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The truth is that, historically and canonically, there is no one way to attain autocephaly. Why? It is because there is no "theology of autocephaly" to be found in the [[Church Fathers|Fathers]] or the [[Holy Scripture]]. Indeed, the very idea of autocephaly probably would have seemed a little odd to the [[apostles]]. That doesn't mean that it is wrong, but autocephalous and [[autonomy|autonomous]] churches are not essential to the nature of the [[Church]]. That is, they are not inherently [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] matters. They are a practical, administrative development, and they continue to develop.
The one pattern which does seem to prevail is that autocephaly is an expression of the whole community of Orthodox churches and that the voice of that community is most often found in the leadership of the first among them, the Church of Constantinople. Where autocephaly is proclaimed without Constantinople's assent, it tends to find itself on difficult ground.
== See also ==