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===Timeline of Greek Church===
* ca.47-48 [[Apostle Paul]]'s mission to Cyprus.
* ca.49 Paul's mission to Philippi, Thessaloniki and Veria.
*49 Paul's mission to Athens.
* ca.51-52 Paul's first mission to Corinth; he writes his two Epistles to the Thessalonians.
* ca.54 Paul writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians.
* ca.55 Paul revisits Corinth.
* ca.56 Paul revisits Macedonia; he writes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
* ca.61 Paul shipwrecked in Crete.
* ca.95 Apocalypse of John written on the island of Patmos.
* ca.431 [[Church of Cyprus]] autocephalous.
* 860 St. Cyril and Methodius of Thessaloniki mission to the Slavs.
*1430 The [[monks]] of [[Mount Athos]] submit to Sultan Murad II and keep their autonomy.
*1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Turks.
*1677 Bishop Henry Compton of London builds church for the Greeks in London.
*1682 Greek church in London closed.
*1753 School founded on Mount Athos.
*1759 School on Mount Athos forced to close down.
*1821 Greek War of Independance begins; martyrdom of Patriarch Gregory V.
*1828 Greek church opened in Londing (second time).
*1833 The National Assembly at Nauplio declares the Church of Greece as independant from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
*1834 Suppression of many monasteries in this new era.
*1850 Patriarch Anthimos IV recognises the Church of Greece as an autocephalous church. Certain conditions issued in a special "Tomos" decree; as a result, the Greek National Church holds special links with the "Mother Church".
*1866 Greek church takes the diocese of the Ionian Islands from Constantinople.
*1871 Patriarch Gregory V returned to Athens and entombed in cathedral.
*1881 Thessaly and part of Epirus added to the Church of Greece.
*1901 Publication of Gospels in modern Greek. Riots ensue and publications are withdrawn from circulation.
*1912 Epirus, Macedonia and eastern islands, from Northern territories of Greece, are liberated and come under the administration of the Greek Church.
*1917 Hierarchy of the Greek Church changed in accordance with political control of the country of Greece.
*1923 Treaty of Lausanne hands over contrl of the Holy Mountain to Greece.
*1924 Constitution of the Holy Mountain agreed; Greek government adopts new calendar; [[Old Calendarist]] Schism.
*1926 Proposal for Mount Athos to be turned into a Casino by Pangalos.
*1947 The Dodecanese Islands are liberated but remain under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
*1953 School of Theology on Mount Athos reopened.
*2000 Greek church campaigns against omission of compulsory reference to religious affiliation on identity cards.
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==History==
<small> See Main Article: [[Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece]]
During the [[Byzantine]] Empire and the subsequent Turkish occupation of Greece, the Christian church in Greece was under the administration of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch|ecumenical]] [[Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarch]] of [[Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]]. After the [[w:Greek War of Independence|Greek War of Independence]] (1821-32), the provisional president of Greece [[w:Ioannis Kapodistrias|Ioannis Kapodistrias]](1776-1831), began negotiations with the patriarch for the independence of the Greek church. The final decision was made when [[w:Otto of Greece|Otto I]](1815-1867), the new king of Greece, feared the Turkish government might still be able to influence the politics of Greece through the patriarchate of Constantinople and as such the Greek church was declared autocephalous in 1833. The independence was formalised by Constantinople in 1850, with some limitations specified in the "Tomos".
===Hierarchy of the Church of Greece===
The Church of Greece is organised as a state church, similar to the pattern adopted in the Russian church under [[w:Peter the Great|Peter the Great]] of Russia. The ultimate authority is vested in the [[Synod of Bishops]] under the presidency of the archbishop of Athens and all Greece. A second synod, with the same presidency, consists of 12 bishops, each serving for one year only. The first synnod deals with general ecclesiastical questions, whereas the second synod deals with administrative details. The church is divided into 81 small dioceses; some of these, are nominally under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. The majority of the church's priests in Greece do not have a university education, with very little formal training beyond two years at higher seminaries after high school. An up-to-date listing, in order of seniority of ordination, of the [http://www.ecclesia.gr/English/holysynod/hierarchy.htm Holy Synod] can be accessed at the Church of Greece's official website.
==Structure of the Church of Greece==
