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'''Independent "Orthodox" churches''' are groups which often use the term ''Orthodox'' in their names but have no canonical connection with the mainstream Orthodox Church, do not practice [[full commmunioncommunion|communion]] with it, and often have no direct historical connection to it. Many are led by ''[[episcopi vagantes]]'', [[bishop]]s claiming "valid" [[apostolic succession]] but not maintaining communion with the Orthodox Church. Not all use the term ''Orthodox'' in their names, but may also use ''Catholic'', ''Apostolic'', or other names associated with the historical churches.
Such churches are, almost without exception, quite small, usally with only a few [[parish]]es at most, often with none at all, and often the [[clergy]] outnumber the [[laity]]. With the advent of the Internet, the spread and visibility of these independent churches has increased significantly. In many ways, the phenomenon is much more like [[Protestantism]] than like the Orthodoxy or [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] which these churches often resemble. That is, their [[ecclesiology]] usually is characterized by some form of the [[branch theory]] (that the Church Catholic is visibly divided but invisibly united, despite there being no intercommunion between constitutent "parts"). Further, most begin in much the same manner as new Protestant churches, being an independent enterprise embarked upon by one person or a small group without being sanctioned or part of some larger ecclesiastical communion.
