The Church of Crete has been self-governing since late Ottoman times. The charter of the church was recognized by law (Law 4149/1961) by the Greek state in 1961,[1] some 50 years after the island's incorporation into Greece. In 1962, the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated the island's bishoprics to metropolises, and in 1967, the Metropolitan of Crete was promoted to Archbishop. The patriarchate nominates the island's presiding bishop from a list of three Cretan bishops prepared by the Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, but the church's affairs, including the nomination of the other bishops, are otherwise handled by the Holy Provincial Synod of Crete. The link with the Patriarchate ensures less opposition to ecumenism than generally expressed in the mainland Church of Greece.
^The ROC severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with the primates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.
^ abcdefghAutocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.
^UOC-MP was moved to formally cut ties with the ROC as of May 27th 2022.
^ abSemi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.
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