Canonical territory

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A canonical territory is a geographical area seen as belonging to a particular patriarchate or autocephalous Church as its own. The concept is found both in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Roman Catholic Church, and is mentioned extensively in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.[1]

Historical background[edit]

Canons of the Apostles[edit]

Further information: Canons of the Apostles

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev asserts that

[t]he model of church organization that was formed during the first three centuries of Christianity was based on the principle of "one city-one bishop-one Church", which foresaw the assignment of a certain ecclesiastical territory to one concrete bishop." In accordance with this principle, the "Canons of the Apostles" and other canonical decrees of the ancient Church point to the inadmissibility of violating the boundaries of ecclesiastical territories by bishops or clergy.[2]

The Canons [2] prescribe that:

  1. the bishop should not leave his diocese and go over to another without authorization (can. 14);
  2. the bishop may not ordain outside the boundaries of his diocese (can. 35);
  3. when transferring to another city, excommunicated clergymen or laymen cannot be accepted into communion by another bishop (can. 12);
  4. clergymen who go over to another diocese without the consent of their bishop are deprived of the right to serve (can. 15);
  5. prohibition of serving or excommunication of a clergyman imposed by one bishop cannot by removed by another bishop (can. 16, 32).

According to Alfeyev, "In defining the boundaries of ecclesiastical territories, the Fathers of the ancient undivided Church took into account civil territorial divisions established by secular authorities." However Alfeyev points out that, "[a]lthough the principle of having ecclesiastical territories correspond to civil ones was accepted as a guiding principle in the ancient Church, it was never absolutized or viewed as having no alternatives." Alfeyev cites the conflict between St. Basil the Great and Bishop Anthimos of Tiana as an example.[2]

Council of Ephesus[edit]

Further information: First Council of Ephesus


Council of Chalcedon[edit]

Further information: Council of Chalcedon

In the middle of the 5th century, a number of Eastern Churches rejected the Council of Chalcedon of 451 thus creating a schism which led to the rise of "parallel hierarchies". Those who accepted the 451 Council of Chalcedon similarly classified those who rejected it as Monophysite heretics. The Churches that refused to accept the Council considered instead that it was they who were orthodox. The six present-day Churches that continue their tradition reject the description Monophysite, preferring instead Miaphysite. They are often called, in English, Oriental Orthodox Churches, to distinguish them from the Eastern Orthodox Churches. These churches are also referred to as pre-Chalcedonian or, now more rarely, as non-Chalcedonian or anti-Chalcedonian.

East-West Schism[edit]

Further information: East-West Schism



The sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the participants in the Fourth Crusade was seen by the Eastern Orthodox as the West's ultimate outrage. By then, each side considered that the other no longer belonged to the Church that was orthodox and catholic.


Main article: Uniatism

Over the course of centuries, the Catholic Church worked to expand into the Orthodox East and to bring the Orthodox under the authority of the Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church effected a number of unions such as Lyons (1274), Florence (1439), Brest (1596), Uzhgorod (1646), Mukachevo (1733), as well as the unions in the Orthodox Near East: the Armenian, Coptic, Syro-Jacobite, Syro-Chaldean etc.

The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing (in Latin, sui iuris) particular Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome—the pope. They preserve some of the centuries-old liturgical, devotional, and theological traditions of the various Eastern Christian Churches with which they were once associated.

Present situation[edit]

The issue of canonical territory has proven to be a significant point of dispute for the Moscow Patriarchate, which opposes on the one hand the Constantinople Patriarch's influence in Ukraine, and on the other the perceived Roman Catholic influence within Russia itself.[6]

Eastern Catholic Churches[edit]

In the Eastern Catholic Churches that have the rank of patriarchate, the patriarchal synod elects bishops for the patriarchate's canonical territory, while bishops who head eparchies situated outside that territory are appointed by the Pope.[7] Canonical territories of some Eastern Catholic Churches, as in the case of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, may overlap geographically, but are distinct with regard to the faithful involved.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church[edit]

Further information: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church[edit]


In diaspora countries such as France and the United States, problems with canonical territory have often given rise to the problem of phyletism, which is defined as the principle of nationalities applied in the ecclesiastical domain and the confusion between Church and nation.


  1. ^ Examples of canons of this code that speak of the canonical territory of an autonomous Church are 57, 78, 86, 102, 132, 133, 138-140, 143, 146-150, ...
  2. ^ a b c "One City, One Bishop, One Church". The Principle of Canonical Territory and the Appearance of "Parallel Hierarchies". 
  3. ^ Theodore Balsamon on the Powers of the Patriarch of Constantinople
  5. ^ Milton V. Anastos, Constantinople and Rome
  6. ^ "Canonical Territory in the Russian Orthodox Tradition". 
  7. ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 181