autocephality
nounEtymology From auto- + cephal- + -ity.
1
Christianity The right of autonomy for a church; specifically, the right to resolve all internal problems on its own authority and to appoint its own bishops, including the head of the church, without any obligatory expression of dependence on another church.
- The Macedonian Orthodox Church is struggling for the recognition of its autocephality by the other Orthodox Churches.2011, Ina Merdjanova, Patrice Brodeur, Religion as a Conversation Starter: Interreligious Dialog for Peacebuilding in the Balkans, →ISBN, page 1916:
- Related terms
- autocephalous, autocephaly, autocephalic