true Eucharist is celebrated apart from the successor of St. Peter, on whom Christ built His Church (Matthew 16:18). We invite you into full communion with St. Peter's successor, the bishop of Rome, in the Catholic Church.

Your next step: Come to Mass or Divine Liturgy at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. When you're ready, call the parish office and ask to speak with the priest about entering full communion with the Catholic Church. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.

FAQ

How do Oriental Orthodox differ from Eastern Orthodox? The Oriental Orthodox accept three ecumenical councils and separated after Chalcedon (451). The Eastern Orthodox accept seven and separated from Rome later, traditionally in 1054.

Are the Copts Monophysite? Not in the sense of Eutyches. They call their teaching miaphysite and confess Christ as perfect God and perfect man (1973 declaration).

Are Oriental Orthodox sacraments valid? Yes. The Catholic Church holds that the Eastern churches not in full communion with Rome "possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist" (CCC 1399). That does not mean a Catholic may simply receive Communion in their churches. Only the narrow exceptions of canon 844 §2 apply. A Catholic's Sunday obligation is met only at a Mass "celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite" (CCC 2180).

Sources

Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Matthew 16:18–19; Luke 1:43; Luke 22:32; Luke 24:39; John 1:1, 14; John 20:28; John 21:15–17; Philippians 2:6–8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:14, 17; Hebrews 4:15.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 464, 466, 467; 816, 819, 838; 1399; 2180; 2089.

Church documents (vatican.va): St. Paul VI and Shenouda III, Common Declaration (May 10, 1973); St. John Paul II and Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Common Declaration (June 23, 1984); Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §2.

Church Fathers and councils (newadvent.org): Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians 7; Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 101; Council of Ephesus (431): Cyril's Letter to Nestorius, Twelve Anathemas, Sessions I and III; Council of Chalcedon (451), Session II; Leo the Great, Letter 28 (Tome).

Other: Wikipedia, "Oriental Orthodox Churches" (churches, councils accepted, membership estimates, Eritrean autocephaly, Malankara status).