The term Orthodox means both ‘correct doctrine’ and ‘right worship (glory)’. Since at least the 4th century Christian writers and councils have used it to describe Christian doctrine and life in conformity with the apostolic teaching concerning Jesus Christ and the Church. Those communities, which have received and maintained the apostolic tradition, and consequently share a common worship, doctrine and ministry, recognize each other as Orthodox. This is the case with four of the ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) as well as the many other national self-governing (autocephalous) churches and their daughter churches (Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, North America, Sinai, Finland, Japan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova) in communion with them. Orthodox in this sense contrasts with Roman Catholic and Protestant, and represents the ancient, traditional Christian Church.
Although Orthodoxy is often thought of as something “eastern” (and indeed the roots of Christianity are Eastern Mediterranian, what we commonly know as "The Holy Land") it is in fact the universal, apostolic faith. Western Europe was Orthodox for a thousand years, and Orthodox believers throughout the world revere the saints and accomplishments of this Orthodoxy of the first millennium in the west. This century has seen major demographic changes, which have reintroduced Orthodoxy to the west and in the new world, and demonstrated that the Orthodox Christian faith is for all peoples, everywhere. Orthodoxy is above all a way of life, the daily living out of the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ, shaped and tested through generations of personal and direct experience of the Holy Spirit poured out in the life of the Church.
Our task is to make this rich heritage a living reality and a real possibility in Canada today.