Canonical territory

Canons of the Apostles Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, of the Russian Orthodox Church, asserts that: Some canons of the Canons of the Apostles state that: • the bishop should not leave his diocese and go over to another without authorization (can. 14); • the bishop may not ordain outside the boundaries of his diocese (can. 35); • when transferring to another city, excommunicated clergymen or laymen cannot be accepted into communion by another bishop (can. 12); • clergymen who go over to another diocese without the consent of their bishop are deprived of the right to serve (can. 15); • prohibition of serving or excommunication of a clergyman imposed by one bishop cannot by removed by another bishop (can. 16, 32). "In defining the boundaries of ecclesiastical territories, the Fathers of the ancient undivided Church took into account civil territorial divisions established by secular authorities," according to Alfeyev. He adds: "[a]lthough the principle of having ecclesiastical territories correspond to civil ones was accepted as a guiding principle in the ancient Church, it was never absolutized or viewed as having no alternatives." Alfeyev cites the conflict between two bishops, Basil of Caesarea and Anthimus of Tyana, as an example. ==Present situation==

Eastern Orthodoxy and autonomous Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions as of 2022. Even before the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism, the issue of canonical territory had proven to be a significant point of dispute between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate over Ukraine. Russian Orthodox Church The meaning of canonical territory in the context of the Russian Orthodox Church "is not self-evident, and no detailed explanation of it is given in any official document." The Russian Orthodox Church defines the geographic extent of its canonical territory as including all the territory within China, Japan, and the post-Soviet states excluding Armenia and Georgia. It statutes define its sphere of jurisdiction as including "also [Eastern] Orthodox Christians living in other countries" outside of its canonical territory. Phyletism In diaspora countries such as France and the United States, problems with canonical territory have often given rise to the problem of phyletism, which is defined as the principle of nationalities applied in the ecclesiastical domain and the confusion between Church and nation. Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Canonical territories are mentioned numerous times in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. In the Eastern Catholic Churches that have the rank of patriarchate, the patriarchal synod elects bishops for the patriarchate's canonical territory. Bishops who head eparchies situated outside that territory are appointed by the Pope. ==Notes==