Holy Synod

Since the day when the Apostles met at Jerusalem to settle whether Gentile converts were to keep the Old Law (Acts 15:6–29), it had been the custom to call together such gatherings as occasion required.

[2][3] It is presided over by the Patriarch of Constantinople and consists of twelve hierarchs, each of whom holds membership for a year, with half of them being replaced every six months.

The national assemblies of free Greece in 1822 and 1827 began the process of making their Church independent of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

In 1833 the Greek Parliament formally rejected the patriarch's authority and set up a Holy Directing Synod in exact imitation of Russia.

The Holy Synod was the highest authority in the Greek Church and had the same rights and duties as its Russian model, and was named in the liturgy instead of a patriarch.

After the proclamation of the Greek Republic in 1924, royal control of the Holy Synod naturally ceased, and with the elevation of the Metropolitan of Athens to an Archbishophric in 1932, the Archbishop began to be named in liturgies.

The Standing Synod is under the same presidency, and consists of the Primate and 12 bishops, each serving for one term on a rotating basis and deals with details of administration.

[6] The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the Holy Synod, which includes the Patriarch and the diocesan prelates, who are called metropolitans.

Of these four, three are elected by the church's synod of bishops and one is appointed by the patriarch or major archbishop, while another four are designated in the same way to replace any member who is impeded.

In addition, the individual canon law of some of these churches requires that their synod of bishops be convoked at predetermined intervals.

[10] In metropolitan sui iuris churches a role analogous to that of the synod of bishops is played by a council of hierarchs.