Eastern Orthodox Christians in the context of "Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church"

Macedonians (Macedonian: Македонци, romanized: Makedonci [maˈkɛdɔnt͡si]) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians, who share a cultural and historical "Orthodox Byzantine–Slavic heritage" with their neighbours. About two-thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in North Macedonia; there are also communities in a number of other countries.

The concept of a Macedonian ethnicity, distinct from their Orthodox Balkan neighbours, is seen to be a comparatively newly emergent one. The earliest manifestations of an incipient Macedonian identity emerged during the second half of the 19th century among limited circles of Slavic-speaking intellectuals, predominantly outside the region of Macedonia. They arose after the First World War and especially during the 1930s, and thus were consolidated by Communist Yugoslavia's governmental policy after the Second World War.The formation of the ethnic Macedonians as a separate community has been shaped by population displacement as well as by language shift, both the result of the political developments in the region of Macedonia during the 20th century. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the decisive point in the ethnogenesis of the South Slavic ethnic group was the creation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia after World War II, a state in the framework of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This was followed by the development of a separate Macedonian language and national literature, and the foundation of a distinct Macedonian Orthodox Church and national historiography.

Filioque (/ˌfɪliˈoʊkwi, -kweɪ/ FIL-ee-OH-kwee, -⁠kway; Ecclesiastical Latin: [filiˈokwe]), a Latin term meaning "and from the Son", was added to the original Nicene Creed, and has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. The term refers to the Son, Jesus Christ, with the Father, as the one shared origin of the Holy Spirit. It is not in the original text of the Creed, attributed to the First Council of Constantinople (381), which says that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father" (Greek: τὸ ἐκ του Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον) without the addition "and the Son".

In the late 6th century, some Latin Churches added the words "and from the Son" (Filioque) to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what many Eastern Orthodox Christians have at a later stage argued is a violation of Canon VII of the Council of Ephesus, since the words were not included in the text by either the First Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople. The inclusion was incorporated into the liturgical practice of Rome in 1014, but was rejected by Eastern Christianity.

Memaliaj is a town and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Buz, Krahës, Luftinjë, Memaliaj, Memaliaj Fshat and Qesarat, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Memaliaj. The total population is 10,657 (2011 census), in a total area of 372.30 square kilometres (143.75 sq mi). The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 2,647. It is entirely populated by Albanians, both Muslim Bektashis and Eastern Orthodox Christians. The dialect of Albanian spoken in the region is Tosk.

Eastern Orthodoxy in Montenegro refers to adherents, religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro. It is the largest Christian denomination in the country. According to the latest 2023 Census of Montenegro, 443,394 citizens of Montenegro (71.10%) registered as Eastern Orthodox Christians. The majority of Eastern Orthodox people in Montenegro are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church. A minor percentage supports the canonically unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which has the status of a religious non-governmental organization since its founding in 1993.

The current Metropolitan of Montenegro and primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro is Joanikije II, who serves as 56th head since the establishment of the diocese in 1219. The seat of the diocese is the Cetinje Monastery, since 1484.

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC; Montenegrin: Црногорска православна црква, ЦПЦ, romanized: Crnogorska pravoslavna crkva, CPC) is a canonically unrecognized Eastern Orthodox Church. Formed in 1993 and registered as a non-governmental organization, Antonije Abramović was appointed as its first metropolitan. In 2023, after some controversy, the current metropolitan, Boris Bojović, succeeded Miraš Dedeić in the role. It claims succession to an older autocephalous Montenegrin Church, which existed until the unification of the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro, later to join the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church has been recognized as a religious organization by the Government of Montenegro since 2001. According to a 2020 poll conducted by CEDEM, approximately 10 percent of Montenegro's Eastern Orthodox Christians have opted for membership in the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, while approximately 90 percent have opted for or stayed with the Serbian Orthodox Church, in the canonical or widely-known Eastern Orthodox Church. Notably, the creation of the MOC has been opposed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Patriarch Bartholomew I has stated that "we will never give autocephaly to the so-called 'Montenegrin Orthodox Church'" and that its then-leader Dedeić was suspended by Constantinople for adultery and embezzlement.

Kartli (Georgian: ქართლი, pronounced [ˈkʰaɾtʰli] ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Hiberia, Kartli played a crucial role in the ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages. Kartli had no strictly defined boundaries and they significantly fluctuated in the course of history. After the partition of the kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, Kartli became a separate kingdom with its capital at Tbilisi. The historical lands of Kartli are currently divided among several administrative regions of Georgia.

The Georgians living in the historical lands of Kartli are known as Kartlelebi (ქართლელები) and comprise one of the largest geographic subgroups of the Georgian people. Most of them are Eastern Orthodox Christians adhering to the national Georgian Orthodox Church and speak a dialect which is the basis of the modern Georgian literary language.

Karelians (Karelian: karjalaižet, karjalazet, karjalaiset; Finnish: karjalaiset; Swedish: kareler, karelare; Russian: карелы, romanized: karely) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely related to Finnish Karelians, who are considered a subset of Finns. This distinction historically arose from Karelia having been fought over and eventually split between Sweden and Novgorod, resulting in Karelians being under different cultural spheres.

In Russia, Karelians mostly live in the Republic of Karelia, where they are the designated ethnic group, and in other adjacent north-western parts of the country. They traditionally speak the Karelian language and are Eastern Orthodox Christians. There are also significant Karelian enclaves in the Tver and Novgorod oblasts, as some Karelians migrated to those areas after the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658.

Various religions prescribe or recommend religious or faith-based fasting. Examples from the Abrahamic religions include Lent in Christianity and Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Fast of Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of Tevet in Judaism. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from the break of dawn until sunset.

Details of fasting practices differ. Oriental Orthodox Christians and Eastern Orthodox Christians fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known Great Lent, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the Nativity Fast), after Easter (the Apostles Fast) and in early August (the Dormition Fast).